Susan-Sounds like new growth. One pseudobulb only? Are there back bulbs with no leaves that you're not counting, or were you referring to one particular pb? Don't be surprised if more than one growth peaks out within the next few weeks from that same pb. Don't overwater in your excitement. It's hard to contain the call of Spring! Sorry if you don't get flowers, but think about how many you can count on for next year. BTW, never met a Phaius I didn't love.

Sounds like new growth to me as well. Make sure you feed it during the growing season, I use miracle grow half strength
every other watering. Bright, defused light.

HI Susan,

My experience--IF flower spikes initiate, I see them from late Sept-early Dec. New growth can be expected at any other time.

I try to "rest" the plant after flowering, usually in April. Phaius does what it wants.

--Stitz--

Hi
Interesting as mine always flower right now in Feb. Got a flava hybrid and it reflowered in Nov. lol Had fantastic red and yellow flowers .
I'd say you have new growth but it won't take long to tell the spike develops very rapidly .lol
I love the family but have a constant struggle with blackspot so regular spraying is required.
For an orchid a stand of them is really quite attractive
even without flowers.
The first law of an orchid grower is be patient, they know what they're doing even iff we don't lol good luck gary

I LOVE this plant - one of the few orchids that has lovely foliage even when not in bloom (looks like a coconut palm but way easier to grow).

I suspect you've got another pseudobulb starting - I'm getting some this time of year too. Give it good care, let it get bigger, and I'm sure you'll get flowers eventually.

If you email Stitz, I bet he'll share his phaius culture sheet with you.

Thanks, everyone.
Maypoplaurel, I bought the plant last summer and it had maybe 3 pb, the others never took, they rotted and died.

tommyr, when do I start fertilizing? I use quarter strength every other watering right now, although we are finally seeing some sun here and I'll probably begin feeding more soon.

Stitz-any other suggestions or tips?

garyfla-the original 3 bulbs had leaves that were chewed up and nasty. The remaining bulb has very beaten up leaves, too, however this new growth gives me hope for nicer foliage. It's not as humid here as Fl, so I'm hoping this will be a great foliage plant.

watergal - I have seen photos of this plant that make me druel (sp?) LOL! I saw one in a florist shop last winter with several spikes just about to bloom. It was $70 and the temps outside were sub zero.....just couldn't go there. I'm really hoping this plant takes because I love it, too.

Hi Susan,

I was advised by Merritt Huntington that Phaius tankervilliae is a VERY HEAVY feeder while in active growth. Of course, it is wise to match that advice with the medium that you have chosen for your plant.

Phaius will grow in just about anything! When I purchased my plant, it was recently shipped from Florida. It was growing exclusively in styrofoam peanuts. I use a "base" of the same at the bottom of a large pot with fir bark in the upper half of the pot. I'm not concerned with decomposing bark with Phaius. The plant always needs to be divided before the bark has deteriorated beyond usefulness.

My Phaius are outdoors whenever the temp is above 50F. I water heavily--daily if the weather is sunny.

Many people use a medium which is primarily "peat moss" sold at garden centers. I have no clue as to how to grow using that.

I really enjoy spraying/hosing down the plant every morning! That includes the leaves!!

Good Luck!!

--Stitz--

I fertilize up to flowering then stop until flowering is over. Every other watering with half strength Miracle Grow. Which by the way has a different formula now, it's no longer 15-30-15. ALWAYS read the label!

I have my phaius in a regular "soilless potting mix" with extra perlite mixed in. It seems pretty happy there, but next time I repot, I think I'll try a phal mix instead - I have a bunch of extra sitting around. Some people grow in straight sphagnum. I have my small phaius in that, not sure for the big phaius that I'd want a 10" pot of sphag indoors in the winter, it would take forever to dry out!

I may transplant mine this spring, I'm going to try 50% potting soil/50% orchid mix. I bought a smaller Phaius a few weeks ago. LOVE these plants! My flower stalks aborted this year though for some reason.

tommyr--I had a similar problem this year--flower spikes aborted! Last year, I had 13 flowering spikes. This year, I had 20 initiate by Dec 1; only 5 continued development to begin flowering in late Feb.

This is the first year in eons when I had reduced numbers of flowering spikes. I attribute the problems to the summer drought of 2007. Although I watered almost daily, I couldn't make up for the woeful humidity. Adequate fertilizer is not an issue.

