Hey, I've got spikes on these two this morning! :joy: Now, if they will only grow, I'll be so happy! My bellina arrived in spike, but the spike just sits and sits and sits....maybe the new spikes will like me better? :confused: Hope so!

The growth on my belina is real spurty. Sometimes the spikes just sit there, and sometimes they grow as fast as any other phal. Mine is mounted on elm bark, I like how the leaves grow downward along the mount. It seems like this species likes more warmth and humidity than the bulk of the Philippine phal species I have.

Hey, I've got spikes on these two this morning! :joy: Now, if they will only grow, I'll be so happy! My bellina arrived in spike, but the spike just sits and sits and sits....maybe the new spikes will like me better? :confused: Hope so!

Oh you found 2 more spikes growing? Very nice. Mine also has a spike but that spike has been there for almost a year!!!!! And not doing a thing! I think it is forever frozen in time. :lol:

Yes, that is how my bellina one is also - frozen. But it has a new one, and the other corullea has one also. :D

I also keep these in my warmest spot, and it is quite a small space so stays more humid also.

Yes, that is how my bellina one is also - frozen. But it has a new one, and the other corullea has one also. :D

I also keep these in my warmest spot, and it is quite a small space so stays more humid also.

I think that is the key! I don't think I have the right conditions to grow bellinas. My phal schill and luedde are growing happily, though!

It seems like most of the flowering action in the greenhouses here in TN happens later in summer, but spike does go on year round with these guys.

I also have one that is pushing a new spike and a great big new leaf. I bought this in spike towards the end of last summer it had two spikes with one fat bud and just as it was begining to open it blasted on me. So I'm hoping this new spike will produce.Seems to be growing real good. Ray

I have one that has 2 1-inch spikes that have been "dormant" for months now...they may bloom this summer, or they just may wait 'til next season. It's put out a full-sized leaf since they stopped growing...but they'll start up again...someday... :poke:

I have one that has 2 1-inch spikes that have been "dormant" for months now...they may bloom this summer, or they just may wait 'til next season. It's put out a full-sized leaf since they stopped growing...but they'll start up again...someday... :poke:

My big one in spike has done the exact same thing. Maybe it is just the way it grows! That'd be fine w/ me, as long as it eventually blooms! :roll:

Well The leafs on this plant that is putting out a new spike are 11and 12 inches to give you an idea how big the plant is. I also have a smaller one that just dosen do anything.I also Have a Phal. Penang Girl ' Ching Ruey ' That I would like to see in spike it's leafs are 8 to 10 in. long It's never bloomed yet but it's putting out new growth so I guess there's hope right. Ray

This is where you want Al to chime in. I've told him he needs to change his name to "Al's Phals" :lol: . He has these things hanging all over the place...bark, baskets, pots...and, many, many other interesting Phal species. If there's anybody that's a Phal expert, it's him. I actually discussed my plant with him the other day and he said it's normal for them to do that...and the spikes can grow for years...

A phal expert? Me. Boy have I got him snowed. :evil:

Slow growing start-n-stop spikes seem to be normal for the violacea I have growing in my greenhouse. Young first time bloomers will not always finish a spike the first flowering season. Sometimes they just never finish a first spike and it sits dormant while and eventually dies off while subsequent spikes develop and pass them. But often they just grow slowly over several year. I have adult blooming violacea that have 6 spikes and each year the older ones put on a few more flower as the new spike develops. Unusually the adult plants will develop a spike all the way to flowering in the first season, but they keep these spikes for years and can add more flowers to old green tips for many years there after.

I see the stalled spike syndrome on first time spikes in a very small percentage of my baby Phals in general. Only in a very few species do stalled spikes ever go on to finish in later years; violacea seems to be one of them.

Now if you really want an aggravating plant, try Phal Gigantea. My first time bloomer took 4 years to get the spikes to the point where it would bloom. One spike a year for four years and each year the older spikes would grow several inches and then stop dead for 6 months. Last year it opened flowers on every spike the day our NCOS annual show ended. Nevertheless, it is a mean moody plant and may never do it again.

I am sure some of this finicky spike growth in both species is culturally related to some extent, but I would have to be a Phal expert to say why.

I have a friend in our society out hear with 3 gigantea. And they are :shock:

The leaves are as big as pizza I'd feed to my whole family. (Well maybe not quite that big :oops: ) Al , you should post a picture of yours with something next to them for scale if they're bigguns.

The ones my friend has bloom reliably now, but he did say that it took them a few years to get after it, and they don't like to be moved.

Thanks for the education Expert Al! :wink:

Glad to hear that maybe it is more just the plants than that they don't like me.
(Also, glad I finally learned how to spell violacea coerulea today. That was driving me nuts!)