Phalaenopsis Schilleriana and other hybrids, are they minis?
 

Hello Orchid Board,

First off, apologies since I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I am new to orchids and running across conflicting information on the internet of all places! I know, I must be googling wrong...

I hear that P. Schilleriana and its hybrids are miniature orchids but pictures of the species seem to show fairly large plants from time to time. I understand the species grows very slowly and flowers while still small, but does that constitute a miniature if they can grow to typical phal. sizes? Has anyone else had a Jiaho's pink girl like hybrid grow to a substantial size? Or are those photos just misleading? Could the ones people are growing and calling miniatures just be young plants?

-Ed

I think that jiaho's pink girl is a mini, but other schilleriana hybrids are not minis. It depends on the hybrid. Phal. schilleriana itself does get to be a large phal.

Thanks for the clarification! The photo I posted is my noID hybrid, with increasingly larger leaves. I was hoping it was a mini, but my hopes aren't high since the most recent root is also sort of big compared to the rest of the plant. Sigh..

Oh well the blooms are so pretty who cares ;)

It's certainly one to make room for! Personally, I can't get enough of the dark leaved phals! I am debating between a bellina and a schilleriana as my first attempt at growing a species. Sweet aroma vs. very pretty leaves. Decisions.. This is why people end up with 50 orchids so quickly. I need more mini options!

Looking at your temps in your other post, I would go with a Phal. schilleriana. I’m not all that successful with either, (though my schilly is sending out a beautiful long spike for the first time since getting it as a seedling 3 years ago) but the schilleriana seems much less fussy than my bellina. I know that the phal bellina grows more on the hot side and seems to seriously resent any temps below 65.

Many of the "mini" hybrids sold at grocery and hardware chain stores are immature plants that have been forced into bloom. With proper culture, they will mature into standard sized plants.

I definitely shouldn't bother with a bellina with my temps then, SaraJean.

And, Ray, do you happen to know if they use anything other than temps to force phals to bloom? I was reading somewhere photo period doesn't play a factor, at least with the complex hybrids.

my P. Alyos is in between of two.
i like the size of it. really compact and not as mini as Phal. minus.
the slab is around 12"

Oh, wow! That is a beautiful phal! I'm adding it to my list.. I just need a bigger place and i'll be ready to add more!
:rofl: