Hey all,
Below is a picture of my two phal in bloom:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/cpyanger/134-3426_IMG.jpg

My problem is the the stem height (the plants are healthy overall). As compared to the phal sold in stores, the flowers are on a taller stem. Compare to mine, the flowers are on a shorter stem. Why is that? How can I resolve this issue for next year to have flowers on a taller, longer stem? Thanks.

here's another photo of the white one:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/cpyanger/134-3427_IMG.jpg

Notice the stem height?

The white flower is 8.75 inches tall
The white/purple flower is 7.25 inches tall

There are many things that control the length of the stem that you have no control over. Namely the parantage of the plant and the age. But as far as the things you have control over are light and air humidity.

Phals that will produce long spikes (not all species and hybrids do no matter what) will tend to be longer under lower light conditions with high humidity. A long flower stem is not neccesarily an advntage if its not covered with flowers or frequent branching. Generally a spike will grow toward light until it reaches adequate levels to support blooms, but if the airflow and humidity are low the plant will be too stressed to support a long spike, so you generally need both conditions to get those long snakey spikes.