Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project
Login
User Name
Password   


Registration is FREE. Click to become a member of OrchidBoard community
(You're NOT logged in)

menu menu

Sponsor
Donate Now
and become
Forum Supporter.

Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project
Many perks!
<...more...>


Sponsor
 

Google


Fauna Top Sites
LOG IN/REGISTER TO CLOSE THIS ADVERTISEMENT
  #191  
Old 03-30-2023, 06:03 PM
Toadwally Toadwally is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Dec 2022
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 165
Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project Male
Default

Welcome. I have two P.g. 2 yrs now. About 8" spread and 2 and 3 pairs of leaves. They live in NZ sphag and hort. charcoal, about pea-sized, in a med. sized deli cup. Putting on new leaves. Winter nights 68f, never yet below 65f.
Reply With Quote
  #192  
Old 03-30-2023, 08:46 PM
Manus Manus is offline
Jr. Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2023
Posts: 2
Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Toadwally View Post
Welcome. I have two P.g. 2 yrs now. About 8" spread and 2 and 3 pairs of leaves. They live in NZ sphag and hort. charcoal, about pea-sized, in a med. sized deli cup. Putting on new leaves. Winter nights 68f, never yet below 65f.
Have you been growing them since seedling? Are they under growlights at all?
Reply With Quote
  #193  
Old 03-30-2023, 08:56 PM
Toadwally Toadwally is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Dec 2022
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 165
Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project Male
Default

Not since seedlings. Grown warm under lights. A little brighter than typical phal.
Reply With Quote
  #194  
Old 03-30-2023, 10:53 PM
DBoro9 DBoro9 is offline
Jr. Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2023
Zone: 7b
Location: Maryland USA
Posts: 8
Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project Female
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Fakename View Post
Here are mine:

Grown under LEDs, Cattleya light levels. After they're done with their current leaves, I'll put them even closer to the light bulb.
They get a bit of natural spring light during the afternoon; but direct summer sun is not possible under my conditions, I don't want to end with a bunch of roasted salads.

Temperatures are hard to bear for humans, but plants love the heat.
They usually see 30-40°C during summer days, 15-25°C at night. Winter days 18-25°C, nights 18-22°C.

The main issue is RH, 20-30% in winter, under 10% day and close to 90% night during summer.

Gigantea #1 (longest leaf 23cm) is potted in big bark, allowing for very frequent and thorough watering, keeping the moisture relatively even inside the pot.
Gigantea #2 (longest leaf 12cm) is in tightly packed Sphagnum, and will go in S/H soon.

I water them with tap water and RainMix (MSU for Americans); I also regularly swap fertiliser for a bunch of organic products like aloe vera extract or fish emulsion.
I strongly believe in the power of beneficial microorganisms, and use fungi and bacteria monthly.









Are the 2 plants the same age? Have you noticed a difference in the plants based on the pitting mix you’re using?
Reply With Quote
Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes
Likes tmoney liked this post
  #195  
Old 03-31-2023, 11:28 AM
tmoney's Avatar
tmoney tmoney is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Feb 2021
Zone: 8b
Location: Dusseldorf, DE
Posts: 1,178
Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project Male
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by DBoro9 View Post
Hi everyone! I’m new to the group. I recently purchased a Phal. gigantea and am trying to get an idea of the best potting mix to use. I tend to under water most of my orchids and have found the most success w/ my polychilos phals when I potted them in straight Sphagnum moss. I’ve read a lot of conflicting info about the growing medium for Phal gigantea—some sources say “fast-draining bark mix” others say “moisture-retentive sphagnum moss.” What is the group’s experience? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
howdy, and welcome to the ob! ours came in large bark, and seems to like that. i'm sure you can do with sphag, but that method seems to be less forgiving than bark. i would say especially so as plants get larger. best of luck with the new gigantea!
Reply With Quote
  #196  
Old 04-05-2023, 08:51 AM
DBoro9 DBoro9 is offline
Jr. Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2023
Zone: 7b
Location: Maryland USA
Posts: 8
Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project Female
Default

