Martin wrote: >Charles Ufford said: > >>My small phal species often have problems getting buds, >>and since I use warm water and keep the temps up, try to keep them in >>a humid spot and don't overfeed, I'm assuming the water is to blame! > > >I think you have the wrong diagnosis. Look to your culture. I >suggest you read the papers of Yin Tung-Wang at: > >http://primera.tamu.edu/orchids/articles.htm > >STUDY THEM. > >And why warm water? As along as your water is above 60F it is OK for orchids. > >Martin
Thanks for the link, Martin. I generally don't have problems getting my phals to flower. I only have one phal hybrid and though it hasn't flowered yet, it is still young. For some of my other, non-phal orchids, not a great enough temperature differential and/or not quite enough light are mostly the reasons for them not flowering. My first sentence should've read: 'often have problems getting buds to stay on'. I have been given advice that for some of the small species, putting cold water on the warm buds (I have heated spot so they stay warm though not in greenhouse) could very well be a reason for them blasting, along with being told to use distilled water for some (mounted on treefern) instead of high ec water, humidity being too low for emerging buds. Humidity being too low is quite a problem in my apartment in Winter though have water underneath and plastic around the carts my plants are on. Usually not a problem for the larger ones, but species like phal taenialis, parishii and a few others the buds just don't want to stay. I use warm water for the warmer species, since I often splash on the leaves; if I were more careful and only got the roots, would probably not be a problem using colder water if I didn't use calcium chips in some of the species that there are suggestions for using in the media. Splashing cold water on the leaves of some of the fussier species (phals) that in nature rarely see temps below 68F results in spotty death of cells in the leaves. Have read that when using cold water when using limestone or coral chips in media, the calcium releases too rapidly and can be more of a problem than not having the extra calcium available, so overall less headaches using normal room temp or slightly above water. I've seen very cold water used on other orchids in a nearby greenhouse, and they don't seem to suffer in general for it, as long as he remembers to water them often enough! hope this clarification helps things, regards, charles -- Charles Ufford Oriskany, NY USA IPA, Central NY, NANOC and So. Tier Orchid Societies www.cnyos.org www.geocities.com/charlesufford _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
