Ted,

If by sulking do you mean the leaves are limp and wrinkled?

I usually see that on a phal that has damaged roots. I have a few smaller
plants like that in my collection right. Something has damaged the roots.
Perhaps when they were repoted they weren't firm in the mix or maybe I
pulled them out and did not put them back in the pot. Maybe when I potted
them I didn't put enough mix around them and the roots dried out and died.

95% of my phals are doing great ...it's only a few.

When I find one of these plants I knock them out of the pot. Cut away any
dead roots and evaluate how best to give them what they need to recover.
Often that means taking them back a pot size and potting them a bit deeper
in the pot so the stem tissue can send out new roots. Sometimes that means
taking them back to 2 inch plastic pots with fine mix.

To answer your other question about leaf growth.....yes, phals are generally
seasonal growers. They grow leaves during long warm days.....set spikes
when it gets cool.....bloom in the dead of winter and then rest for a few
weeks until the days get warm and long again ....then the cycle starts
again.

I have a few plants that grow leaves all year around. There are always
exceptions.

One things for sure....a rootless sulking phal probably will not grow until
you identify what the problem is and fix it.

Good Growing,
Gene





"Ted Byers" wrote in message
om...
While I seem to be doing well with my catts, even though several have
lost pseudobulbs because of the winter dryness and one has apparently
died from it, my phals seem to be sulking. Even though I rebloomed
one, not one of them has put out a new leaf; and a couple have lost
one or two leaves. With only two exceptions, they were all either
repotted after the last flower faded or had been repotted a few months
before I bought them (since the medium looks new, and rains a little
too fast for my taste). Apart from several dends which are in moss,
all my orchids are in either medium coconut husk chips or coir fibre,
and with a handful of exceptions, I am using clay pots.

Should I be worried that they haven't put out new leaves? Is there
some seasonality in leaf production in phals? Is there anything I can
do to stimulate leaf production? Should I forget about phals and
focus on catts and dends? Or is it a question of them being stressed
by the winter dryness and they'll put out new growth once summer
arrives with all its unbearable heat and humidity (while my plants may
love it, I suffer badly from heat, especially combined with high
humidity - living in Singapore for a couple of years was not fun for
me!)?

Cheers,

Ted