Phalaenopsis manii var Black

[Hazeldazel]

Here is my Phal. mannii var Black, this is the second time it's bloomed for me (April 2024 and now). I let it get a big too dry last year but otherwise it loves living in my IKEA cabinet.

edit: why are my photos coming out turned to landscape? And how do I fix it?

[Roberta]

The sideways presentation of photos is a "feature" of the ancient software of the Board. You'll find notes on the issue scattered around. We're all used to turning head... But if you save the file to desktop computer, rotate 90% in your photo editor of choice, save, rotate it back and save again that usually fixes it. Also,a "save as" (even under the same name) after rotation also works. The manipulation resets the metadata that determines orientation. A nuisance for sure, but the workaround works.

[smweaver]

Very pretty bloom. The markings remind me of an oncidium. What are the conditions in your Ikea cabinet? Do you keep a small muffin-type fan and/or mini humidifier (if there is such a thing) inside to help control the environment? I ask because I am kind of wanting to install one of these in a spare bedroom and treat it basically like a piece of interactive furniture. Congrats on the blooms. They're very cool.

[Hazeldazel]

I have about 45 watts LED lighting on each of the three shelves inside the Milsbo, with a USB computer fan on two of the shelves (one USB plug powers two fans). There's no humidifier, just the plants themselves keep the humidity between 50-70%RH depending on when I've watered. The temps during the day stay in the upper 70's in one Milsbo, and in the upper 80's in the other (different LED lights, the Barrina lights run hotter). There's a small gap between the two doors in front so there's some air flow and I'm sure I lose some humidity there. Luckily my house stays cool during summer (AC) or I'd have some issues.

The orchids seem to love it and especially the higher humidity from being enclosed - lots of aerial roots with healthy growing tips (my humidity is normally pretty low being I'm in Northern California). The only issue I think I have is not giving some of my dendrobiums a cool enough winter. I might have to move some of them to a spare bedroom or even put them on a shelf in the garage to give them some cold.

Of course, the polychilos-type phals and bulbos are LOVING the constant warm temps and decent humidity, I recently got some brassavolas, angraecums and ascocentrums which seem to be happy so far.

The cabinets also protects everyone from my plant-munching cats which is great.

[Mountaineer370]

That's very cute!

[smweaver]

The cabinets look excellent. They remind me of some of the display cases from college biology classes that a couple of the professors liked to keep. I can imagine that the plants themselves, especially after you get a lot of them inside the cases, do a sufficient job on their own at creating humidity in an enclosed environment like this.

I have been contemplating trying this "cabinet method" growing style for a couple of years now, specifically for Phalaenopsis violacea and bellina, both of which I adore--and both of which have routinely suffered during the winter months here because I just can't keep the temperatures as high as they require. This might actually work. Thank you for sharing the information (and photos) of your set-up, which are both informative and inspiring.

[Hazeldazel]

I have Phal. bellina, Phal. violacea var. indigo, and Phal. violacea var Pink Wilsonara in the cabinets as well and they are all growing really well. The Pink violacea has bloomed once already and it getting ready to bloom again but the other two are still seedlings. I have a number of other Phal species of that type (bastianii, micholitzii, pulchra, tetraspis, etc.).

I would really recommend checking out the reddit sub called r/ikeagreenhouseclub there's a lot of good info. Very easy to do, the only slightly tricky bit was drilling a 2 inch hole in the bottom for all the cords but even that was pretty easy with a cordless drill and a good 2" bit.

Spouse is happy everything is contained (including weird bulbo smells) and looks presentable so I got that going for me which is nice.

[smweaver]

I just checked out that reddit link. There's quite a lot of interesting information there. Thanks for directing me to it.

Yes, I too have to factor in the "presentation" variable in my set up. Our sunroom has, in addition to a large expanse of exterior windows, three large interior windows that let you see everything from the kitchen. I have strategically placed three large alocasias along the interior windows to hide all of the plants that look like (according to my partner) "hurricane victims" (he's referring, of course, to the orchids). So I sympathize with your efforts to keep meet your wife's aesthetic expectations.

[Hazeldazel]

In my case, I’m the wife dealing with a husband who doesn’t do plants (doesn’t even enjoy mowing the lawn), so upgrading my raggedy shelf to milsbo cabinets with my oftentimes raggedy dendrobiums helps.

[smweaver]

I definitely should apologize at this point. I should not have assumed that you were the husband! Sorry about that. But I still sympathize with your predicament. In a perfect world, my husband would prefer to have very good faux plants for both indoors and the outdoor landscaping, with the outdoor specimens being swapped out on a predictable schedule to mimic the change in seasons. This task, ideally, would be performed by a very quiet crew during the night while he sleeps, thereby allowing him to wake up to, literally, the first day of spring with a yard that's overflowing with fake daffodils and tulips, a summer that's complete with lush (and completely fake) rose bushes, etc. I keep telling myself that this trait of his should mellow a bit with age. But I have a gnawing suspicion that it might not. So good luck with your cabinets.