short flower stalk, keikis?, planting in glass?

[Mad@orchids]

Hello, I am relatively new to orchids and this forum. Brief background and questions. Pictures attached (hopefully).
1-Bought first one 2 years ago and it survived to rebloom. Question- the blooming stalk is really short. Read this might be due to too much light. Have it on covered porch in summer and in west window with Venetian blinds. What should I do to encourage a longer stalk?
2- The addiction has started. Most recently, I have added 10 from Lowes purchased for $2 each as they had dropped their flowers. 3 have new flower stalks growing with buds now- so excited. 2 have what I am thinking they are keikis- are they? I have read about keiki paste but any tips on care? They don't seem to be growing much.
3- I hate the thought of purchasing new pots for all 10 orchids (and soon to be more as I expect the next batch to be going on sale soon) and saw someone suggesting glass. Went to goodwill and planted 2 in glass to see what would happen. They seem to love it and have new leaves and new roots though I am concerned about watering. It said to put rocks in bottom and just add water as needed to level of rocks. Am I setting them up for some sort of fungus or root rot since the bottom layer stays wet? Any other attractive suggestions?
Thank you and sorry for the length.

[Salixx]

I'm not totally sure about stalk height and light. However, most generic phal hybrids tend to have a lot more flowers per stalk. I have found that my own only have a couple flowers when they get just enough light to grow and flower, but not quite as much as they like. You could try (slowly) upping the light a bit for the next bloom season. As a flip side, I have an old phal NOID hybrid that I got from HD 10 or more years ago. It always used to have short stalks and just a few buds. This year, I gave it a lot of light (pretty close to Cattleya light), and the stalk is quite long with a lot of buds.

As for keikis, I don't see anything that looks like one to me. It's hard to tell from the picture, but some of the things coming from the base of the plant look like roots to me, though they could be flower stalks as well. Phals also can rebloom off of old stalks, which is what you are seeing in the fourth picture with the dragonfly clip.

As for the glass, you can make it work, but I would highly encourage you to reconsider.I personally think Phals really like a lot of air movement around their roots and have had the best root growth for mine in regular plastic garden pots with holes drilled all over. My Phal. speciosa seedling is also doing well in an AirCone pot. That said, at minimum, I would drill drainage holes in the bottom of those. My phals have really resented permanently wet feet and I have almost lost a few because I didn't know there was permanent, stagnant water in the bottom of the pot.

Good luck!

[Mad@orchids]

Thank you so much for the information Salixx.
I had read that too much light would shorten the stalk so I had angled the blinds differently. I will give it more light this next year.
I actually have one that has sent a new spike of the old one and is about to bloom. The other two are so much smaller and have only grown in millimeters. That is why I was wondering if it was a keiki. I have tried to take a better picture of one of them. I guess I will just keep watching to see what happens.
I am afraid of drilling holes in the glass so will try to find more appropriate pots for the rest. Will leave them for now.
I have attached a better picture of the unknown.
Thank you again.

[jkofferdahl]

First, welcome to the obsession.

I agree with Salixx's conclusions. Even with the additional photo of "the unknown", it's most likely that you've got spikes as opposed to keikis. Regarding light, if anything they aren't getting enough. The leaves could be paler, I believe.

I've never tried aquaculture, or glass growing, or whatever with my Phals. If anything, over the years I've become less interested in any form of pot/enclosure. In my experience, and YMMV, Phals grow best when their roots have a lot of air movement, and plenty of watering with the opportunity to dry thanks to the air movement. In June I bought six Phal equestruses (equestri?), which came in those nasty thin plastic pots and wrapped in sphagnum. I immediately repotted them in plastic baskets, half in sphagnum and half in bark. Obviously the plants in bark need more frequent watering, but the air movement through the pots is so wonderful that every plant has had a literal explosion of roots. When these need repotting I'll literally have to cut the pots away to save the healthy roots.

Honestly, and no offense to you or your potting, I wouldn't ever torture a Phal by sticking its roots into glass.

[Mad@orchids]

And no offense taken in regards to the glass. I just thought it would be a prettier way to display if they liked it but I have been uncomfortable with it since I did it. Sort of like poor Betta fish- trapped. I will start researching the basket ideas or different mounts. I just don't have any place to hang them. And I tried staghorn ferns last summer. Purchased them on line and mounted them on wood. They thrived during the summer on my porch but slowly died inside. I had mounted them to wood. Afraid to try it again with phals. Thank you for your advice.

[estación seca]

Welcome!

[Arizona Jeanie]

I moved my phals into plastic baskets with the last re-pot, and they seem to be doing well. They can stick their roots out a bit, but it's way too dry here for aerial roots to really do well. You can buy plastic baskets from orchid supply stores, but they're very inexpensive at hydroponics supply stores, and seem to be about the same thing. I use a bark based phal mix, they seem happy with that. The basket can sit inside a cache pot, if that suits you. I do have one that is in a vase with no media at all, it's been there since March and is looking good. I fill the vase with water twice a week, soak it for an hour or so, then drain completely. I like being able to see those green roots, they are so different from anything else I know about. I think your plants in vases with bark will eventually have problems with root rot and salt buildup, I think I'd try something else instead. Part of the fun is figuring out how to create the conditions in your climate that work for the orchids!