The Phal abuse ends here.

[RosieC]

Phals can live indefinately given the right care. The old leaves die, but new ones come up to replace them, so nothing wrong with an old plant.

Huge Phals are likely that way due to the species or the parent species, although they may just be very large healthy ones.

I'm not sure it's either better or worse, just some people like massive plants, others like small plants.

[silken]

I find that large phal leaves take up a lot of room. But having said that, some of the large ones produce very nice large flowers, so it may be worth it.

[fisher60]

I have one of those large leaf Phals. It has 2 spikes, and each of them have three branch spikes. It has so many open blooms I've had to prop up the spikes with larger than usual bamboo rods. It is a beautiful white with a light yellow center.
Additionally I would like to say that in the past I have killed many orchids with too much love. I have 8-10 Phals, a couple Dens and some others. Many had fresh spikes this spring. We left in April for a long, (5 week) trip out west and I was scared to death I wouls loose all of them, so I made a misting system, put it on a timer, and when we got back.....flowers. Loads of flowers. These orchids truly love being ignored at times, just as long as they get some water.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[NeoOrchid]

Hah,
Phal abuse is too right! I just saw 1-800 Flowers selling dyed blue phals as "rare"!
The first phal I ever bought is a "jungle cat bloody mary". The orchid expert at the garden center told me to "flood it every week". It's still recovering.... My phals are happy in loose moss in an east window and misted daily and fed weeakly. If it weren't for this forum my orchids wouldn't be as happy as there are now!

[Jeffery]

I have not been here for a while, but still love the Orchids. Once a very proud owner of some very beautiful Phals, my current number now is a big fat 0, all my other none Phals are growing very nice, but it just blows my mind the claim of Phals being the easiest Orchid to grow has eluded me. I have tried keeping them in there original potting material, changing them over to a faster drying medium, added this, added that, took away this and to no avail, I failed miserably, the roots either rotted or dried out, I would move them from one window to the next depending on where I thought they would get the best lighting, I have used a moisture testing device and still failure. I use to think I was such a Mr. Greenthumbs, man was I wrong.

[Jeffery]

Originally Posted by Jeffery

I have not been here for a while, but still love the Orchids. Once a very proud owner of some very beautiful Phals, my current number now is a big fat 0, all my other none Phals are growing very nice, but it just blows my mind the claim of Phals being the easiest Orchid to grow has eluded me. I have tried keeping them in there original potting material, changing them over to a faster drying medium, added this, added that, took away this and to no avail, I failed miserably, the roots either rotted or dried out, I would move them from one window to the next depending on where I thought they would get the best lighting, I have used a moisture testing device and still failure. I use to think I was such a Mr. Greenthumbs, man was I wrong.

I failed to mention that I also killed 2 Milts

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by Jeffery

I failed to mention that I also killed 2 Milts

True Miltonias or Miltoniopsis?

If I can grow Miltoniopsis outdoors all year round here in the city of Rosemead, you can grow them in the city of Glendale, (we're only 18 miles apart from each other within Los Angeles County). In other words climate shouldn't be an issue for you.

[jmce96]

Originally Posted by Jeffery

I have not been here for a while, but still love the Orchids. Once a very proud owner of some very beautiful Phals, my current number now is a big fat 0, all my other none Phals are growing very nice, but it just blows my mind the claim of Phals being the easiest Orchid to grow has eluded me. I have tried keeping them in there original potting material, changing them over to a faster drying medium, added this, added that, took away this and to no avail, I failed miserably, the roots either rotted or dried out, I would move them from one window to the next depending on where I thought they would get the best lighting, I have used a moisture testing device and still failure. I use to think I was such a Mr. Greenthumbs, man was I wrong.

***the same happens to me! its frustrating, i cant grow phals, ive killed several, and the rest of my orchids grow perfectly

[CWMorrow]

My best Phals were in front of a shaded South window which was cracked open. They bloomed with seasonal change. I generally left them the hell alone, save for misting them and watering once a week.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[Sekhmet]

I have to say, my Phals have been bomb proof! I have 6, one of which I have had for 7 years! And I have lived in all kinds of not perfect places, ranging from way dry and over-bright Arizona to super humid, super dim Seattle. I just smack them up on an east facing window in medium bark, flood them weekly with weak fertilizer (I really do, 15 minute soak once a week all year!) and mist only if the humidity gets too low. They reliably bloom for me. I don't know if it is just dumb luck, my conditions are better than I think (I only have a light meter I bought last year, and no other instruments), or my phals love me, but thus far, nothing but love.