The Orchid Garden

Mass. Orchid Society and Phal question

Question:

Hey Rick, I’d like to ask a bit more… Laurie,    From the sound of it your buds on your phal are history anyway so if your potting medium needs replacing go ahead and do it.

Thanks, I think I will.  All the buds are gone now, so it’s no hardship to remove the infloresence and repot. <good advice clipped to save space    As to why you have lost your buds, my guess is that it is somehow related to your habit of misting on a daily basis. While it seems that tropical plants would love this type of attention the truth is that they are equally likely to suffer from such treatment. Frequent misting can result in crown rot and bud blast, especially if the plant remains wet after nightfall. My advice is to refrain from misting your phals on all but the warmest summer days. If you do get water trapped in the crown of your phals or as drops on the inflorescence use some toilet tissue to remove it. Good Luck!

OK.  I usually mist in the morning and the plants are dry by noon.  It’s horribly dry here and I thought the misting would help that situation (if I don’t mist the humidity is about 30%-50%.)  Is that enough?  I have several other plants in spike and one just started blooming since I wrote the message.  It’s my first winter with them and I’m nervous about the humidity. Thanks, Laurie

Response:

The Mass Orchid Society meets the second Tuesday of every month athe the Walthm Agricultural Station.  Call there to get the exact time.  I think it is around 7:30 PM

Response:

Hello Orchidists, I have a couple questions: Is there a Massachusetts Orchids Society and if so, do you know how to get in touch with them? Yes, I did look on the AOS page for mention of them, but did not find anything.  The only mention of them that I ever saw, was in passing on the moderated Orchid mailing list. Next question: I have a Phal hybrid (Phal. Lippegruss x Phal. Pinlong Cinderella) that had 5 flower buds on it swollen to the size of cherry tomatoes, and then they started shriveling and started falling off.  The temp is Min. 60 and Max. 76.  I water about every 5-10 days depending on the dampness of the "soil."  I mist every morning. I fertilize with a dilute solution every couple of weeks and flush every month.  The humidity is 40%-80%. They are in an east window, but receive very little direct sun (dappled at most) because of the tree which shades the window.  Yes, Rod, I looked at the roots.  I think the soil has begun to break down.  So: Do I dare repot it with the flowers on?   Is the soil the only thing I’m doing wrong?  I don’t want to lose any more flowers and have 7 other phals in spike who sit in the same area as this Phal so I have much to lose. (OOO my aunt’s neglected phals have started putting up flower spikes for me (family members report that they haven’t bloomed since she bought them 5-10 years ago) so I must be doing SOMETHING right.) Thanks for any insight. Laurie Hughes (OOOO and my Cat. Mini-Purple ‘Blue Hawaii’ has two, count ‘em two, flower buds on it.)

Response:

Mass orchid Society meets every 2nd Tues. of the month.  I would love to go but I have to work Tues. Nights.  I think they meet at the agriculture station in Waltham.  You can get better information by talking to the person that runs the green house at the Lyman Estate in Waltham. Jeanne

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello Orchidists, I have a couple questions: Is there a Massachusetts Orchids Society and if so, do you know how to get in touch with them? Yes, I did look on the AOS page for mention of them, but did not find anything.  The only mention of them that I ever saw, was in passing on the moderated Orchid mailing list. Next question: I have a Phal hybrid (Phal. Lippegruss x Phal. Pinlong Cinderella) that had 5 flower buds on it swollen to the size of cherry tomatoes, and then they started shriveling and started falling off.  The temp is Min. 60 and Max. 76.  I water about every 5-10 days depending on the dampness of the "soil."  I mist every morning. I fertilize with a dilute solution every couple of weeks and flush every month.  The humidity is 40%-80%. They are in an east window, but receive very little direct sun (dappled at most) because of the tree which shades the window.  Yes, Rod, I looked at the roots.  I think the soil has begun to break down.  So: Do I dare repot it with the flowers on? Is the soil the only thing I’m doing wrong?  I don’t want to lose any more flowers and have 7 other phals in spike who sit in the same area as this Phal so I have much to lose. (OOO my aunt’s neglected phals have started putting up flower spikes for me (family members report that they haven’t bloomed since she bought them 5-10 years ago) so I must be doing SOMETHING right.) Thanks for any insight. Laurie Hughes (OOOO and my Cat. Mini-Purple ‘Blue Hawaii’ has two, count ‘em two, flower buds on it.)Laurie,

   From the sound of it your buds on your phal are history anyway so if your potting medium needs replacing go ahead and do it. Phals grow all year depending on conditions and if you can maintain the conditions you describe the plant shouldn’t suffer much from the repotting. As far as the inflorescence now on the plant goes, you can’t have it both ways. If you repot the plant needs to put its energy into establishing itself in the new medium. The energy required in producing flowers is a strain on even well-established orchids. If you’re going to repot remove the inflorescence first, wait at least a few weeks and then repot. If you just can’t bear to remove the inflorescence until you are certain you’ll get no further flowering from it, delay the repotting until such time.    As to why you have lost your buds, my guess is that it is somehow related to your habit of misting on a daily basis. While it seems that tropical plants would love this type of attention the truth is that they are equally likely to suffer from such treatment. Frequent misting can result in crown rot and bud blast, especially if the plant remains wet after nightfall. My advice is to refrain from misting your phals on all but the warmest summer days. If you do get water trapped in the crown of your phals or as drops on the inflorescence use some toilet tissue to remove it. Good Luck! Rick Barry

Response:

Filed under: Orchid Flower

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