Katrina,

As some others have pointed out already 10 weeks of inactivity is really not
all that worisome. I have had Phals that were quite healthy not do much in a
similar length of time. I believe a healthy Phal is expected to grow a new
leaf on average every 4 months or so -- but since this is on average, I
would not worry even if it did not grow a new leaf in that much time as long
as the leaves it has look healthy. Four healthy leaves means that it's
probably healthy enough. Just observe it, be patient. Try to adjust
conditions to be as favorable as possible, and it should be fine.

40 centimeters leaf length (about 15 to 16 inches) is indeed quite big, but
I think I have seen some mature white Phals with leaves that size. You say
that "They are much larger than the leaves on another one here with
similarly-sized flowers". One thing that I have observed is that Phal
flowers can be really big even on really young plants. As the plant grows
older the leaves will grow in size, but I don't think the flower size
increases by all that much (though the number of flowers will increase). So
you might just have an older plant than the other ones you observed. Also
there is much variety in so called "standard white Phals". Just because we
humans cannot tell the plants apart without knowing their names and heritage
does not mean that two similar looking plants are not very different. So the
other ones you saw might have been smaller leaved hybrids.

Also, if I were you I would listen to Kathy Barrett's advice. I think she
has a good point that low light conditions might have caused the leaves to
grow more. If your office (where you got your plant from) is anything like
my office, it's probable that the plant had to struggle to get enough light
there, unless it was close to a good window.

In general I have found with my plants and with those of people I know that
a good spot is the single most important thing: if you put the plant
somewhere where it is happy (right amount of light, good enough humidity,
the right temperature and day/night fluctuations, etc), it should do well
with minimal care.

All the best,
Joanna

"White Monkey" wrote in message
...
You say that you posted about this Phal "a couple of months ago" and
that
since then "nothing has changed". I would not necessarily expect a new
leaf
for example to develop in only a couple of months. How long have you had
it?

About 10 weeks.

How many leaves does this Phal have?

Four.

Also, when you say HUGE, how many
inches or centimeters is that? Some Phal species and their hybrids have
really huge leaves, and that's normal for them (extreme example: phal
giganthea).

These leaves are +/- 40 cm long and +/-10 cm. wide. They are much larger
than the leaves on another one here with similarly-sized flowers, if
that's
worth anything. But the corwn they're growing from isn't any thicker than
those of the other phals I have.

Also some phals have longer periods of little new growth than
others. Do you happen to know the hybrid/species/perantage of this phal?

No, but a quick Google turns up that except for having red lips, it looked
(while flowering) vary much like the one labeled "classic white" on this
page: http://www.beautifulorchids.com/orchids/quick_buy5.html

I am questioning whether your phal is necessarily a poor unhappy
thing --
it
does not necessarily have to be, I think.

This would make me happy. I'll keep thinking it's probably OK as long as
it
doesn't start looking bad, I guess! Thank you!

--Katrina



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