Well, one generally feeds the bulb after blooming is done - when the foliage begins, and throughout the summer. If your bulb feels firm and looks healthy, I would wait - water a bit. I can tell you that of 4 new bulbs I bought this year, all have bloomed but one - Christmas Gift (go figure). It is large, healthy and green, and is showing just a smidge of a scape, but it has been stalled since November. Some bulbs just have a schedule of their own. But make sure not to overwater, if you decide to do so. I hope that helps.

I live in savannah GA.. I have yet to have a new spike grow from my phals. I don't think it gets cool enough in fall. Hell, I'm sitting on my porch now sweating because it's 80° and so humid. My sun room (about 10 feet by 6 feet where most of my orchids are) has a window AC unit in it because there is no central air vent in that room... the AC unit can can be set all the way down to 61°. (I'm sure it blows out air much colder than that). Do you think turning the window ac unit all the way down would be a sufficient imitation of a temperature dropping fall evening & night? I know now this doesn't answer your question, I apologize...I just saw all the comments about the temp drop and how it's necessary for orchids to produce spikes so I wanted to ask. Thanks guys. You always are so quick to help, and always give such good advice. It's hard to find friends my age (24) that are orchid fanatics, even garden fanatics like myself. :)

You're on the right track, Pam. So, that tree most definitely was planted too deeply. Even with your good job of clearing soil away, we're still not seeing a root flare. So yes, this is a classic case, and don't be upset with yourself; This is extremely common, with many to perhaps most commercial landscaping firms still not getting the message about new approaches to treecare. Oddly enough, it is governmental agencies, things like municipal forestry units, where the real progressive stuff is happening. It saddens me to have to say this, but most of the commercial guys I deal with don't know anything about this! In my opinion, there's just no excuse for that. If I was able to come out of Nowheresville, Wisconsin, and manage to completely upgrade my approach to treecare (beginning in 1980, lol), so too should any private firm claiming to have expert staff, etc. Leaving baskets on, not cutting rope used to secure the rootball, not being aware that nursery practice heaps soil up on top of what will eventually become the rootball, and then obviously, the lack of awareness of planting depth. The trouble with that is, while being planted too deeply will utterly ruin the tree, this takes time, so by the time it has manifested itself to the point that the average person notices, it's far too late. No warranty in the world will cover this problem. I'm sure there are progressive firms out there. We've got some here too. But in terms of landscape installation, I'm afraid we're looking at lots of sub-standard stuff being done. And it's unnecessary; If the individuals who own these private companies would only seek to have their staff be up to date, it would be huge. I know that where private firms are concerned, the need to generate a profit comes into play. But we noticed like twenty or twenty five years ago that to do the job right only adds minutes to each tree that gets planted. Trees-when properly sited and happy in their circumstances-can go on living for centuries. So another three minutes to plant fades to insignificance. I think maybe I'd try digging it up and re-planting. I don't really see it getting better on its own.

Interesting question. On years 1-2 or 1-3, I would have expected them to not have roots that comingle (mix) yet. So they both should have had the same chance to bloom normally back then. I wonder if the cascading, hardly-flowering Limelight had a root system that was root bound and that continues to circle around what used to be the nursery's plant pot size's dimensions. If so, eventually it will exhaust the available soil minerals unless you correct the problem first by cutting the roots so they stop circling. Do you recall unearthing any construction debris when originally digging the planting holes? I assume you have not encountered soil mineral, pests, water or light issues before in the cascading Limelight's area and that water does not pool in there? (just looking for explanations)....