Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project

[estación seca]

In the US a separate plant import permit is necessary in addition to the CITES permit and phytosanitary certificate. I don't know about other countries.

[Roberta]

Along with that, with orders that have all of that documentation, delivery is still uncertain. I had some terrestrial tubers in a group order that was placed in June, shipped in mid-July, and showed up in mid-August. Tracking was basically a black hole from 2 days after it shipped (and supposedly was processed through the airport in Germany) and appeared 3 weeks later in US tracking. Fortunately, dormant tubers are pretty forgiving, but a whole plant that needs water and light? I wouldn't want to take a chance even if I had an import permit and CITES and Phytosanitary in order.

[K-Sci]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I'm not sure what the problem is. Can drying out once be fatal for these, even in very warm and humid environment? Can it take months for them to die after drying out? Why has none of five plants ever grown a new root? Are some strains of this plant easier to grow in cultivation? Could fertilization have anything to do with it?

I've found information on how to grow Phalaenopsis gigantea often conflicts, but several sources say it must be kept constantly moist.

Norman's orchids is very successful growing the plant from seed to maturity. Their growing instructions are scattered. In one place he says to allow the plant to "dry slightly", between watering. What that means is hard to know with certainty, but I would assume it means not to keep it wet but also not to let it become bone dry. Norman's orchids provides growing instructions with their alba gigantea, which can be read here.

Phal. gigantea var alba (gigantea var alba ' Prince ' x gigantea var alba ' Ta-Wai') / Orchids.com

One successful grower has a mature plant in sphagnum in a very large pot hung at an angle from the ceiling. I can't imaging that that much sphagnum ever gets completely dry. This grower remarked that his plant flowered then flowered again shortly after repotting. This would seem to contradict the "resents repotting' reputation. I think it is possible that this plants reputation for resenting repotting could be because new media such as bark can be very dry and hard to whet, causing roots to become too dry.

Some say it can't tolerate the levels of fertilizer typically used for orchids. Some advocate foliar feeding over drench fertilization.

The native environment is very warm with average nighttime lows in the low 70s. It is possible that regular lows in the 60s could be fatal and may account for the reputation for growing very slowly. The reputation for being easily rotted could also be accounted for by growing it too cool. Few greenhouses maintain low nigh time temperatures in the 70s in the winter.

-Keith

[estación seca]

Maybe I didn't make that clear - mine never got that low. I brought them into warmer parts of the house during winter. The last one I put into a terrarium with a heater.

I've read the Normans information. Two of the seedlings I bought were (Ta Wei x self) from Normans - as well as the article by Peter Lin that was formerly on the Big Leaf Orchids Web site. The only two things I could imagine are drying out too much, even if just once, and not fertilizing enough. But perhaps others have other thoughts.

[K-Sci]

My post wasn't a list of things I though you did wrong, but only where people in general could go wrong. That is, if the sources I looked at are right...maybe. I don't think your problem was with the temperature. In some cases it would seem they went downhill pretty fast. If I had to guess, I think it is more likely that it was becoming too dry. Does that seem to fit?
-Keith

[estación seca]

When it was time they went suddenly. They died long after the single dry spell - months - not close in time. The last one surprised me the most because it was steadily warm and humid in the sunroom, and the medium was still moist.

[tmoney]

Originally Posted by K-Sci

The reason I asked, is check this out:
Search Page


I'd love to get a mature size Phal. gigantea 'Jumbo Nova' BM/JOGA, but $7000 (8200 EUR) is a deal killer. The search page says $750, but if you add it to the cart it comes in at $7000.


-Keith

wow, they have a ton of gigantea hybrids, but also wow, they are quite expensive. the flowers on the jumbo nova look quite similar to the starship (and also the nova connection). i wonder how they are related?

---------- Post added at 09:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:27 PM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

When it was time they went suddenly. They died long after the single dry spell - months - not close in time. The last one surprised me the most because it was steadily warm and humid in the sunroom, and the medium was still moist.

hey es, so all of yours were species giganteum and not hybrids? also, im with you that the care recommendations seem to be all over the place for some plants. i would imagine this is a quite complicated issue with companies giving care advice based on their own genetics and locations. but who knows. obviously im in no position to give any feedback on why yours died. sorry, but better luck with the next one!

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I'm not sure what the problem is. Can drying out once be fatal for these, even in very warm and humid environment? Can it take months for them to die after drying out? Why has none of five plants ever grown a new root? Are some strains of this plant easier to grow in cultivation? Could fertilization have anything to do with it?

I don't think drying out is the cause of the problems you have. I've had my plant 7 years now, and it went through many repeated bouts of neglect in the first 2 years when I was finishing my PhD, and after that, every summer it goes 3 weeks without water when I'm on vacation. Despite this it has always managed to put out 1-2 new leaves each year, and continued to grow roots.... In fact that giant new root in the most recent photo I posted grew during my vacation this August, when it didn't get any water.

My experience with this species (in a pot) in my fairly average temp/humidity climate is that it likes a substrate a bit more airy than I use for my other Phals (it was in rather chunky bark the first 5 years, leca the past 2 years), and it seems to really like fast wet/dry cycles. So similar to what it would get on a mount. I have also often read/seen photos of them growing in sphag and kept fairly damp so that does work too, but don't have experience with it. I don't know if my methods are optimal, but the plant is often happily growing so it can't be that wrong.

As to some strains being better than others I don't know the answer to that either, but seeing the number of plants you've had it's hard to imagine that all of them are poor strains!

[Mr.Fakename]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Two of the seedlings I bought were (Ta Wei x self)

I have a plant from the Ta Wei strain, and it's a super strong grower, so I don't think it comes from there.

Same thing with drying out and low temps, my big gigantea is outside. It gets watered when I'm not a lazy ass, and night temperatures are 14-16°C (~60°F).

How bright do you grow them? Maybe it gets too hot for seedlings in your sunroom?

[estación seca]

Bright shade, almost no sun except sometimes early in the the morning when the sun is low. Surrounded by Cattleya seedlings. The are was at around 30-35F recently. Other Phals were fine.