The Phal abuse ends here.

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How Phals grow:
- deciduous
- evergreen
- semi-deciduous

Some deciduous species:
- Phal braceana
- Phal honghenensis
- Phal taenialis
- Phal wilsonii

Some semi-deciduous species:
- Phal lowii
- Phal parishii

Leaf Patterning:
- mottled leaves
- plain green leaves

Some mottled leaf species:
- Phal celebensis
- Phal philippinensis
- Phal schilleriana
- Phal stuartiana

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Factoids about Phal roots:

- Phal roots are fully capable of photosynthesis. That's why they're green.

- Some Phals can keiki from the roots!

Some factoids about Phal inflorescences:

- Some Phals can repeat bloom from the same spike.
Examples:
- Phal cornu-cervi
- Phal mannii

- Some Phals can re-spike from old spikes.

- Phals can keiki from their inflorescence!

Miscellaneous Phal factoids:

- Phals can create offshoots along the stem.

- Some Phals are fragrant!
Examples:
- Phal bellina
- Phal violacea

- Since many Phals have roots that are 100% capable of photosynthesis, when they drop all their leaves, they're not always truly dead. They can recover if they have enough energy to do so, and re-grow their leaves. No special technique is needed for a Phal to re-grow leaves from live healthy roots.

- If a Phal has lost all its roots, it's not necessarily dead. If it has enough energy and moisture to pull through, it can recover. The caveat being that the grower must employ the use of certain techniques to enable this to happen.

- Phals have an interesting floral mutation - peloricism. It is a genetic mutation that causes the petals to be similar to or exactly like the labellum (aka lip). There are two causes:

1. Genetic coding.
2. Environmental.

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Q: Are there such things as miniature Phals?

A: Yes there are!

List:

Phal appendiculata
Phal equestris
Phal gibbosa
Phal lindenii
Phal lobbii
Phal lowii
Phal parishii

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Q: Are there natural hybrids?

A: Yes there are!

One example:

Phal x leucorrhoda

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Q: Are species Phals harder to grow than man-made hybrid Phals?

A: Not necessarily. It depends on the plants in question. Some hybrids are more difficult to grow than some species. Some species are more difficult to grow than some hybrids. Some species are just tricky to grow because of their more exacting requirements.

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Factoids about man-made hybrid Phals:

- These Phals are mass produced for the masses.

- They are usually NOID's (plants without identification).

- Occasionally there are specially bred Phals with names. Some are unregistered crosses. Others are registered crosses. Yet others are registered crosses with awards (aka awarded clones).

- Some hybrids are bred to create a new variety of hybrid Phal.

- Once a new variety has been created and selected, they are usually cloned en masse in laboratory conditions through a process called micropropagation.

- Some nurseries admit that these Phals are produced to be thrown away after they've bloomed.

- Man-made hybrids are mainly produced in countries such as:

Netherlands
Malaysia
Taiwan
Thailand

- Smaller productions come from countries such as:

Japan
United States

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Q: Is a Phal dead once they're done blooming?

A: Absolutely NOT!!! They're still very much alive and can still produce flowers for about a couple decades!

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Q: How often do Phals bloom?

A: Usually once a year. Some species bloom randomly throughout the year, mulitple times a year. Others will bloom only twice a year. It depends on the kind you've got.

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Q: If most Phals only bloom once or twice a year, then why are there Phals that are on the sales benches that seem to be in bloom all year round?

A: Ahhh! That's a sales trick. Phals are the easiest orchids to artificially induce blooms on. Nurseries have special greenhouses that they put select Phals in when they're about to get ready to ship to retailers such as Trader Joes, Lowes, OSH, or The Home Depot.

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Q: How does one induce a Phal to bloom?

A: Simple! By dropping the temperatures down to a range of 55 F to 75 F (13 C - 24 C).