Phal Malipoense - Orchid Board

orchidsarefun · #1 05-05-2012, 10:55 AM

So I got seedlings of this phal from China and have put them into 2 compots, filled with sphagnum. I am keeping humidity at around 50-65%.
Can anyone offer any grow tips that are unique to this species ? From what I can find ( IOSPE, OrchidWiz Express ), there doesn't seem to be anything unusual ?

orchidsarefun · #2 05-21-2012, 01:39 PM

I received 12 seedlings in all. One with no leaves. All are progressing, except the one that had no leaves. Can't find it ! They are on a heating mat. Also allowing limited filtered sun, this has greened-up the leaves and roots. So far, so good.

zxyqu · #3 05-21-2012, 01:51 PM

Well, I hope this is Phal malipoensis, and if so, it it a really great flower. They are generally deciduous, so don't be surprised if they shed their leaves. When grown mounted, they do this all the time, and get some energy from photosynthesis in the roots. So roots for this guy are really really important. I've never grown any of these from flask, so hopefully generally Phal conditions from flask will work great. But they do like faster wet/dry cycle. Since they tend to lose their leaves, I'd really consider mounting these when they are out of compot. Could even mount a few together as a compot mount. Good luck, take pics, and keep us posted.

orchidsarefun · #4 05-21-2012, 02:13 PM

I think I will mount a couple in a few weeks, just want to get them going first. The heating pad does a good job of drying out the sphag. The pots I am using are 5 " bulb pots, nice and shallow.

I also hope they are authentic ! Coming from China one would think they would be but only time will tell.

orchidsarefun · #5 07-23-2012, 01:38 PM

I have moved these into individual 2in net pots, that hang from the rack shelf. I don't think that the sphagnum in the compot was drying out quick enough, each net pot has a little sphagnum to anchor the seedling. I have lost about 3, but who knows 1 or 2 may recover. The net pots definitely dry out FAST.

naoki · #6 07-24-2012, 06:39 PM

Mine is an adult plant, and I had it only for a couple months. But it appears to be an active root grower. I usually don't like to mount phal species (more time consuming to water), but for this species, I mounted it on a small piece of Cedar siding. I think the roots are fairly photosynthetic. I've heard that most of the time they don't go deciduous in cultivation, but if roots are exposed, the plants without leaves are more likely to get the cue to regrow in the spring.

orchidsarefun · #7 07-24-2012, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by naoki

Mine is an adult plant, and I had it only for a couple months. But it appears to be an active root grower. I usually don't like to mount phal species (more time consuming to water), but for this species, I mounted it on a small piece of Cedar siding. I think the roots are fairly photosynthetic. I've heard that most of the time they don't go deciduous in cultivation, but if roots are exposed, the plants without leaves are more likely to get the cue to regrow in the spring.

how many leaves has yours got ? I have a wilsonii and a taenialis and both have 1-2 leaves at a time max. Some of my malipoensis seedlings have 1-2 leaves......no more than that at a time.

FairyInTheFlowers · #8 07-24-2012, 06:59 PM

I would love to see pictures of these little guys!! I agree that decidious species may not go decidous in cultivation, but it all depends on the temperatures and other factors of each grower. My lobbii never went decidious, but it stopped all growth during the winter.

naoki · #9 07-24-2012, 07:32 PM

P. malipoensis has 3 leaves currently, and a new one started to spread. The longest leaf is about 2.5". My mounted P. wilsonii (I haven't flowered it yet, so it's not positively identified) seems to keep 2 leaves. It's a flowering size, too.

Cody, are you growing them in an outdoor greenhouse? For P. lobbii, I'm growing in bark/sphag mix in a pot and I'm growing all in a indoor grow tent, so we'll see if they'll go to the rest period in the winter. Without an enclosure, it's difficult to keep high humidity in interior AK. You probably faces similar challenges in Saskatchewan.

FairyInTheFlowers · #10 07-24-2012, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by naoki

Cody, are you growing them in an outdoor greenhouse? For P. lobbii, I'm growing in bark/sphag mix in a pot and I'm growing all in a indoor grow tent, so we'll see if they'll go to the rest period in the winter. Without an enclosure, it's difficult to keep high humidity in interior AK. You probably faces similar challenges in Saskatchewan.

I grow them mounted (with a good amount of sphag on the mount) in my closet under lights, which maintains humidity at around 60% all year. I have two lobbii and two parishii, all mounted, that are from the same source. I am hoping to have all four bloom next spring!