Hello! It's been awhile since I've been in the orchids forum, but I still somehow have all my orchids. My first orchid I asked about on here, did drop all its buds, but it is now producing what I believe to be a new, uh, bloom stalk? I can't remember what it's called on orchids. My grandmother gave me her orchid that she had 3 feet from a west facing window, covered by a huge porch, and 80 foot spruce trees. She also put it outside in 3 hours of direct SE sun, and left it out when we had a light frost. Needless to say, that one has been through a lot. It never bloomed for her or me, but it is producing new leaves! All my phals are on my deck now under an overhang, protected by a piece of fabric that baffles the sunlight. The pictures were taken in the direct sun to expose them the best I could, but they were only in it for about a minute. The burns on the leaves of the larger phal, were there when I got it. Will the larger, burned phal continue to pull through? Is my phal in the terra cotta about to bloom? Thanks in advance!

I only have one point too make and that is for their long term survival, they are getting too much sun. If you look at your images that you provided, the proper amount of light should not produce those sharp shadows. No where near it. The light that they need should at the worse make a weak, fuzzy shadow.
Your Phalaenopsis are shown sitting in light strong enough to grow Cattleyas or maybe even Vandas!
That piece of fabric is not cutting the light nearly enough.

Isn't that an inflorescence going out to the left on the one in the light colored pot.
As future reference, a Phalaenopsis leaf could burn in a very short period of time. I would advise against sitting them in that kind of light. It could burn inside of 2-3 minutes.

BigBill said:I only have one point too make and that is for their long term survival, they are getting too much sun. If you look at your images that you provided, the proper amount of light should not produce those sharp shadows. No where near it. The light that they need should at the worse make a weak, fuzzy shadow.
Your Phalaenopsis are shown sitting in light strong enough to grow Cattleyas or maybe even Vandas!
That piece of fabric is not cutting the light nearly enough.

This is not the sun they normally get; I just sat them there for these pictures. I agree, it wasn't a bright idea. I had a rough day and made a dumb choice for these poor guys. Hmmm, I would love to grow vandas, but I'd have to take them inside for the winter, which my inside has very little sun. That's why I put the phals out for the summer.

BigBill said:Isn't that an inflorescence going out to the left on the one in the light colored pot.
As future reference, a Phalaenopsis leaf could burn in a very short period of time. I would advise against sitting them in that kind of light. It could burn inside of 2-3 minutes.

If I remember right, the inflorescence is from a previous bloom period in which it suffered from bud drop, too. When I got the phal from my grandmother, I cut the dead portion down to the part that was still alive. The remaining stem is still alive two months later, and I'm not sure why.

It probably hasn't died because of genetics. Hybrids made with Phalaenopsis amabilis/aphrodite have the tendency to hold on to their spikes. They often elongate at the tip and produce more buds. I can't ever recall reading why they do that but they do. I assume it has to do with their natural habitat and genetics.
Keep up with the good work!!

BigBill said:It probably hasn't died because of genetics. Hybrids made with Phalaenopsis amabilis/aphrodite have the tendency to hold on to their spikes. They often elongate at the tip and produce more buds. I can't ever recall reading why they do that but they do. I assume it has to do with their natural habitat and genetics.
Keep up with the good work!!

Wow, that's interesting. Sort of reminds me of annual flower companies hybridizing their flowers to produce more blooms or a sterile seed for no deadheading. I'd love to get some more phal blooms, but with my track record, I won't expect anything. Thank you for the compliment, though! If I had a nickel for every time someone said I was doing good, uh, I wouldn't have any money for more plants.

I think your Phal's look good, considering what they've been through. (I owe you a nickel ). A few minutes in the sun to take a good photo will not hurt them any. I rescued a few from a friend who left them in her trunk in January before bringing them to me - that was after the two months of overwatering.

Phalaenopsis need a temperature drop at night of at least 10 degrees in the fall/winter to encourage blooms. For me, that's a window sill against the glass and a room with the heat turned off.

DaisyI said:I think your Phal's look good, considering what they've been through. (I owe you a nickel ). A few minutes in the sun to take a good photo will not hurt them any. I rescued a few from a friend who left them in her trunk in January before bringing them to me - that was after the two months of overwatering.

Phalaenopsis need a temperature drop at night of at least 10 degrees in the fall/winter to encourage blooms. For me, that's a window sill against the glass and a room with the heat turned off.

Aah, that was so nice I could cry. These plants must be extremely tough to be surviving all this stuff! I mean, most summer annuals wouldn't survive what they're surviving. I had a phal I purchased last winter, behind a door to the deck. (On the inside of the house of course) The door is used a lot, so I'm surprised that the phal bloomed as long as it did - February-July. It is the only other phal I have, and the only one I didn't show on here. Maybe it bloomed so long because the temperature dropped 10 degrees whenever I opened the door All this orchid talk sure makes me want to buy another...

That's how we all got started.