Phalaenopsis Gigantea - specialized care?!

[HiOrcDen]

Hi all! So I'm really interested in the Phalaenopsis Gigantea. I have heard whisperings though, that they require very specialized care! X3

So @Roberta, if you are reading this, I recall you telling me that our climate can be forgiving, and nighttime humidity boosts are sufficient for species in need of high humidity.

So I am wondering, will a P. Gigantea be able to survive here (coastal SoCal) outdoors, at least when it is not too cold, as far as humidity goes? (in my shade house of course)

Or do I need some sort of mini greenhouse? I'm contemplating, if this is necessary, to have one of these little planting shelf stands with clear wrap, like a mini reach-in greenhouse. So if necessary, I can keep the Gigantea in it, with led grow-lights. I would at least use humidity trays, with ice at nice... and possibly even a little evaporative cooler.

So will a setup like this be necessary? And would it also be necessary for a Bat Flower?

Or is the mystique of the Phalaenopsis Gigantea a bit hyperbolized, such that it may thrive under the same conditions as any other Phalaenopsis?

[tmoney]

howdy! not being a pro, or Roberta, we have had good luck with our giganteas. personally i think they would be ok in a protected outdoor space, but i don't live in so cal or at your house so can't be absolutely sure. putting it in a wrapped case or grow tent may facilitate the need for a small fan to give some air flow. they seem to like that.

if other phals are doing good in the space then personally i would have no problem throwing a gigantea out there as well. as a side note, it also seems like a lot of the gigantea fuss is around repotting and root damage. the only specialized growing care we give it is to bump up the light in winter and cut it back in summer.

best of luck!

[Roberta]

I would not grow any Phal outside except in summer. And this summer, not even most of that. I don't grow Phal gigantea, but Phals in general aren't happy with consistent night temperatures below about 65 deg F. They'll tolerate a little bit lower occasionally. (Where I live, that didn't happen until around mid-July) Winter? For sure no. So plan on growing this one indoors. Don't stress about humidity... just don't neglect to water. If the medium is open and free-draining, you can't over-water.

[HiOrcDen]

Originally Posted by Roberta

So plan on growing this one indoors. Don't stress about humidity... just don't neglect to water. If the medium is open and free-draining, you can't over-water.

Thanks to everyone for the info! I will follow your leads.

As far as this particular statement, that you can't overwater with the right medium... Is this true specifically about the P. Gigantea, or with Orchids in general?

I ask because I have started using Orchiata small pine bark, and I notice that it is as you stated, open and free-draining.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by HiOrcDen

As far as this particular statement, that you can't overwater with the right medium... Is this true specifically about the P. Gigantea, or with Orchids in general?

I ask because I have started using Orchiata small pine bark, and I notice that it is as you stated, open and free-draining.

Orchids in general. Epiphytic orchids want "humid air" around their roots. When you water freely, and the water runs through the pot, it pulls fresh air into the root zone. The bark chunks have surface area to hold moisture, and spaces between them that contain air.

[HiOrcDen]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Orchids in general. Epiphytic orchids want "humid air" around their roots. When you water freely, and the water runs through the pot, it pulls fresh air into the root zone. The bark chunks have surface area to hold moisture, and spaces between them that contain air.

Oh, do you mean that one cannot overwater in a single watering? Sorry, I think I misinterpreted!

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by HiOrcDen

Oh, do you mean that one cannot overwater in a single watering? Sorry, I think I misinterpreted!

You can't overwater by watering frequently if you have a well-draining medium. Especially in warm weather, if you have an open mix, the plants dry out quickly. So if you water every day or every other day, you are not over-watering because the water does not accumulate. With broken down medium, it stays wet and the water crowds out the air. But with fresh, open medium that doesn't happen. This is why people, in fear of overwatering, instead often underwater after repotting. Ray, who posts on the Board often, says it best... orchids don't suffer from too much water, but rather from not enough air. If the medium has only small air space (like soil, sand, or rotten mx), then water crowds out the air. But if it is open and free-draining, you maintain plenty of air in the root zone no matter how much, or how often, you water.

[Ray]

Phal. gigantea (note that, being a species, the g is lower case) is one of those hot growers, rarely, if ever seeing lows below about 70°F or so.

Growers note that it seems to like it slightly brighter than many phals.

If you want a first-hand, knowledgeable pro response, contact Peter Lin at Big Leaf Orchids.

[HiOrcDen]

Originally Posted by Ray

Phal. gigantea (note that, being a species, the g is lower case) is one of those hot growers, rarely, if ever seeing lows below about 70°F or so.

Growers note that it seems to like it slightly brighter than many phals.

If you want a first-hand, knowledgeable pro response, contact Peter Lin at Big Leaf Orchids.