Thanks! One more question—has anyone tried using a self-watering setup w/ LECA?
Reply With Quote
  #197  
Old 04-06-2023, 12:51 AM
tmoney's Avatar
tmoney tmoney is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Feb 2021
Zone: 8b
Location: Dusseldorf, DE
Posts: 1,178
Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project Male
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by DBoro9 View Post
Thanks! One more question—has anyone tried using a self-watering setup w/ LECA?
hmmm, well i can only assume by the lack of responses the answer is no! but, usually, most growers who use this method don’t do it with phals. at least, that is my anecdotal conclusion, i have no proof to substantiate that claim. usually self watering methods are used in high moisture orchids like paphs and catasetums and such. probly somebody somewhere is using it tho. phals typically want to get a bit drier between watering.
Reply With Quote
  #198  
Old 04-06-2023, 10:53 AM
Roberta's Avatar
Roberta Roberta is offline
Super Moderator
 

Join Date: Jun 2008
Zone: 10a
Location: Coastal southern California, USA
Posts: 13,617
Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project Female
Default

I think the issue with semi-hydro is that there is evaporative cooling that lowers the root temperature too much for Phals, and this is even more of an issue with the warmer-growing species. There have been quite a few comments in the semi-hydro formum on the subject.
__________________
Orchids teach patience!

Roberta's Orchids (visit my back yard)

See what orchid species are blooming in Southern California(New page for OCTOBER 2024)
Reply With Quote
  #199  
Old 09-17-2023, 11:14 AM
camille1585's Avatar
camille1585 camille1585 is offline
Administrator
 

Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: middle of the Netherlands
Posts: 13,766
Default

Update on my Phal gigantea. It's still growing well, and now fully living up to it's name. New leaves are now over 40cm (15in) long and it holds 5-6 leaves at a time. STILL no spikes, though it now has no less than 4 dormant spike nubbins!

It needs a larger outer plastic pot since the more space the roots get the more they need, which I guess is a very good thing. I've given up my idea of replacing the fragile net pot as the roots have grown through it in too many places.

In any case it makes a great foliage plant and and topic of conversation when we have guests over. It it also one of the few survivors to whatever disease has swept through and decimated most of my collection.

__________________
Camille

Completely orchid obsessed and loving every minute of it....

My Orchid Photos
Reply With Quote
Post Thanks / Like - 7 Likes
  #200  
Old 10-05-2023, 10:23 AM
Mr.Fakename Mr.Fakename is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2020
Age: 29
Posts: 701
Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project Male
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by DBoro9 View Post
Are the 2 plants the same age? Have you noticed a difference in the plants based on the pitting mix you’re using?

They're not the same age, the alba was younger by a solid year or 2.
It unfortunately died when I moved; I didn't have time to really compare.

My remaining gig has been with my parents since the beginning of the year, as I moved (again) and couldn't accommodate such a big plant.

It's been watered only occasionally, not fed once, outside in the elements, and has now decided to grow a new leaf while night temps are 8-10°C. Pretty sure I couldn't kill it if I tried at this point.

I have bought a grow tent, it'll join other plants and benefit from much better conditions shortly, and will hopefully become a nice mature plant in the coming years.


Edit: leaves are dirty and old ones are fading to feed new growth, but it's not doing too bad
Attached Thumbnails
Phalaenopsis gigantea - long term growing project-img_20231005_162739-jpg  

Last edited by Mr.Fakename; 10-05-2023 at 10:32 AM..
Reply With Quote
Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes
Likes Roberta liked this post
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
growing, idea, plants, project, species


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Phalaenopsis growing 4 leaves at once! squeakyninjanerd Beginner Discussion 3 03-07-2020 02:35 PM
Help! Is this a keiki? Phalaenopsis with one basal keiki, now growing strange leaves Rorocnoe Propagation 12 10-17-2019 01:27 AM
Mini Phalaenopsis compromised plus no new growth in long time lotis146 Beginner Discussion 14 04-03-2014 06:00 PM
My small list of Phals Call_Me_Bob Species 10 09-20-2012 10:28 PM
Candidates for the long term project Tony Contests & Polls 28 01-18-2007 04:00 PM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:33 PM.

© 2007 OrchidBoard.com
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.37 (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.

Clubs vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.