Why can't I grow Phal?

[Eric Muehlbauer]

I was going to post the same link. As I said on that thread, phals were my easiest orchid as a beginner. They always bloomed, and bloomed well. Now I'm down to very few plants, but they don't bloom at all. Its not the heat...my old apartment was drafty with a landlord cheap on heat, so they were cooler in winter then than now, but they bloomed then, not now. I think its that they are all (my plants, I'm speaking of..) virused. And since most phals on the mass market are from Taiwan, they are virtually all virused.

 

[e-spice]

I couldn't grow phals either, they died a slow death with me, never rebloomed & became mealy bug magnets.
Went to clay pots, some are in loosely packed sphagnum, a couple are course bark. I was under the impression, due to their thick succulent leaves & roots they should dry out in between waterings. I've switched to keeping them more on the evenly moist side & they've done great! I do have them shaded but consider my GH to be intermediate temps in the winter, so far so good!

Couldn't agree with that assessment more. I have found they do better when grown a little drier too.

e-spice

 

[Rick]

Maybe making too many generalizations???

All species and hybrids of phal??? There are high and lowland species of Vanda and Phal that have very different temp regimes. But in general the Vandas like the high light at the tops of trees, while the phals are near the ground in the shade.

The big temp fluctuations may be an issue. MOST of my slippers dendros and vandas can handle much bigger fluctuations and low end temps than any of my phals.

Winter temps getting down in the 50's (F) would be a concern for some of the more successful phal growers in my area. Some hate to get below 70 in the winter, and then can't understand why none of there other orchids aren't blooming while there phals are going nuts.

I have many phals in my collection and do have winter temps as low as high 50's on scattered nights. Most are mounted, the few potted ones are in sphagnum only. They all get fed the same stuff as everyone else in the collection, so I don't think there are any special nutrient requirements that would kill your phals selectively out of your collection.

Pretty weird BD!