Phal speciosa and tetraspis are known to be among the most finicky and difficult to bloom species as the range of conditions they'll do well in is rather narrow. These are pretty much obligate warm growers and will not bloom if not kept warm. Many Phal species will do well very well in intermediate temps with max temps not much higher than 75F, but for some, like tetraspis, that just isn't warm enough and they do much better if kept over 80F.
A low of 66F is probably pushing it and 76F might not be warm enough during the day.
I have a Phal speciosa hybrid that does exactly the same as yours (despite getting the same food and conditions as all my other Phals), and I really should get a heat mat for it. My temps are ideal for it only about 2 months of the year... I was hoping that hybrid vigor would make it more temperature tolerant but that clearly wasn't the case...
Another point, some Phals do not bloom immediately on new spikes. I have a Phal lueddemanniana which only blooms from 1year+ spikes. The first year the spike looks like yours does, but I don't know if this is typical behavior for tetraspis. My other lueddemanniana behaves normally and blooms right away...
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Camille
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Last edited by camille1585; 07-21-2022 at 12:32 PM..
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