Phaius tankervilliae alba. Dry winter is a must?

[Roberta]

From what I know of how they grow, Phaius don't want to dry out ever. The descriptions I see of habitat for this species indicate that it's damp pretty much all the time. It comes from a wide range of elevations, so should thrive in any climate that is frost-free. I don't grow this particular one, do have a hybrid Phaius, and my challenge is keeping it wet enough. Just in general, when it is cold and wet, water less, in winter just water early in the day so things can dry out a bit before the eveinng chill.

Just for the record, for most orchids I ignore the "dry winter rest" advice, my climate is much too dry for that. They bloom anyway, orchids don't read the books or the 'net . A few excpetions where "dry" means "dry", but this is not one of them.

[elljorgo]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Just for the record, for most orchids I ignore the "dry winter rest" advice, my climate is much too dry for that. They bloom anyway, orchids don't read the books or the 'net . A few excpetions where "dry" means "dry", but this is not one of them.

Yes, indeed. You got my point Roberta. Sometimes the information available is very conservative and "thread with caution when watering" like... I get it that some orchids can and are finicky but some are as tough as nails so I just wanted to get a feel on where on the scale is Ph. tankervilliae.
As a rule of thumb we all know to water less when the temperatures are low, and the lower, the less water and so on and so fourth like Ray pointed. But what if this is not an option for the keeper?


Rbarata, I'm in Porto area...