Orchid Bloom Won't Open

[blk_seedorchid]

Hello Friends,

I'm not an expert on Orchids but I am a geek which is why I joined. I need a bit of help with a bloom of one my ladies (Orchids). I've attached a few pictures of the bloom I've received for the last two years. The blooms has never opened completely within my care! I've tried less light, more light, more water, less water, more fertilizer (Peters 20-20-20) & less even none. And I can't get it to open. I'm not seeing any sign of disease, in fact this girls is real hardy & blooms all summer. It's spiking now and I sure would like to enjoy the full bloom which I only saw when I purchased. Any and all help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

[patlee]

I'm no expert, but I have quite a few Phals. I would douse the medium with a whole bottle (8 oz.) of hydrogen peroxide (kill anything that's not supposed to be in the medium) and then start feeding with worm tea at every other watering.

There are a lot of other people who grow Phals. on the forum, so wait til you hear some other advice. (I use hydrogen peroxide and worm tea for almost everthing, so my advice is probably a bit biased). Good luck and let us know how you do--That Phal is very pretty; I can see why you want to enjoy the full blooms...

[brookn]

Hi, I am not positive, but I think your Phal is peloric. If it is, this is the way the blooms will always look, and it is somewhat rare.

Well my links are not showing up, you can do a search for threads by typing peloric in the search bar, there were a few discussions about them. I actually have been looking for a peloric Phal, cause I think they are interesting. Congrats.

[kmarch]

To me the first pic suggests a peloric as brookn suspects. The second pic....something seems not quite right. Maybe it isnt' yet as open as the first pic?

[snowballsarebad]

I'm not sure about it being peloric. I once saw several Phal. Baldan's Kaleidescope doing this....and typically those blooms are flat. I really think that it might be something cultural, but I have absolutely no idea what it might be. Plus... I think blk_seedorchid said that the flowers were originally flat, at purchase, which suggests it is not permanent, but perhaps cultural.
I guess you might have to keep trying new conditions for it, and see if something works. Maybe this time around they'll fully open Have you tried adjusting humidity around it?

[mayres]

"I sure would like to enjoy the full bloom which I only saw when I purchased. Any and all help would be appreciated."

Can you clarify? Did this plant have flat fully opened blooms when you originally purchased it or was in mixed with a group of other plants and some of THEM were what you are referring to as being in "full bloom"?

[terry_sealey]

I have about 30 phals and of these one never opens fully, and the shape is very much like the one shown here. I would have tossed it years ago but my wife likes the colour so it stays. It is not a cultural problem and I don't think you can do anything about it.

On my plant the sepals are normal but all three petals have the beginings of a lip on them. I think it is peloric.

[jbigio]

I would have to agree with the majority that this is peloric and is just the way it will keep blooming.

[PhalPal]

It sure looks peloric to me and if so this trait is in the genetics of the plant and cultural changes won't matter. I think it's a lovely flower as is.
Does anyone know if the first bloom of a peloric orchid will always have peloric petals??? I know first blooms can very often produce a flower that does not look much like the second year bloom; maybe this is why the flowers were 'flat' when purchased.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I think it is genetic. Probably a little peloric influence. Why not try helping the flower a little while it is opening. Make sure the petals are not sticking to each other as each opens, flex the flower a little. This usually unsticks them a little early, so they have less to work against. Then push the petals a little outward a few times while they are opening, this generally gives you a little extra width open. Then when they are about completely open as far as they are willing, try flexing the petals backwards, basically turning their cupping inside out. Now, for this to work, it must all be done before the flower has hardened off into a mature flower. When the are just opening they can be modified, but not later.

[blk_seedorchid]

Wow I never thought of it being peloric since when I originally purchased the blooms were flat, I've attached a picture of the flat bloom when purchased and while searching for that one I forgot a took a picture where one of the blooms last year opened (yes just one of them) I attached it too. Maybe this may spark other suggestions. I think I’ll read up on peloric But I'm willing to try all of your suggestions to see if it makes a difference. I now have it in an area where it can get more humidity.

Cynthia thanks for the suggestion of helping it open I tried that one year but waited to late and ended up breaking the peddles. Now I know to try before the flower has hardened!
PhalPal - excellent question I'll look for this while researching.
patlee - I'll also try the (8 oz.) of hydrogen peroxide & feeding with worm tea as well. One question though - do repot after the peroxide? This will be the 1st for trying both I've heard a lot about the worm tea. Any suggestions on where to get it?

I agree I still like the bloom even without it fully open it does make for an interesting conversation with company. This will be interesting to see what works and if it will stay the same....regardless it's still beautiful and makes it sort of special. Keep the suggestions coming if you have them.

Thanks so much!

[patlee]

Hi Blk_seedorchid, No need to repot after the hydrogen peroxide--the idea is to clean your medium of anything that should not be there-- and it won't hurt the plant.


You can get worm tea on-line at Our Vital Earth ~ All Natural Worm Castings & Worm Tea. Follow the directions and dilute this magic stuff

[blk_seedorchid]

Kool! Thanks so much for the quick reply patlee I'll try it..

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

That second picture definitely shows a peloric tendency. It may well be that the plant is stronger now (or weaker as only you know how it is fairing) and is probably expressing its true nature. Is the first picture the same plant, same blooming cycle, just different flowers? Wonder if it is a case of unstable genes. I have heard of strange cases of plants changing a bit as they grow.

[Debbie Hayden]

Could someone please tell me what peloric is?

[exasperatus2002]

Originally Posted by Debbie Hayden

Could someone please tell me what peloric is?

check out this link for a good explanation.
Peloric Orchids

[Debbie Hayden]

Thanks!!! I got it!

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by snowballsarebad

I'm not sure about it being peloric. I once saw several Phal. Baldan's Kaleidescope doing this....and typically those blooms are flat.

Not always. I've seen lots of peloric Phals that were not flat. There's all sorts of different kinds of peloricism from very mild as in some splash-petal cattleyas to what looks like 3 complete labellums. Somwehre on this forum there's a post about this. I posted several pics of different types of peloricism. I don't seem to be able to find it but I'll keep looking and hopefully will find it.

[blk_seedorchid]

The plant is definitely stronger over the years the spikes have got much thicker and grow longer. I've repotted it once since I've had it because the roots of this phal grow fast and mostly out of the pot which you can see on the 1st pictures I sent.

Cynthia, to answer your question - The 1st picture is the same plant and is how the bloom looked when I bought it. The 2nd picture is a bloom from last years cycle again only one opened all they way the rest of the blooms looked as the pictures I sent before. This year it has two thick & healthy looking spikes not sure what the blooms will do I plan on trying the worm tea which I guess would be a start but I want to read the rest of the worm tea thread to determine hows it's being used.