Recommendations for compact pink Phrag

[LinhT]

Hi

I've finally decided to get my first Phrag. Hoping to find a dark pink one that I can put on my east window sill and supplement with lights on cloudy winter days. So ideally I'd like a plant that stays compact. Probably the only Phrag I'll have so I must choose wisely . Anybody grow something like this on a window sill and has done well with it? If there's one that's not pink that you especially like, do share anyway. Thanks!

[slipperfreak]

Most of the pink Phrag species and hybrids are compact by Phrag standards, but some of the hybrids (like Sedenii) can get quite large. The species Phrag schlimii and Phrag. fischeri are quite compact plants; the former is fairly difficult to grow and requires very pure water and very light fertilizer. The latter is not as difficult but still not as easy as the hybrids, and both of these are somewhat uncommon... I would try one of the hybrids that has one/both of these species in it and/or Phrag. besseae. Hanne Popow (besseae x schlimii) is a nice one. Another is Saint Ouen (Hanne Popow x besseae). Phrag. Pink Panther (schlimii x fischeri) is awesome but a little hard to find. Note that the more besseae influence there is in a hybrid, the more red/orange color there will likely be in the flower (meaning less pink), but these are quite variable. Browse around on the Internet and you'll find tons more like these. Hope that was helpful.

[LinhT]

Thank you so much, slipperfreak. I thought about Pink Panther but then I really liked the color of Asuko Fischer, Ryoko Urabe and Memoria Estelle Getty. Just didn't know how big they got. I'll have to check out Pink Panther at my local nursery.

[slipperfreak]

It seems to me (although someone may want to check me on this) that Asuko Fischer and Ryoko Urabe (which I think are fischeri hybrids) are compact growers and have really nice flowers. I haven't heard of Mem. Estelle Getty before, sorry.

[LinhT]

Memoria Estelle Getty, I think is a newly registered one. There was a pic of it posted, I think, on Slippertalk. The guy who made it named it after her shortly after Estelle Getty passed away recently.

[slipperfreak]

Oh wow! I just looked up some photos of the Mem Estelle Getty. What a beautiful cross. It's like a darker version of Sedenii, which is one of my favs. Now I must thank you for bringing this cross to my attention!

[LinhT]

Originally Posted by slipperfreak

Oh wow! I just looked up some photos of the Mem Estelle Getty. What a beautiful cross. It's like a darker version of Sedenii, which is one of my favs. Now I must thank you for bringing this cross to my attention!

Is Sedenii picky on conditions and does it get fairly big? Sorry, I know nothing about slippers

[slipperfreak]

Sedenii is not what I would call a compact plant. It is intermediate in size between its parents, schlimii and longifolium, so it is not huge, but definately not small either. It does have really nice flowers though. A similar cross is Cardinale (Sedenii x schlimii), which although a backross onto schlimii is not really any more compact but has rounder flowers. The clone 'Wilcox' AM/AOS is one of the nicest orchids available, in my opinion. These will branch their spikes and flower for a very long time. They are also quite vigorous. But I digress. Sedenii is easy to grow. But if you need a really small plant, it's probably not for you.

[gmdiaz]

Are there any tiny Phrags? Maybe not mini but very small?

[slipperfreak]

Originally Posted by gmdiaz

Are there any tiny Phrags? Maybe not mini but very small?

Well there are a few pretty small Phrags. The first that comes to mind is schlimii. Phrag fischeri is also quite small, as are some clones of pearcei (although there are some pretty large clones of pearcei as well). There is a variety of longifolium called gracile that is pretty compact; I think hinksianum is also a small longifolium variety (maybe it is a syn for gracile?). Phrag besseae is not really big but usually grows to a decent size eventually, especially since it likes to "climb" so much. Phrag dalessandroi is very similar to besseae. Finally there are several species allied with pearcei (like ecuadorense, which some consider a variety of pearcei) that I think are similar in size to it. Hybrids are easier to grow than species, but many hybrids are between small species and large ones which makes them larger. Seek hybrids with more small species heritage than large species heritage to get smaller plants. Hope that was helpful.