Still can't figure out my mottled leaved Phals?

[Phal grower]

Hi friends! I am growing about a dozen Phals under lights (two forty watt bulbs) with natural light as well. I have green leaved and mottled leaved plants. My mystery is this. My green leaved plants are doing great, big leaves as well. All my Phals are planted in the same mix and have good roots (I plant in clear plastic so i can see whats going on). So my question is why are the mottleds giving me smaller leaves? Do they need more or less light than the greens? They have the same culture, they are mini's I think, but so are some of my green ones. I moved them closer to the lights and they're leaves got even smaller. Now I'm at a loss. I really like those little mottleds and I needs some help. Do I move them further from the light and will smaller leaves effect blooming? I always thought big leaves means a healthy plant and big blooms. Hmmm? Thanks for any comments

[Zoi2]

I don't give my mottle leaf phals and paphs as bright a light as the solid green leaf ones.
Joann

[Phal grower]

Thanks for the comment. I was thinking that. Do you have a lot of plants?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

You are seeing the plasticity of the mottled leaved Phals at work. This kind of plasticity is their adaptive mechanism. The brighter the light the smaller the leaves are in order to reduce the surface area of the leaves because they're getting plenty of light. If you drop the light levels, the leaves will progressively get larger in order to increase the surface area of the leaves so that it may be able to obtain as much sun as it can.

Same goes for watering. If you water less, the newer leaves will become smaller than the original ones. Increase the amount of water they receive, and the leaves will get as large or larger than the original leaves.