How to tell if my Phrag. Hanne Popow has stalled?

[Dcchase]

My Phrag. Hanne Popow sent up its first shoot for me around 1/9/15. I was excited as that division had some brown shoots a few months before and I didn't expect this. Within about 2 weeks the spike reached the hight it is now. So it hasn't seemed to grow at all in the past 3 weeks. I have a Paph. next to it that spiked at the same time and now has 4 opened flowers.

Do Phrags. grow this slowly or has mine stalled? If it has stalled is there anything I can do?

Thanks for any suggestions. I'm going to try again to add some photos one of the beginning spike and then a current photo. I can't seem to post two photos so I'll post a photo of the current spike. I was not able to add another photo not sure what I'm doing wrong but I've got one!
Dcchase

[silken]

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ng-photos.html

Here are some tips for posting photos.

I would need a closer look at the bud, but it almost looks like it is blasting. Some info on how you are growing this would be helpful. Phrags usually like a lot more water than most other orchids. I grow my Hanne Popow in a water retentive mix and it is always sitting in a shallow dish of water. They also need very little fertilizer compared to some other orchids or their leaf tips burn.

[cbuchman]

Phrags grow along stream banks in nature. So they like to have "wet feet" and they like a good amount of sun (think open river bank). It wasn't until I gave mine more sun that it budded up. I also sit mine in a saucer of water (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch). More sophisticated growers sit their phrags in circulating water which I am told makes them really happy.

I'm so excited because there are 2 buds on my one spike .

[Dcchase]

Hi thanks for responding. I have my Hanne Popow in a plastic pot with NZ Sphag. It sits in a saucer of water( about 1/2"),which I try to never let get dry. I water with well water and fertilize sparingly.
I was surprised when the spike came up as about three months ago this fan sent up leaves that were brown. I treated it with Physan and cinn. I expected to loose the fan but it did OK. Then sent up the spike! So this may be a factor.
I have it under 3-T5 lights which I was told would be plenty of light. I've never had a bud blast or stall before. So, I don't know what one would look like. I've just plenty of orchids that didn't bloom!

[MrHappyRotter]

Phrags live a (relatively) fast life cycle, and have fast metabolisms compared to almost any paph. They grow quicker, the flower spikes develop much faster, and the flowers die sooner than their Asian cousins. So, if the paph next to it has outpaced it, then it suggests that the spike has blasted altogether.

The thing is, there are so many factors that could come into play that would or could cause a spike to blast, that it'd be difficult to pinpoint the issue. It sounds like your growing conditions are correct for this plant. So, keep up the good culture, and you'll probably have better luck next time. If it happens again, it may be time to re-evaluate your environment, but my guess is, this won't be an issue going forward.

It's unlikely, but still possible, that your particular plant is just prone to blasting buds and spikes. Only time will tell, but if your growing conditions are good (and they sound like they are) and this happens again, you may need to discard this particular plant and get a new one.

[Dcchase]

Thank you all for your advice. Silken thanks for the photo tips those are a big help on that front.
MrHappyRotter, your info regarding a faster metabolism was new to me. I've researched and read a lot on Phrags. but had never heard about that.
It was my experience that the first flower my Hanne Popow had when I purchased it was very short lived. Now I recognize that the second bud it was developing blasted. But I didn't know it at the time. Can you recommend any other good resources for accurate information about Phragmipediums?

Thank you all again
Donna

[silken]

It does look like that bud is blasting. It should stay green until it starts to get larger and open. It looks like the tip is turning yellow or brown. I guess see what happens from here. Maybe the sphagnum is too dense. I use a mix of medium bark, some lava rock when I have some and some sphag. I've never tried pure moss. If your Paphs are doing OK I would assume your well water isn't too full of minerals. I find my Phrags do grow faster than my Paphs. but I don't do real well with Paphs.