Thank you for this! I was thinking of looking to buy from Big Leaf Orchids, Peter Lin... is he not the one well known for Novelty Phals, and I am guessing Gigantea? This would explain the name I would wager

---------- Post added 08-13-2023 at 12:31 AM ---------- Previous post was 08-12-2023 at 11:44 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Roberta

With moss, it tends to hold more moisture, and watering too frequently may crowd out the air. You generally don't want to let it get crispy-dry because then it tends to be too hard to re-wet. But what you use for a container makes a difference. Yes, a plastic pot with sphagnum may tend to stay too wet. But if you use a plastic basket, sphagnum may maintain the right amount of moisture even with frequent watering since it will dry out fast. Or, you might use sphagnum in a terracotta pot for heat-sensitive orchids such as pleurothallids... the moss stays damp and the clay pot soaks up some of that water which evaporates at the surface, cooling the roots. So first, you need to decide what is the objective for each type. Then adjust the medium to give you the result you seek.

With an automatic watering system, you can adjust the medium depending on the plant type so that when all get watered the same, the end result is appropriate. I think I described this in another recent post - my Cymbidiums and L. anceps both need high light so they are in the same area, with the same sprinklers. The Cyms are in small bark in plastic pots, and stay pretty wet, the L. anceps are mounted or in baskets with little medium, and dry out fast (like a couple of hours after watering). So they all get the same (frequent) watering but the result for each is what they want, and very different.

I have a lot of my hanging plants - especially Maxillariae and Oncidinae - in plastic baskets with sphagnum. They get watered every day or two (especially in hot weather), stay quite damp but also get plenty of air (as the water evaporates from the sphag, it is replaced by... you guessed it... air!)

As far as fertilizing is concerned, the "once weekly, weakly" idea still holds. Orchids need very little fertilizer, since they grow slowly - they use fertilizer minerals primarily for growing new tissue, they meet their energy needs (carbs) by photosynthesis. If you under-fertilize, the plants may grow more slowly than is optimum, but they aren't harmed. If you over-fertilize you can burn roots and do long-term damage. So err on the low side. If you increase fertilizer, do so gently, and wait to see if it makes any difference. Patience!

(For the record, I go through my growing area with a sprayer, applying a very dilute - 1/2 teaspoon per gallon MSU fertilizer, about every 2 weeks. For the few things that are growing fast and therefore need more than that, such as the Cymbidiums, and during the summer growing season the Catasetinae, I just give a top-dressing of time release fertilizer such as Nutricote, once in the spring to give a bit of extra boost to those plants)

Thank you again, especially for the fertilization advice! And thanks everyone. I will have to transform my fertilizing routine, along these parameters.

So I've got like a million follow up questions lol though I will keep it down to a few!

So with your sprinklers, how do you coordinate different schedules? You mentioned you water your Maxillariae and Oncidinae once per day or 2. Do you have different timers on different schedules on different or split hoses, or do you manually turn your sprinklers on and off?

What if you want to take a long trip... what is your procedure? My sister lives close but she was kind of stressed last trip we took and she's super busy most always!

I have even found a device that will feed fertilizer along with the sprinkler system attached to a hose. Would you find this useful at all? Or is manual fertilizing the way to go?

So, as far as slow release, I have these little green beads, maybe 1 or 2 millimeters. Will they work the same on bark chips or sphagnum moss? Do I administer the same amount? Should I try building up slowly to combine slow release and periodic liquid fertilizing, if this is advisable?

If I'm using liberal watering with sphagnum moss, does it have to be 100% New Zealand moss? I found that it was prohibitively expensive for anything but very expensive plants. I use Santa Barbara Super Moss; is this suitable for liberal watering?

Is it okay to use the same size Orchiata (small, though not the smallest size) for all of my plants? I am on a somewhat limited budget, to buy another size.. would it be a necessity for larger plants mohave bigger bark? Most of my orchids are medium to mini and even micro, though I do have a couple giants lol

Finally, would you care to suggest a specific type and/or brand of Orchid Baskets I should look for, maybe the name of a store (local, chain, or online) where I can get them? I have seen some on Amazon, and I'd like to know if they're proper and useful. I guess I will search your website too, @Roberta to see if you've got any pics of baskets...

Oh one more little thing, @Roberta and @Ray you have told me that steam distillation is wasteful and unnecessary. So is there a necessary benefit to the other types of filtration? If so, I will be sure to search @Ray's website again.

Apologies, guess I did not leave the questions under a million! lol hand @Estacion_Seca, wondering if you caught my questions...

Again, one and all!

[estación seca]

Search here on the name. There are links to a page the Peter Lin mentioned above by Ray posted on growing this plant. It is very much more difficult to keep alive than other Phals unless you have a humid greenhouse whose temperature you can control very well. 70 degrees F / 21C as mentioned above is the minimum but that means only for a few hours every now and then. It really wants to spend its time between 80-85 degrees F / 27-30C or higher year round.