Is my banana orchid supposed to do something?
 

In early winter, I was given a couple of double pseudobulbs of a banana orchid. I put them into pots of all-purpose orchid bark and kept them on my deck (sunny in winter, shaded in summer) with my cattleyas and cymbidiums. It’s now mid-summer and they’re still just sitting there - no leaves, no nothing - ever. They’re not mushy and actually feel quite hard when I pinch them so I don’t think they’re dead. Could someone please tell me what is supposed to happen with them? I’m in Sydney, a warm zone.

just be patient..back bulbs can take a long time to sprout

Seems to be a Coelogyne.

there is no guarantee they will ever do something.

Looking at them, no leaves, I will presume 0 roots.

Very dessicated. ONly 2 bulbs. Generally even if one of them wakes up there isn't enough energy in them to produce a third bulb.

Lets put it like this, it is possible but more in the realms of miracles than standard behavior for backbulbs like this.

Don't water it as if it was a full grown plant. Mist it so that only the medium top layers get wet. The excess water will be absorved by the lower layers. Those seem perfectly viable. It may tale some months to start growing.
See this thread.

rb, interrsting thread, I hadn't seen it yet.
But there are some noticeable differences I will get in to.

So did you only lose 1 of those backbulbs in the end? It's been 6 years so I presume you got them to flower. Is that your zygopetalum you showed recently? That how it started?

So the main noticeable difference one can see straight away is that all those bulbs had roots. Maybe not the one that didn't make it.

The first thing those backbulbs did for 2 months was to plump up.

If they do not do this and shrivel up a bit more month after month then that will result in a completely different outcome but I am surprised to see some of those bulbs recover so well.

There might be hope but I wouldn't hold that much hope even reading that thread.

Yes, only one of the plants didn't make it. And, yes, that's the Zigo I showed a few days ago. And there's also a Coelogyne that I'll post sooner.

Most of the roots that you see in the photos were dead. But were useful to anchor the pbulbs in the medium.
The only thing I see different from the OP photos is the medium. It doesn't seem to have a very good drainage, which is paramount when dealing with pbulbs like these.
Keep the humidity high in the root area and warm temps is what makes them create new growths.
Patience and consistency is mandatory.