Well, it looks like after 3 months, my older Phals are beginning to drop all of their blooms. The temp in our bedroom has gradually gone up and the flowers have begun to fall.

I have one Phal that dropped 7-8 of it's flowers, and has 2 buds left on the end of the spike. I noticed last night that these last buds are beginning to swell and may bloom this week.

Kind of a funky looking spike, about 2.5 feet long, arches over and down, with two buds on the very end

When all buds are gone, is that the time to cut the spike off and let the plant rest?

Pics of these two orchids, right before they dropped their blooms at http://www.spudmonkey.org/gallery/album11

Also, Second question:

I bought a third orchid that was planted in bark. I have noticed that it certainly has different watering requirements than those in moss! Where as I would water the moss-planted orchids once/week, the bark planted requires twice a week. Anyway, to the question: I noticed that the tips of the leaves appear to have been bent to the point of breaking the fibrous tissue, and seem to just flop down. I am guessing this is common with store-bought orchids... Do I trim these off? Is ther eany special treatment to the end of the leaf?

Also, I notice that there is a mosaic pattern that appears to be dehydrated, on a larger section of the leaf. You can see pictures of the newest addition to my growing collection at http://www.spudmonkey.org/gallery/album10.

Since I have been keeping a very close watch on this plant, the patterns in the leaf shown in http://www.spudmonkey.org/gallery/album10/img_0109 have become less noticible.

Is there a way to clean the obnoxious water spots off these leaves? I have used distilled water and gently scrubbed, and this has lightened the stains somewhat, but not completely. You can see a good example of the stains in http://www.spudmonkey.org/gallery/album10/img_0111

Would anyone happen to know what variety this Phal is? The pot came labeled as a 'non-registered' Phal.

Thanks all, you have been a great help!

--->Rob