Why is my Stem shorter this year?

[Cattleya17]

hello all how are you doing? i hope all is well and that those of you are all staying warm!

I have a standard phalaenopsis its name is Phal. Sogo Yukidian 'Odoms Snowfall'. Last year the stem was very tall and thicker and now the stem is thinner and it is also a third the height and is now producing its first flower bud it didn't even reach the top of the stake like it did last year, then it made its first bud.

So my question is why? did i do something wrong to cause this change in flowering or is every year different? Please help Im just confused. here is what it looked like last year


As you can see (the white one) it reached beyond the top of the stake before making buds