Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project

[jje10001]

So I got this gigantea for a pretty decent price, and am looking for some tips on its care.

Background:
- I got it surprisingly at a local flower shop.
- It was a leftover import, which came barerooted, and was bone dry for quite awhile. Unfortunately some roots perished during the time it was dried out.
- I soaked it in water/kelp water for about a day or so to rehydrate the roots & to figure out which roots were still alive.
- I expect the root system to perish at some point, I have another phal (YangYang Blueberry x KS Blue Luedde) acquired earlier from the same shipment whose entire root system died all at once after a month potted into bark, but the plant was healthy enough to immediately push out a replacement root system.
- I live in a temperate environment in an air-conditioned house.
- Winter temperatures go from around 20-22C/68-72F, and summer temperatures go from around 22-25C/72-77F.
- The house has low humidity, from 20% in winter to 40% in summer.
- The leaf span is around 7 inches for the largest leaf- it's quite large even with only three leaves!
- There is a bit of dark staining on the stem, but it seems safe- I treated with some physan just in case.

After rehydrating & cleaning off the roots:


All potted up:


So my general growing conditions:
- I potted it into leca with charcoal chips in a plastic pot, with the goal of a durable and airy mix as I heard that larger plants dislike being repotted. This mix I think also allows me to grow it wetter if necessary (i.e. with wet feet).
- I potted it at 45 degrees to avoid any issues with water in the crown/leaves.
- This pot sits inside a cloche pot, with the goal of a soak on the weekend, and a quick watering under the faucet halfway through the week for a faster wet-dry cycle (~3-5 days).
- It sits at the edge of 3 T6 Barrina LED lights, at a distance of around 8 inches away from the lights. It gets around 12-14H of light a day.
- It sits on a heat mat which bumps up the temperature at the root zone of the pot up by another 5C/~8F. - Unfortunately the heat mat pushes down humidity to around 35%.
- At this point my first hopes are for new root growth before the root system dies, as the current one is really not in the best of conditions.

Any tips or suggestions? I was really debating whether to go for bark vs leca.

[jje10001]

Originally Posted by jje10001

So I got this gigantea for a pretty decent price, and am looking for some tips on its care.

[...]

So one month later and this plant is on its deathbed!

After a few weeks, a leaf yellowed and dropped off, while the root system largely died off. Over the course of the following weeks in a humidity chamber (with regular airing + a heatmat), after a promising first few weeks of leaf growth, the plant then was struck by a secondary localized fungal infection (spots + wrinkling), and then the final mature leaf yellowed and also dropped off despite treatment.

This leaf yellowing is much faster than I have experienced with some of my other phals (some of whom hold onto their leaves even if they're severely dehydrated/stressed), and it seems like gigantea quickly spirals if the root system is lost.

At this point, there is only the small newest leaf + the stem remaining + the root wires, I'm not sure how this one can be recovered. Perhaps this one will end up in the bin, unfortunately.



Lesson learnt- Phal gigantea has a low stress tolerance, and I should not pick one up that's 1.) Barerooted, and 2.) Neglected! A shame too, since this one seemed like an interesting variety.

[Antogags99]

I was offered this small Gigantea as a gift due to a faulty order in March. I have it in a bark and sphagnum setup and have it in an outer orchid pot with a bit of at the bottom for extra humidity. I live in Portugal and this summer has been particularly hot. After a 3 week holiday I was delighted to see that the protruding leave I saw before I left, has grown so much. I’m experimenting with leca for some of my other phals but seeing that the Gigantea seems to like this setup I’m a bit reluctant to disturb it again… any advice?

[Ray]

Phals hate cold, wet roots. Phal gigantea is a seriously “hot” grower among phals.

You have kept it entirely too cold. The evaporative cooling from the moist LECA in your dry, air conditioned environment chilled the roots even more.

[jje10001]

Originally Posted by Ray

Phals hate cold, wet roots. Phal gigantea is a seriously “hot” grower among phals.

You have kept it entirely too cold. The evaporative cooling from the moist LECA in your dry, air conditioned environment chilled the roots even more.

It was on a heat mat, but point taken.

I will try again next time with another approach (and a healthier plant), if the opportunity presents itself once more.

[Ray]

The heat mat likely helped a bit, but the entire plant prefers warmth, and apparently more light than other phals.

[Mr.Fakename]

Long time no update, so here's one.

My small gigantea alba was damaged by heat when I moved last year, and didn't make it.
It's a shame, but thankfully it seems nowadays these plants are easier to get a hold of than 10 years ago.

The big one keeps getting bigger, and has finally decided to bloom.
Here is it as of last weekend.

(pics won't work, uploading it as attachment)

[Antogags99]

Originally Posted by Mr.Fakename

Long time no update, so here's one.

My small gigantea alba was damaged by heat when I moved last year, and didn't make it.
It's a shame, but thankfully it seems nowadays these plants are easier to get a hold of than 10 years ago.

The big one keeps getting bigger, and has finally decided to bloom.
Here is it as of last weekend.

(pics won't work, uploading it as attachment)

Wow! Great plant. I hope mine will reach that size some day. At least it has grown a third leave since I got it in February so I should be doing something right...that said... the urge to just buy an adult gigantea is huge and Schwerter orchids does not make this urge any easier.

[Metsmy]

Hi everyone

Just “adopted” a phal. Gig. and I’m very exited and also a bit (very) anxious to not fail her!

I ordered a young plant/seedling but received what to me looks like a (more) mature plant??

I’m not sure about the setup yet, since we are soon moving to a new apartment- but it is potted in ‘Greenmix’ an insulation/stone wool type mix. I live in 🇩🇰 Denmark where winters get cold, and very dark/short days - only started with orchids in the early spring - I really hope I didn’t jump in over my head 😬😅

Can anyone help to establish wether theese spots are potentially scales, or just edema? Thanks a lot in advance- looking foreword to read on in the thread and learn!

- Mette

[Roberta]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

I can't advise on this one... but there are quite a few members who are growing this species who will contribute, I am certain. (Several who live in Europe, who also have similar challenges).