Baroness, if there are some nodes on the stalk with the broken end you might get a side branch to spike, otherwise it probably will do nothing. "in situ, who cuts the spikes off of the phals?" That statement applies to any aspect of any branch of horticulture. I could stop all work on my messy garden (casual cottage) and what would be the result? I'll be a an orchid show in a few weeks time and if the customer is just buying a Phal. as a cheap bunch of flowers, i'll tell them the cut down to the node stuff, but, i like to think that people asking questions here are interested in growing better flowers. Here is the story of Betty (again). Betty was a great orchid grower. she had a collection of thousands of orchids and won the annual championship at several orchid societies many times. Now those Championships are won by people who have big collections across many Genera and you get points for just benching a plant. She had this species Phal. that bloomed for years and years. It had a long, long spike with hundreds of flower scars and a few sad dispirited flowers at the end. It was benched in the species other section year after year just to gain that one precious point. Brooke, not sure of the latest name for Phal. decumbens. It seems to have had many names over the years. The plant pictured in an above post is a mini 3 inches high with 3 inch leaves, just the ticket for the narrow windowsill in the kitchen. The flower spike is not very long, but is a sequential bloomer, so i go SNIP at the base after enjoying the display for three months or so. Blooms like clockwork, every summer.

No, deadheading is not necessary. You are, however, letting some energy go to seed production rather than all of it going to replenish the bulb for next season. There's a natural decline - yellowing leaves and stems turning woody - to lilies once blooming has finished, some years it's faster than other years. Not sure why you discarded the small(er) off-set bulbs since they produce new lilies; Asiatics look best in clumps, I think anyway.

Can you post a photo of the other orchid? Regarding getting Phals to bloom, you need a dip in temps for it to reliably produce a spike. Generally 10-20 degree dip in temp is best. I don't know what the deal is with producing more blooms on an old spike. Most here will tell you to cut the spike as soon as it's finished blooming to encourage the plant to put energy into root and leaf growth. I have been lazy and not cut the spike and had some additional blooms appear a few months later, but they don't tend to have as many blooms as a new spike. I would guess that if your house is very dry, the pot with no holes is creating a micro-climate of higher humidity for your Phal, while the one with drainage is not. Eventually, the pot without holes will rot the roots, but how long that takes is anyone's guess. The Phal with drainage needs more water, especially if the leaves are limp. I would suggest once a week soaking the plant in it's pot with water for 20 mins to get it properly hydrated. If you plan to keep the different Phals in different pots, you will need to provide very different care for them. The one without drainage will require a small amount of water once a week and misting. The problem with the closed pot in the long term is that some roots will always be wet and eventually rot. It's possible that's part of the reason you have so many aerial roots (just guessing at this point) because the medium maybe rotting the roots in the pot. Have you checked those roots recently? For reference, 2 of the 3 Phals I have in closed pots are "rehab" plants. They came to me mostly trashed. One had only 1 leaf and 2 decent roots - the rest was mush. It's currently growing 2 new leaves and many thick, strong roots. The other is a mini-Phal that was soaked in sphag (but blooming), so when it was done I repotted and found virtually no roots. It's now blooming again :) Eventually, they will both get repotted in a larger pot with holes. The 3rd Phal is actually a mini with it's keiki (baby plant) which are thriving in a too large plastic pot. I water it every other week. It's an anomaly. ETA: I grow in a sunroom with nearly too much light for Phals. Dedicated humidifier, heater and fan.

Good news: i found the problem bad news: it was that the stem was broken at the base so now I am definitely cutting the stem back