If anyone ever wants a Phaius for $70, please ASK ME! I will lop of a chunk of mine in a heartbeat!

--Stitz--

My phaius still hasn't bloomed. I've had this plant for more than a year. It grew 4 large bulbs over the last year, however, none ever bloomed. Now, those 4 bulbs each have a new growth started. The new growths are from about 3.5 inches to 7 inches tall.

Do I cut back all of the leaves on the 4 oldest growths, even though they never bloomed? Or do I just leave it go for this year? Those old leaves are not perfect, but are still in reasonable shape.

I'm counting on some of you phaius experts to help me with this one.

Thanks.

Susan

My rule is - never cut off a leaf that is in decent shape, it is photosynthesizing and adding to the energy stores of the plant.

My huge P. Tankervillae (which was a piece of stitz's that I was given by a mutual friend) blooms every year. I have some other smaller ones that should be blooming but aren't. I'm trying to sort out the cultural issues - some had some root rot and leaf burn likely due to fertilizer burn (but I didn't overfertilize, so I don't quite understand). Perhaps they are not getting enough light where they are. It's frustrating.

Hi
Since there are so many Phaius people here thought I'd ask a question on my 'flava" hybrid that I mentioned.
Is the culture much different than tanks??
I thought it had died but the lone "dead" PB is growing in 3 places . Does this type have a true dormant period??
Sure didn't last year lol.
Anyway think I'll repot but what to use? . I use straight sphag on the tanks with no problems and was advised by the grower to use it for this one but I suspect it holds too much water. Thanks gary

Fertilizer burn could be due to fertilizing. We dont fertilize ours at all because they dont flower as well and throw off more growths then spikes.
Holding too much water, didnt think thats possible at all. Ours are mostly all growing in ponds or saucers of water that are never allowed to get empty. The key rule of thub is to remember how the plants grow best in nature.
Phaius are bog plants naturally growing in swampy, really wet conditions. Believe it or not they even do better with roots sitting in stagnant water, unlike Phrags that like sitting in fresh water.
Smaller Phaius I put in sphagnum, while the larger are in a soiless mix which is high in peat moss with long sphagnum mixed in, just cheaper to do.

Gary - I have Phaius Joan Hart, which is tankerville x flavus, sounds like yours blooms 2 or 3 times per year, treat them just like any other Phaius.

Hi Susan,

As watergal noted, don't cut the leaves. Phaius leaves are good for two years, in my experience. They start getting a little ratty looking during the summer of the 2nd year but don't despair. You will have a beautiful plant by the end of August!

orchidguyftl--your experience re: Phaius & fertilizer is interesting. I was advised and practiced very heavy fertilization. I had great success for years until virus issues interfered.

watergal, I no longer have my Phaius tankervilleae. It was a victim of the two viruses that I described in the Virus! thread. I trashed both my Phaius tankervilleae and P. wallichii. Especially sad was the loss of the wallichii as that's a difficult species to locate. Mine was originally purchased from Alvim Seidel in Brasil.

At the Maryland Orchid Society Show next weekend at the Timonium Fairgrounds, check the Phaius Gravesiae 'Titan' AM/AOS in The Little Greenhouse (Baltimore) display. That hybrid has both tankervilleae and wallichii as parents. IMHO, it is a real stunner, every year!!

There is good news on the horizon! Our mutual friend will soon give me a cutting back from the divisions that I gave around 3 yrs ago before the plants became virused. Recently, she did an Agdia test with negative results.

--Stitz--

Here is a link that might be useful: Virus!

stitz, I visited The Little Greenhouse last year and saw a 'Titan' there, and had a nice chat with the proprietor about it. If I had a spare room, I would have bought it - it was amazing! I'm glad you'll be getting a piece of your phaius back - it that doesn't work out, I could give you one.

orchidguyftl, no fertilizer at all?? Mine are indoor plants year round, I would think they would starve to death. Interestingly, my tankervillae happens to be in a soilless mix with some bark added and doesn't have fertilizer issues, whereas the smaller phaius in smaller pots with sphag seem to burn much more easily.

orchidguy
I did treat it like my other Phaius but when a plant dies I suspect my culture may not be correct?? lol
Anyway since it saw fit to come back from the grave thought I'd try some other method. Since I'm growing in a pot can see no other changes except media.
Think i might try some of the soil mixes . Thanks gary

watergal, Thank you very much for your generous offer! I get a really good feeling when I'm offered divisions back from a plant that originated here.

