OOps, I think I blew it!

[Nancy]

I have a noid Phalaenopsis that has done beautifully until it came down to making buds. It has a nice flower spike. The buds are tiny, about one quarter inch. they have swung down in preparation to bloom. They are a very strange color and are not growing. I expect them to drop at any time. Also, the roots on the plant have covered over with velamen. It is growing a nice leaf, but the buds are caput. Can anyone give me any insight for the reason the roots stopped growing and the buds are not following through with flowers? I believe I have multiple problems with this plant so if I can have some help tackling them one by one it will be a great help. Thank you all for your support.

[robb]

How long have your buds been formed? I only ask, since I recently received a budding Phal for christmas, but it had 2 buds left to open. Those last two came in a fair bit smaller than the other flowers, and took almost 2 weeks to open!

Perhaps patience, perhaps some better advice...

[phalaephila]

Would it be possible for you to post a picture of the buds and roots? Many of my phal roots are dormant now, they'll start growing again after bloom.

jeanne

[mayres]

If you have buds blasting you need to think about changing something in your environment. I have about 25 spiking/budding phals at home that are developing normally with flowers opening with no issues. On the other hand I have a few at work that I treat in all respects exactly the same as my home plants - buds are blasting. What is the difference? Air conditioning at work. A portion of the week the auto temperature system changes the conditions for days of the week when people are supposed to be here or not here - weekends vs weekdays - warmer stale air when people are not here. We have lots of pc's. and other office equipment in the area so even in winter it is often cooling more than warming. I'm guessing the problem is a combination of poor low humdity and poor air circulation in my case. Where are YOUR plants sitting - near heat vents, cold drafts, what temps are they kept at both day and night, etc.

[Nancy]

This plant is over a heating vent, but it is about three feet above it. This could be the reason, but the phal sitting right next to it is not having the same problem. I think I probably need to move this plant because I've done a good job of training the spike. It goes straight up and then curves out, so more of the spike is over the vent. It seems odd to me that both plants in this pot are growing leaves, though only one is blooming, and the roots are in a state of dormancy. Could part of the problem be that I haven't been giving the plant enough water? I'm starting to get older leaves turning yellow and dropping again. The root systems are very good on these plants. I'll try different things out to see if anything helps. My humidity is between 60 and 70% and there are always two fans running to keep the air fresh. I'll let you know about the temps, but I'm guessing 70 day, 60 night. Thanks for the posts.

[kmarch]

Nancy, a Phal is not a Phal is not a Phal. In other words, you could have 2 phals sitting next to eachother and one whill thrive while the other struggles. I think the heating vent might be a problem. If you have forced air heat you're probably getting some hot dry air then when the heat goes off it gets more mild then another blast of hot dry air. This could easily cause bud blast (if that is indeed the problem wiht your buds). If the one Phal is doing ok there, leave it. Try the other one in a place where it does not get the hot draft. It is normal for the roots to develop a whitish veleman on their surface. Nothing to sorry there.

[Nancy]

I think we figured out the problem, and it was indeed the vent. At first using fans a deflector we had the warm air drawn out ot the rest of the room. Then we added a new humidity device. This consists of two plastic shoe boxes, some chicken wire, some foam, and a piece of absorbant cotton fabric. They look like two small quonset huts. Water is placed in the shoe boxes, drawn up by the cloth, and blown on the plants with a fan. This worked well until we discovered that the fan was again blowing the warm air back onto the plants again. This has been corrected. thank you all so much for the advice and recommendations. I still cant't figure out why the roots are sleeping when there's so much going on with the plant, though.

[jerrymeola]

excess heat will always damage flower buds and dehydrate flowers shortening their lives.

Also Phals like cool temperatures (under 50) to set buds so if it was too warm the buds may not have formed well

[Nancy]

I lost three buds on the spike. I believe I have remedied the situation because the fourth bud shows no indication of blasting. It also appears that the spike is getting ready to branch, so I guess maybe it's a doritenopsis?

[phalaephila]

No, the plant does not have to be a doritaenopsis to have branched spikes. I have a Phal. Taisusco Tunelip with a lovely branched spike this year. It has nine phal species in its background; I don't know which one (or ones) contributes the spike-branching characteristic.

jeanne

[Nancy]

The three aborted buds are falling off, but the bud at the end of the spike is growing larger. I really just want to see one, so I can see what color it is. One of the problems with the vent blowing on them was that they dried out. I was wondering if this is the reason thr roots went dormant. Both pots have dormant roots now. These plants are very hard to understand.

[articuno75]

I hate it when these people can't find better things to do.

[kmarch]

Jenny, Lately the spam we've been receiving is a lot like some spam emails I receive which are not actually generated by a person (though it does take a person to sit doen and write the software that makes these "spam-bots" run). I suspect at some point we may have to consider adding a feature to our login that requires a human response, but that's a thought for the future.

In the mean time keep reporting the spamming everyone. We've grown to the point where its impossible for an administrator or moderator to read every single post in every single thread....though I think sometimes Fred comes close to doing that.

We appreciate your reports!

[Yiu Lin]

Well the good thing about this spam is that it brought up an old thread that I missed, but find very interesting.

Nancy - did that last bud open in the end? Did your spike branch? I hope so!

I'm interested in knowing more about spike branching on phals. Does anyone have information on this? What does a spike branch look like? Anyone have any pictures of a branched spike ?

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Yiu Lin

I'm interested in knowing more about spike branching on phals. Does anyone have information on this?

Phal schilleriana and stuartiana are probably the most commonly used phal species for breeding branching hybrids. They both branch quite a bit. Phal aphrodite also branches but not quite as extensively as the other two. I think there are some other species that branch too but they're slipping my mind at the moment.

Originally Posted by Yiu Lin

What does a spike branch look like? Anyone have any pictures of a branched spike ?

Here's a mounted Phal stuartiana in bud where you can see the branches on the inflorescences

Here's a Phal stuartiana staked up in a way that you can easily see the many branches

Here is a beautiful Phal schilleriana mounted with several easily seen branches. This is pretty representative of how they flower in the wild.

And finally a staked up schilleriana with a contrasting background so the branches are easily seen.

Now to clarify a point that confuses some: A branching phal is one that has enough naturally branching species in its background to make it branch naturally when spiking. A phal that spikes, the those flowers die off and it shoots out a secondary spike off the old inflorescence, is not necessarily a branching phal. Branching phals can do this as well, but in order for it to be a branching phal the inflorescence needs to branch as the initial inflorescence grows out.