Dick,

I can keep healthy looking Phal plants but they are reluctant to send up
new blooms.

I once heard that the two most frequent reasons for Phals not reblooming are
(1) insufficient light; and (2) insufficient difference between night and
day -- to initiate spike a Phal needs several nights of 10-15 degrees
Fahrenheit difference. I tend to open the window next to my Phals at night
when the night temperature is supposed to be in the 60s. Also, have you
tried moving the Phals to a different location? Sometimes that can make a
difference for reluctant re-bloomers -- while we humans may think that the
spot is great for the Phal, the Phal may out of some reason prefer another
one. Also how long have you had these Phals that have not rebloomed for you?

Still, purchasing an occasional plant is economical as the
bloom lasts so long. They are far cheaper than buying bouquets of
blossems.

My thoughts exactly: I have one Phal that I paid $55 for this Phal back in
2003, so it seemed quite expensive at the time. The first time it bloomed
for 6 months on two spikes. Then it rebloomed for 4 months on a branched
spike in 2004. Now it's in bloom for the third time and it has 20 three-inch
flowers on one spike, it has bloomed for 4 months already and does not look
like it's done blooming yet at all. I have already had 14 months total of
flowering out of this plant, so that's $4 per month. So even a $55 Phal can
become very cheap over time, and even if it had not rebloomed, those 6
months of initial blooming already meant that it cost less than $10 per
month at that time.

Joanna