Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project

[tmoney]

yo mr. fakename! you’re back! how are those little gigantea alba seedlings you got doing? the one we kept from your little group is still doing well, but those things have a few years before flowering i think, hahaha....

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Originally Posted by Mr.Fakename

Well, it's taken approximately... decades, I think? - but the first flowers are finally opening.

I wanted red dots on a white background and got exactly that, not too bad!
Decent shape and pattern; I'm looking forward to future, improved blooms.

Did you reach a conclusion on whether it needed a cold spell, more, or less light to bloom?

[Mr.Fakename]

Originally Posted by tmoney

yo mr. fakename! you’re back! how are those little gigantea alba seedlings you got doing? the one we kept from your little group is still doing well, but those things have a few years before flowering i think, hahaha....

All the plants died, except for the micholitzii, tetraspsis and one javanica alba. You shoud've kept them all
I'll be moving again again again in the coming weeks, maybe I'll restart a Phal collection.

Originally Posted by MateoinLosAngeles

Did you reach a conclusion on whether it needed a cold spell, more, or less light to bloom?

Nope it just bloomed on its own, so I would say that as long as you keep it well fed and it can get sufficient light, it'll do its own thing in due time.

I chatted with a commercial grower about gigantea and the fact that his personal plant was in very shady position, he said his wouldn't bloom reliably but would get massive leaves.
He insisted on the fact that while potted it never initiated a spike, but bloomed after he mounted it on cork and the plant got a bigger root system and was able to anchor itself.

[tmoney]

oh man, i am really sorry to hear that I swear they looked ok when i shipped them?! sorry man. i know they were pricey.

[camille1585]

At last, after 10 YEARS of patience and nurturing the tiny plant is started out as, my Phal gigantea is has a spike growing!! You can see in the photo that it aborted previous attempts at spikes the past 3 years, and this year it's development is progressing much further than usual.

Does spike development of this species take as long as most other Phals (around 3 months) or is this one different?Asking because I will be on vacation for 4 weeks this summer...

[Desdinova]

Early last year, I indulged in several gigantea seedlings, which proceeded to thrive. Last night, I discovered a spike on the biggest one. Be interesting to see how it blooms out. Is it really a gigantea? We'll see.

The label reads Phal. gigantea 'Princess' x Phal. gigantea var. alba (decolorata) 'Ta-Wei'.

[Desdinova]

Wups! Accedentally double posted.

Oh, hi! Nice to meet you.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Desdinova

Early last year, I indulged in several gigantea seedlings, which proceeded to thrive. Last night, I discovered a spike on the biggest one. Be interesting to see how it blooms out. Is it really a gigantea? We'll see.

The label reads Phal. gigantea 'Princess' x Phal. gigantea var. alba (decolorata) 'Ta-Wei'.

Nice plant, looking forward to seeing the flowers! The leaves and way the spike are growing do look very gigantea like, so for now I'd the guess the name is correct.

[camille1585]

The spike is growing pretty fast, much faster than I expected given how slowly this species grows! Tomorrow I'm going to buy a heavy outer pot to put it in, because soon I will have to move the plant to the edge of the shelf so that the spike can continue its downward growth.

I have a sinking feeling that I'm not going to get to see the blooms though, I'm leaving July 28th for 4 weeks... Don't get me wrong I'm overjoyed to be going to watch the Paris games and have my usual vacation, but after 10 years of waiting I wanted to see my baby's first flowers!

Any bets on when the first bloom with be open?

[Roberta]

I think you will be back home in time... I'm guessing at least 2 months before it even THINKS of blooming.