Summer blooming phals setting spikes

[mehitabel]

Blooming season for winter-spring blooming "Standard" phals may be waning, but summer blooming phals are on their way!

These are the phals with a high percentage of the species violacea, venosa, amboinensis, doritis, gigantea, and some others. They are the ones with the glossy/ waxy /lacquered texture and the intense, vibrant colors in shades of yellow, orange, magenta and red/purple. Actually, even the whites are waxy and have a special texture. Doritis hybrids are not waxy, but an unusually vibrant color with an irridescent quality.

As they say in the ads, "These are not your grandfather's Phals"

I looooove them. They usually set multiple, shortish spikes that bloom sequentially over a long period. Fewer flowers at once, but a good show from even a few flowers because the colors are so intense. And the flowers last a long time, each flower more than two months, with some lasting up to four months each flower.

Penang Girl and Sogo Grape are an example of the kind of flower they produce, but many of the yellows with high percentages of venosa or amboinensis should also be cranking up to bloom.

These seem to set spikes as a result of steadily increasing natural light this time of year and/or lengthening days. Mine are rolled outside on carts this time of year for a few hours of morning sun and outdoor shade, then rolled back in at night when the temperature drops in late afternoon. I have been finding a spike nub or two nearly every day for the last several weeks on these, including 2nd spikes on ones already blooming under wonderlites indoors.

If you only have the thin-textured "Standard" pink, white or striped phals, you haven't seen 10% of the beauty and variety phals have. And if you love color, you really ought to try these. If you have any of these, be sure to site them so they get a whiff of the lengthening days and increasing sun, and then enjoy the fruits.

[patlee]

Somebody on this forum--and I'm having a "senior moment' here--has a violacea that is the "alba" variety. It is absolutely gorgeous and made me add another phal to my wish list Right now, everyday I'm checking the Sogo Grape that I got from Jerry. The plant is still small, but I
'd settle for new root growth this year.However,I do believe in miracles

[Brooke]

I love the summer bloomers even more than the late winter, early spring blooming phals. It is because they usually are heavier textured blooms and they last for such a long time. The spikes bloom for years and you can get multiple spikes per year so end up with quite a display. And most of them have a great fragrance so what's not to like :>)

Brooke

[rockets_vandas]

i have a phal that is puting out its 4th spike. it has been blooming for about a year and a half. also does anyone know that when the spikes finally do stop blooming how long will the rest period be. thanks

[mehitabel]

Hi, vandas. Congratulations on a wonderful plant. There's no way to guess how long before it would set a new spike. It depends on the condition of the plant, and also it's ancestry and the time of year.

I've had some that start new spikes almost the minute the old one is cut off, and others that didn't spike again for more than a year. I never saw any lawfulness in it-- except that the bigger healthier ones seem to spike sooner. But more or less up to the plant's own whimsy or heredity.

If you concentrate on providing good conditions for growth, it will bloom as much and as often as it can. That's my theory

Brooke, aren't you one who has a violacea alba?