Phal gigantea culture - how difficult is it?

[brammn]

Traditionally I've kept Catt's and Laelias with the odd Vanda and bulbophyllum but I've decided to be adventurous and branch out and try something different so I'm looking at a few Phal species (well - I have a few already and they're doing ok).

I've got the option to buy a gigantea 'alba' (catch is its not cheap). I've read mixed reviews online - what are people's experiences, how difficult are they? I'm keen to understand before I invest.

I live in the UK, so winters are fairly cool and not a lot of light in winter which is my main concern. Certain more fragile plants come in the house over winter (that being said I am seriously considering a giant propagator and moving the fragile plants into the garage with LED grow lights over them to maintain 12 hours light a day and temps over winter this year...)

[jcec1]

I don't grow gigantea, but I have several of its primary hybrids - I grow in normal room conditions with no supplemental lighting and they do just fine.

They are also meant to be a more manageable size when they bloom.

[estación seca]

I've taken a few notes on this plant. Here are some things for you to read:

Big Leaf Orchids - Phalaenopsis gigantea

Short pithy advice for those who don't want to read an entire article
Big Leaf Orchid forum • View topic - Phalaenopsis gigantea 'Pylo's Candy'

[camille1585]

I've had my gigantea for close to 4 years now, and find that it grows quite well in standard Phal conditions (I'm in the Netherlands). I bought it as a large seedling and each year's leaf is larger than the last, which is good news.

In the wild these grow high up in the trees, so do need more light than the average Phal. In the winter I grow it right up against a south facing window where it gets direct sun (when it's sunny...) and supplemented with a LED strip. In the summer it stays in that same window but I pull it back a bit so it doesn't burn.

Winter it gets around 20-22C day and 17-18C night. Summer is 25-29C day and 20-24C night. (It gets warm in my apartment, all the windows are south facing). I grow it potted in high quality bark (orchiata) to limit the repotting frequency.

So I can say that it's easy to GROW, but I can't say anything about blooming yet! It did start a spike last spring, but stalled almost immediately and I don't know why.

Why not start with the cheaper 'standard' version until you find out if you are successful with this species?