Dragoncarer,

First, a question in response to this statement of yours:
have since split the Phal into two seperate plants - but that was a while
ago

What exactly did you do to this Phal? How did you split it? Was there more
than one Phal in the plant pot when you bought it? Or did it have a basal
keikie (a seperate new plantlet)? Because if not, one does not split Phals,
and depending on what exactly you did, you may have killed the plant.

My understanding is that for a healthy Phal, the three main reasons why it
might not reflower a (1) not enough light; and (2) not enough temperature
difference between night and day; and (3) impatient human not realizing that
it's not time to reflower yet. Let me explain these three points.

(1) light: Even though Phals like low light conditions, this is only low
light in comparison to other orchids, but they still need more light than
most leafy houseplants. Do you have a window that gets morning sun? If so,
that would be ideal. Put the Phals and the Burrageara on the window sill and
keep them there for most or all of the year -- it is ok to move them away
from the window when they are in flower, but be sure to give them enough
light otherwise. However, if you have only a window that has midday sun (is
that a northern window in Australia?) that would be too much sun, so you'd
want a sheer curtain or move the plant further from the window. A window
that faces north in the northern hemisphere, so I guess that would be south
in Australia, that won't might not provide enough light for a Phal to
reflower, and you may need to supplement with grow lights of some sort.

(2) temperature difference: in order to initiate spiking (start the process
that leads to reflowering), Phals need a difference of about 10 to 15
degrees Fahrenheit between night and day temperatures -- so for example a
night temp of 60 degrees and a day temp of 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Since you
are putting the phal outside for the night, I assume that you are taking
care of that, unless in your climate the nights do not get cool enough or
get too cold (I would not expose a Phal to lower temp than 55 degrees
Fahrenheit).

(3) impatience of human: How long have you have these orchids? Generally you
can expect a Phal to reflower about a year after it started flowering
previously. Also a change in its growing conditions (from vendor's
greenhouse to your home) may cause it to reflower later than it otherwise
would have. So be patient. If of course you have had the orchids for much
longer than a year, and they have not reflowered, then consider changing
their conditions -- sometimes moving the orchids to a different spot that
they might prefer, could make all the difference.

I hope this helps,
Joanna

"Dragoncarer" wrote in message
...
So yeah...they're simply not flowering.

I dunno what else to try.

I've been putting one plant out at night - just to see if this will
encourage a flower spike to form - but so far no luck (I'm in fairly
temperate zone and was told this can help to encourage the plant to know
when it's night-time, and when it's day-time, as it were...)

Just recently one of the phals has started to 'cark' it...the leaves all
fell off, yet the 'heart' is still firm, green and healthy looking.


But neither variation (I have 3 plants - 2x of the Phal - sorry I can't
remember the variety; 1x of this Exotic ('Burrageara' - Cochlioda,
Miltonia,
Odontoglossum, Oncidium cross)) is flowering!

The flowers dropped off about a month after I got home on both plants (I
bought two - have since split the Phal into two seperate plants - but that
was a while ago) - but no new spikes developed, or I think one did, but it
died fairly early on and quite immature.

I've had them for nearly a year, I think, and they've maintained their
health - large, thick, luscious leaves that don't stop growing it seems,
nice firm hearts, but NO FLOWERS!

I'm not a true Orchid fanatic, but I do love Phals...and after all I got
the
things for the flowering aspect!!

They're in 'medium' orchid potting mix, in plastic pots with plenty of
drainage holes, which are then placed in larger ceramic, decorative pots
surrounded with sphagnum (again, big drainage holes at the bottom of the
pot).
I'll let the sphag dry out, then give them a good water - every few weeks
I'll soak the entire plant (well, the roots) in water and sometimes an
orchid fertiliser (made strictly according to instructions).

One of my conerns is, I have not allowed any of the roots/tubers to see
the
sun - they're all covered by the sphag or the potting mix. Could this be a
source of the problem? I've noticed in nurseries that their healthy
(flowering!) orchids (phals et al.) have a few tubers open to the air,
green
and healthy-looking.


Long post, I know, but oh please please please you extremely knowledgeable
Orchid lovers!!!!
*cry*
I just want my lovely orchid flowers!

Many, many, many TIA!


PS. Live in Melbourne, Australia.
I can post pics if absolutely necessary! But it takes a little fiddling
around...