Large Phals lots of spikes!

[gonewild]

I was just kidding. Seriously though, very impressive growing.

Me too! oke:

Thanks

 

[Sharky]

Hi Lance
Again, BRAVO, magnificent culture
I guess I'll be searching for your fert routine...... (Unless you want to save me the trouble lol)
I'm an indoor/under lights grower and have purchased an a/c unit recently to provide this level of temp control for my Phals. The future is bright!
Mark

 

[gonewild]

Hi Lance
Again, BRAVO, magnificent culture
I guess I'll be searching for your fert routine...... (Unless you want to save me the trouble lol)
I'm an indoor/under lights grower and have purchased an a/c unit recently to provide this level of temp control for my Phals. The future is bright!
Mark

I'll help you with fertilizer. But you should not just copy what I do. It needs to be adjusted to your environment. However the basics are the same.

I have not found the Phals to be happy with a low nutrient supply.
Lowering the K ratio has reduced disease problems.
I never use UREA.
I provide a lot of calcium
I provide a lot of magnesium
I provide a lot of iron.
Nutrients are applied every watering.

my fertilizer is made from:
calcium nitrate
potassium nitrate
ammonium nitrate
magnesium sulfate
diammonium phosphate
phosphoric acid
a premix of micros

I do not use every chemical in every batch of fertilizer. Nutrients get tweaked based on the plant growth is see. Calcium nitrate is always the main ingredient.

I also use occassionally
humic acid
citric acid (recently)
a new Peruvian seaweed extract.

base water supply is rainwater.

If you want to discuss the fertilizer in more detail start a new thread and ask me any question you have.

 

[suzyquec]

Impressive, can't wait for the blooming photos.

 

[Happypaphy7]

Late to the party! Congrats on fun/experiment.
I am also aware of this technic Sharky already mentioned.
They do it on Taiwan for showing impressive ones.

Peeing on it every might boost the number of spikes.
Just kidding!

 

[Gilda]

OMG !! That is incredible and so interesting !:clap::clap::clap:

 

[Sharky]

Thanks Lance
Will try to formulate some intelligent questions

Also thanks for listing the temps you used. Will try to emulate these going forward.

Also, if you are singing or whistling while you work please let us know your favorite songs, will add those to the regimen as well!
Mark

 

[Clark]

I always loved Bruce Banner.

 

[Ray]

Thanks Lance

Will try to formulate some intelligent questions

Be very careful about doing that. Don't forget that it is Lance that will decide on their worthiness.

 

[gonewild]

Be very careful about doing that. Don't forget that it is Lance that will decide on their worthiness.

Should I take that as an insult Ray?

 

[Happypaphy7]

He didn't say why, so no clue what he meant.
I'm just looking forward to some pictures of final result.
It would be magnificent!

 

[paphioboy]

Yes most Phal varieties need a cool period to produce spikes.
The assumed magic number is above 28c the plant remains vegetative and will not bloom. So if you can drop the day temperature below 28c and then get the night below 24c you will probably induce spikes to form. It takes about a month at these temperatures. When I drop the night temp to19c I see spikes in about 18 days. The big plants in the pictures will remain in the cold for 2 months.

IMHO that is not always true. Most phal hybrids (most of the large flowered whites, white with coloured lip, pink, yellows and novelties) grown outdoors here can rebloom in Malaysian lowlands without cooling, which has average daily temperature of 27-35 degrees C, very little day-night fluctuation. During the monsoon, temperature very rarely drops below 25 degrees C, and even so only for very short periods (several days). Only the dark pinks, reds and schilleriana hybrids require extended cooling to initiate spikes here. Having said that, of course forcing with low temperature will promote spike formation faster and more consistently, which is why commercial nurseries often have a cool room to force phals into flower.

 

[abax]

I took Ray's comment as a compliment on Lance's intelligence. I don't think he'd bother with a stupid question. After all, why should he?

 

[gonewild]

IMHO that is not always true. Most phal hybrids (most of the large flowered whites, white with coloured lip, pink, yellows and novelties) grown outdoors here can rebloom in Malaysian lowlands without cooling, which has average daily temperature of 27-35 degrees C, very little day-night fluctuation. During the monsoon, temperature very rarely drops below 25 degrees C, and even so only for very short periods (several days). Only the dark pinks, reds and schilleriana hybrids require extended cooling to initiate spikes here. Having said that, of course forcing with low temperature will promote spike formation faster and more consistently, which is why commercial nurseries often have a cool room to force phals into flower.

That's interesting. Can you expand on this a little. When you say they "can rebloom" do you mean they bloom outside on their on every year?

Here during our cool season less than 20% of the plants set spikes. During the warm season occasionally a few plants set spikes but not many.

From what I gather from research papers 28c temperature is the point that makes a difference. My experience here is if temperatures never fall bellow 28c day or night the plant grows leaves and does not flower. If day temperature is above 28c and night temperature is 24c a lot of plants will set spikes. But drop the day temperature down to 24c and the night to 19c and usually 100% set spikes.

 

[consettbay2003]

I have read that it is the lower day temperature ( 17 to 24 C ) that initiates the spiking.

 

[Tom-DE]

Obviously your "experiment" is working well for your Phals. Do you grow anything else with the same "experiment"? How are those(from other genera) doing if you do grow other orchids?

 

[gonewild]

I have read that it is the lower day temperature ( 17 to 24 C ) that initiates the spiking.

Maybe, I'm not sure if it matters whether day or night is lower. It may just be the total hours of cold. I choose to run the nights cold and the days warmer because that is the most economical combination for the electric energy consumption.

Interesting point is that most of the published research of the blooming of phals refers to using high temperatures above 28c to inhibit spiking.

 

[gonewild]

Obviously your "experiment" is working well for your Phals. Do you grow anything else with the same "experiment"? How are those(from other genera) doing if you do grow other orchids?

No only phals now. I don't have much else to work with. It's very difficult to get any quantity of quality orchids in Peru. The import laws are very difficult. I have now my import permits and quarantine areas but the costs of import are prohibitive. I was able recently to purchase a small quantity of Paphs and Vandas from one of the biggest growers in the country. I hoped to do some similar experiments but the plants arrived in very poor health, so it will be a while before I can work with other genera.

 

[paphioboy]

That's interesting. Can you expand on this a little. When you say they "can rebloom" do you mean they bloom outside on their on every year?

Here during our cool season less than 20% of the plants set spikes. During the warm season occasionally a few plants set spikes but not many.

From what I gather from research papers 28c temperature is the point that makes a difference. My experience here is if temperatures never fall bellow 28c day or night the plant grows leaves and does not flower. If day temperature is above 28c and night temperature is 24c a lot of plants will set spikes. But drop the day temperature down to 24c and the night to 19c and usually 100% set spikes.

Yes, most growers here grow their plants outdoors exposed/semi-exposed to the elements. The large flowered euphalaenopsis types are the ones that likely require cooling to reliably initiate spikes (especially dark pinks and reds), but the star-shaped stauroglottis section (e.g. violacea, amboinensis etc) don't. They also have different seasons (novelty hybrids initiate spikes around April which is hot, large flowered ones towards the rainy season in October/November), hybrids integrated across these sections (yellow, art shade, stripes, dots) do not require cooling to flower.