Pleasant suprise!

[exasperatus2002]

I was giving my orchids a good soak today and I found this-- My Phal (noid) is in spike again and this time its in DOUBLE SPIKE!! The same orchid was in bloom in May in time for my daughters birth. Its got strong spikes so far, last time it wasnt that great of a spike. I cant wait for it to bud and open up.





last time it was in spike--

[exasperatus2002]

Now my question is why wont its room mate bloom? It hasnt bloomed since I bought it in spike 5 yrs agoish. Guess Im going to have to push back repotting them like I wanted to this weekend.

[kmarch]

Hmmmm...good question...you have 2 plants, the same cross, presumably the same age, one blooms the other does not.....

Are the 2 plants mericlones? or seed grown? If seed grown, that could be the reason as sibling plants, even of the same cross do not always grow and bloom the same. If they are mericlones, and therefore nearly exactly alike genetically....I'm not really sure what the difference might be.

[exasperatus2002]

Originally Posted by kmarch

Hmmmm...good question...you have 2 plants, the same cross, presumably the same age, one blooms the other does not.....

Are the 2 plants mericlones? or seed grown? If seed grown, that could be the reason as sibling plants, even of the same cross do not always grow and bloom the same. If they are mericlones, and therefore nearly exactly alike genetically....I'm not really sure what the difference might be.

They are home depot rescues. noid. They are not the same variety I cant remember what color the one that doesnt bloom is, its either white or purple striped on white. Theres a noticable difference in the leaves. The one that flowers has large flat paddle like leaves while the other has narrow leaves that are, for the lack of a better term, concave. like a partially opened book. V

[tom499]

I cant help but notice the medium looks very hard and crusty, and could be breaking down.

The non flowering plant shows very long thin leaves indeed, which look quite droopy, they should feel quite thick almost like a succulent. The long thin shape can come about by not enough water during growth. I had a similiar plant.

[cupcake]

I have a phal which has sulked for 3 years. It's treated the same as the others, the roots are ok but WILL IT SPIKE?

[Nancy]

I have two pots of phals bought from the Home Depot. In each pot is two plants and only one is in spike. I have repotted both so I don't believe the media is breaking down yet. I was wondering if it might have to do with one plant crowding the other one out in terms of light and root room. Any thoughts?

[kmarch]

What do you mean by variety? Hybrid orchids do not have varieties. Do you mean they're different grex (crosses)? Different cultivars of the same cross?

[exasperatus2002]

different grex I guess as both the flower and leaf form are different from each other.

[kmarch]

If they are different grex (crosses) then that could very well explain why they're not blooming together.