'Little Lady' will it stay this small?
 

Hi everyone,

Earlier today I was "browsing" in my local nursery and so as usual I left with two orchids...

A Cattleya and a tiny little Phal (label says 'Little Lady'). I've got a couple of mini Phals already but this one is like a mini mini Phal. I've never seen one so small!! So obviously I bought it.

Do you reckon it will stay this small?

Attachment 135462

Yes, it will stay this small. Mini hybrid Phals take the same care as larger hybrid Phals. There is a wide range of hybrids bred from miniature species. Breeders recognize lots of people grow on windowsills and would like much smaller flowering plants.

Amazing! Thanks.

Yup, I've got two Little Ladies myself and they stay just like this, a friend of mine keeps them suspended in tea cups.

Perhaps a fair note of warning that they dry out more easily - smaller plant, smaller root mass, hence smaller pot/container and far less medium. Thus the medium dried much faster and the roots may dry out faster too. You may have to water it more frequently or use a more retentive medium. This is the only phal I grow in something other than 100% bark. It is usually sold around here with its roots wrapped round a block of peat moss or packed in sphagnum, in tiny plastic pots with a half inch deep reservoir at the bottom to improve humidity and prevent suffocation.

Thanks for the tip! Yes it looks like sphagnum. I find it fascinating that something so tiny has the strength to push out two spikes and 20 flowers!

I have a white one which is on its second year blooming. It has perhaps grown slightly bigger (both leaves and flower spikes) but not by much. It is still much smaller than a 'small' Phal.

Wow, it's definitely 'Who Shrank the Phalaenopsis'.