Intermediate Orchid

[benisjamin217]

HEY FELLOW ORCHID LOVERS!

I have successfully raised my phalaenopsis amabilis!!! All of it's buds opened. IT HAS 16. It's been blooming since early july.

Since I'm taking good care of my first orchid, I've been wanting another one. Any reccomendations for more of a challenge, or just a different species which is beautiful and fun?

Thanks
-Ben

p.s- I have an eastern exposure with indirect light.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Try other Phal species. You'll find there are plenty of challenges in this department.

Particularly ones such as Phal javanica, Phal modesta, Phal tetraspis, Phal lowii, Phal parishii, Phal gibbosa, Phal lobbii, Phal braceana, Phal celebica and the one Phal I cannot recommend to any beginner: Phal appendiculata. The above mentioned Phals are all relatively rare for a reason.

For you, however, try something less challenging like Phal equestris, Phal stuartiniana, or Phal phillipinensis.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Here's another cool one. Phal cornu-cervi, it's everblooming. Phal aphrodite is another white one.

Honestly, don't take this the wrong way, but I feel you have a long road ahead of you in this hobby. I don't think you're ready for the harder species yet. Take your time and enjoy the one you have and slowly add easier ones, then gradually increase the challenge. You'll be happier that way.

[stefpix]

The cornu-cervi looks great! how does it compare to the bastianii and mannii? looks quite similar...

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Well Phal bastianii has larger flowers than cornu-cervi. I don't know, I don't think that Phal bastianii looks anything like cornu-cervi.

The flower spikes on Phal bastianii are pretty standard.

And Phal cornu-cervi has spikes that resemble elk horns. They're highly branched, but flattened and have large floral bracts.

Phal manii is much like cornu-cervi, but they've got bigger flowers. Phal manii, I believe can bloom repeatedly as well.

[benisjamin217]

Thanks King, I understand how hard orchids can be, so I'll take my time. Could I possibly raise a Paph?

[toynutz]

Originally Posted by benisjamin217

Could I possibly raise a Paph?

IMO, if you can raise a Phal, you can raise a Paph. I haven’t been growing orchids very long, but I have Phals and Paphs side-by-side and all seem to be doing equally well. You might not get as many blooms with Paphs, but they can be just as striking in appearance and I really like the variegated leaves on the Paphs.

[stefpix]

Or you can get a Phalaenopsis with motted leaves so you have the best of both worlds.
"Paph"-like leaves and Phalaenopsis blooms!

Saw some new Paphs at Lowes last night - some dark purple almost black and some green ones.

Hope will find some on the closeout shelves in a week or 2...

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Phal schilleriana, Phal phillipinensis, Phal celebensis, and Phal stuartiana are all Phals with mottled leaf patterns. The only Phal out of the mottled leaf species I just listed that can be difficult to grow is Phal celebensis. Other than that, all the others should be easy.

Ironically, yes, like toynutz had said, if you can grow a Phal, you can grow certain Paph species pretty well too. The only thing I caution you about Paphs is that they can be slow growing and they don't put out a lot of roots. This means you must be careful handling the roots.

To keep things simple I recommend dealing with species for now.

I can only recommend what I'm familiar with, and those would be Paph armeniacum, Paph malipoense, Paph stonei, and Paph niveum. These naturally grow on steep limestone cliffs with a thin layer of moss around them and some leaf litter. Because of this the tips of the leaves hang down toward the ground and the plant is horizontal, so that water doesn't get into the crown. So if you're growing them potted upright, they'll eventually lean over the edge of the pot over time just like Phals do.

I recommend growing these exactly like I described above. Potted with limestone rocks with a thin layer of moss and some leaf litter, positioning the plant as horizontally as you can. I recommend not allowing to dry out completely during spring and summer, then reduce watering in fall and winter.

Then there's also Paph delanatii. Naturally Paph delanatii is said to grow in pine forests on granite mountains in acidic humus.

[orkie]

If you think you get enough light, you could try an Oncidium hybrid or intergeneric, like Sharry Baby or Tahoma Glacier (often easy to find at Trader Joe's or Lowe's, or by mail). Those are both pretty easy plants and will be different from a phal if you are trying to explore some other genera.

I also find Brassia hybrids, like Brassidiums, are very easy to flower in a window as well and grow pretty fast. I think Miltassia, like Dark Star, are easy as well. They are medium light plants you can probably flower in a decent eastern exposure.

If you go for an intergeneric, I would steer clear of ones with very picky cool-growers in their background, like some Odontoglossums (esp. crispum!). For me at least, those have been trouble in a house during the summer, even with AC.

Sara