I was amused to read your comments re: 'Titan' . An entire room might be necessary to house that one after a few years!

--Stitz--

Hey Gary,
I have a few of these, the larger ones are in soiless mixes and the smaller in sphagnum, both sizes seem fine.
Not sure what to tell you with out seeing the plant....
John

John
I'd send a pic except there's nothing to photo lol One very black pb which now has two very small growths .
It grew and flowered fine until around Christmas time went into a tailspin all leaves and bulbs became very crunchy. I thought it dead so set it in the corner of the shadehouse but it definitely is sprouting again. Whatever the problem has not affected the tanks which are potted in same way in straight sphag.
Not sure if it's connected but a white bat plant (Tacca nivea) went into a similar tailspin at around the same time. Maybe I have a dreaded virus ??
Anyway was going to try repotting the Phaius but thought I should try a different method. Thanks gary

Wow, lots of phaius growers! Thanks for your advice, I will not cut back the leaves on the old growths and be patient and see what happens this year.

Gary,
Let me know how things go...
I do knopw a similar condition happens to Phaius pb's id they get deeply knicked or scratched. Its a kind of oxidation that happens similar to potatoes. If a snail or slug may have chewed a bit, that may have done it.

I grow quite a few Phaius and Phaiocalanthe and it took me a few years to get it right! I have a Phaius flavus which nearly died on me over the course of 2 seasons until I divided the remaining pb's and did a 360 on the culture. I now have a beautiful plant which I grow cool/intermediate and medium light.

My other Phaius seem to enjoy it warmer and slightly brighter but never intense light. I find the plants become very stressed when exposed to higher light levels and the leaves look shabby. I do feed regularly but leach out the medium with pure RO water in between. I have found this essential to avoiding leaf tip burn. My Phaiocalanthe 'Ursula' gets the same treatment.

All of my plants are potted in a mixture of sphag and large chunks of chc. I keep them sopping wet and they love it!

Orchidguy
That may be it , I asked the supplier about changing the media and he was horrified lol "Use nothing but straight sphag"lol the ones in the box stores are almost invaribly in some type of soil media but they are tanks.
Rapael In order to get "intermediate " I'd have to move .
But the man from whom i got the plant is located here in Florida so he must have the same climate.
Anyway I think I'll just go with a bark peat mix just to see what happens . Isn't it amazing how many different mixes you get from around the internet?? lol
Thanks for the advice!!! gary

stitz, I visited The Little Greenhouse last year and chatted with the guy there about 'Titan'. He said he had seen a huge clump in Florida that was just about the size of a VW Beetle!

The ones at the Maryland Orchid Show today sure were pretty!

watergal, yes Titan once again provided a great backdrop. One of The Little GH display plants, Lycaste Leo 'Knob Creek', had an available division which is now in my possession!

--Stitz--

Hmmm...are we talkin' this P. Tankervillae?
(If not, then please forgive the intrusion...)

{{gwi:144773}}
(sorry about the fuzzy pic)

{{gwi:144774}}

Mine are in shade...have never been fed except once at the end of last summer with a very light sprinkling of Osmocote...and I water them furiously while watering my Vandas.

Here's a shot from last fall:

{{gwi:144775}}

hi, I saw one of these at a local nursery today. it had 2 spikes and 3 new growths for $60.00. Is that a reasonal price for it? i resisted because i notice that it seems to have some fungal problems. s couple of the bottom leaves were grey and black and yellow; a couple of the larger leaves were also yellowing and a couple of flowers had grayish colouring on the lip. tia
sue

hey sue,

Phaius leaves that originated in 2008 will be dying throughout the coming weeks/months, especially 'til about September. What you describe is not a concern.

Remaining 2009 flowers will deteriorate and die soon. It's April -- the plant is preparing for warm weather growth.

The other questions? Too subjective for me! :)

--Stitz--

hello, Stiz, thanks for your response. the only other time I have seen this was at a garden show last year in a display but it was not for sale. it is very striking.
and, Lellie, your plant looks wonderful.
one consolation for me is that this will definitely be too big for my house.
sue