phal japonica - Orchid Board

RJSquirrel · #1 08-25-2022, 09:20 PM

just doesnt seem right phal japonica. ya think its bloomng sized? was sold as well grown blooming sized

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Roberta · #2 08-25-2022, 11:09 PM

Looks blooming size to me. Phal. japonica - Sedirea japonica... They can call it a Phalaenopsis, but it grows more like a cold-tolerant Vanda (it's quite happy to stay warm, but puts up with my cool nights). That looks to me like a very healthy plant. Mine mostly blooms in the May-June timeframe though I have occasionally had it bloom at other times.

Roberta · #3 08-26-2022, 12:29 AM

Mine bloomed at about that size. (It has grown a bit since the first blooming several years ago) The roots of RJ's plant are quite substantial (and beautiful!) In fact, as one of the parents of Phal Little One (the other parent is the large Phal. hydrochila) it brings the size down. (I know it as Sedirea japonica, the renaming wars are so much fun) I grow both of them as well as the hybrid, so am quite familiar with the habits of all three.

This one is the typical size... there is a true miniature form, Sedirea japonica var. minmaru, where the mature plant is maybe 2 inches (5 cm) tall, and the flowers are full-size. Akhenaten, one of the Board contributors (with ongoing thread Project Phoenix under Greenhouse Gardening) showed a beautifully grown example of the miniature variety awhile back.

Just for grins, Sedirea is Aerides spelled backwards. The plant is very closely related to Aerides. Monotypic genera tend to get reclassified on general principles. (Why it ended up "Phalaenopsis" I leave to others to explain) For that matter, the other parent of Phal (Vandopirea) Little One was Vandopsis parishii, then Hydrochilus parishii, and also ended up classified as Phalaenopsis... it looks like a Vanda and grows like a cold-tolerant Vanda.

Also, here are the two species and their primary hybrid.
The big one at the back is Phal hydrochila (Hydrochilus parishii), front right is Phal (Sedirea) japonica, front left is Phal (Vandopirea) Little One.

tmoney · #4 08-26-2022, 12:10 PM

its sorta hard for me to see the scale of it, but perhaps with good care it would bloom next year. our first one came to us quite small and had a spike, and it "looked" about the same size.

either way, it seems like a nice healthy plant! best of luck with some blooms!

edit, i'm hopelessly optimistic with our orchids, so i even want the paph seedlings to bloom the first year from flask, hahaha....so, on second thought, just hope for the best and keep it happy in the meantime! your cost was probly half the fact that this looks like an excellently grown, and healthy plant...contrary to what you might get from some other places regardless of size / price grading

Roberta · #5 08-26-2022, 12:30 PM

Just for scale, here's my plant this morning (with my hand for scale... the mount is about the size of my hand). It's starting to lose an old growth (1 yellow leaf), but has two new ones doing nicely with big fat roots. That is also what it tends to do - grow basal offsets rather than get taller. I have had it for 5 years and it has bloomed every spring.

RJSquirrel · #6 08-26-2022, 02:13 PM

I think its blooming sized.

Yours are wonderful Roberta.

the last one I had was an Orchid Board project plant that came from 'Oak Hill".. remember them?..Was about the size of a quarter with 2 teeny tiny roots..This is a nice sized plant.

Came from Andy's. The wettest orchids alive on Earth. These spent 2 days in a box and were still wet when they hit the door.