Leaf vs spike
 

Hi all!
Well fall has arrived in my state, and with it comes relief from our 90+ degree summers. Of course my phals are liking it too and are just starting to send out spikes! :D I have a large phal that I'm unsure about - it is spiking and growing a new leaf as well. I want to move it out of the back of the shaded patio area it's in (no direct light, patio on north side of my house, overhang extends out 5-6 feet) and on to my little east facing cheapo orchid table with the other phals. The table has 2 layers of window screening wrapped around and above it. I'm in South Florida and the morning light hits my east wall until about 11-12pm.

My question is will the move affect the leaf growth? I don't want the leaf to go into shock and stop growing due to the new light level but I would like to give the spike a chance at more light. This phal has spiked for me before but had a very very short spike and only 2 sad flowers, so I want to experiment this season to see if I can get a taller spike with more flowers. I wanted to wait until the leaf finished to move it but it surprised me with a spike so soon.

Thanks!

Provided the light levels and temps are OK, I would move a phal without a second thought. They grow leaves all year round, and spike when it's the right season, and that's that.

They're usually fairly easy going and a bit of light should do it good at this time of year.

I agree, I always have to move some of my orchids this time of year because of the changing direction of the sun.

Thanks for the vote of confidence everyone. I moved it this morning. I always thought (and read) that during the growth of a new leaf, you should try to avoid bringing on any type of sudden change, rotating the pot, or stress (can change of micro-environment be considered stressful?) so to not cause the new leaf to be stunted and small.

So what causes a new leaf to be smaller in size than previous leaves?

Thanks!

If your orchid is healthy the new leaf will always be larger. I'm sure there are cases that this even happens to healthy plants. In my case this has not happened. Don't worry though if you keep getting smaller leaves you will usually get a new plant growing in there somewhere.