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Phalaenopsis come in many different sizes and
colours striped spotted mottled blotched plain
white or a combination, flower and plant size
vary depending on the parentage.
They make excellent house plants, but don't
forget to make certain that the temperature at
night stays above 58deg. f or the plant will
suffer.
The leaves as fleshy and rounded, sometimes
attractively mottled.
see books on phalaenopsis growing in UK
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PHALAENOPSIS.
These orchids are the easiest and most rewarding
of the family for the home grower as they
produce arching spikes of ten or more flowers as
often as three times a year, and which can
flower for months.
In nature there are just under 50 wild species
which are found from India eastwards through the
Philippines and into Northern Australia. The
name Phalaenopsis (pronounced fal-ee-nop-sis) is
from the Greek and means moth-like.
The plants are shade-loving and grow on branches
or on rocks where the air is warm and moist.
Phalaenopsis plants do not have pseudobulbs and
the strength of the plant is in its large,
leathery leaves and thick roots.
New leaves appear slowly and regularly over each
other and are generally a deep green but
occasionally can he attractively mottled.
The flowers appear on a spike from the stem
between the leaves and, depending on the type,
there may be anything from a single flower to
over a hundred.
How to make a phalaenopsis flower again
quickly.
When flowering has finished, or ideally has
one or two flowers left, you can trim off the
spike to around 1 inch from just above the first
node on the main spike stem, that will be
somewhere below where the first flower appeared,
and is a little bump covered by a small
leaflet,.
The plant may re spike and flower early from
there, or if the spike has died fully and gone
brown, trim off the flower spikes to within 1
inch from where they appeared out of the side of
the plant, and look after it, it should re bloom
on new spikes next year.
My Phalaenopsis has small
plantlets growing on the flower spike !
Occasionally a flower bud will develop into a
small plant with roots which can be cut off and
potted up. These propagations may flower within
a couple of years.
Many hundreds of hybrids have been bred, and the
trade in Phalaenopsis is a huge pot-plant market
because of the ease of cultivation as house
plants.
Temperature and humidity.
Because of their wild origins, they like a
minimum temperature of 20°C (68°F) although
adult plants grow happily at 15"C (60"F) and
actually flower better after a few weeks at this
night temperature in autumn.
They will benefit from being over (but not in) a
tray of pebbles that should be kept wet to boost
the atmospheric humidity.
Light.
As they are shade plants, the moth orchids
prefer dappled light (an east or west facing
windowsill behind a net curtain is ideal). Too
much bright light can burn the leaves and turn
the plants yellowish while too little will
result in plants with soft leaves that don't
flower.
Watering and feeding.
As they do not have storage pseudobulbs, their
compost should he kept evenly moist using tepid
rainwater, or reasonably pure tap water if you
are lucky enough to have it. Do not let it dry
out.
Avoid using cold water and don't allow water to
remain in the crown of the plants for more than
a couple of hours as it can induce rotting. Give
a quarter strength fertiliser once a month.
Potting.
Clear pots are ideal for these plants, the roots
seem to benefit from the light, and you can also
see any root problem developing before its to
late. Use a coarse bark mixture with added
charcoal, perlite (and sphagnum moss, or
horticultural sponge, if in quick drying
conditions). The roots often grow outside the
pot, but this is quite natural and indicates
that you are doing things right!
Repot after flowering. Don't overpot; wash the
old compost from the roots before working the
new compost gently and firmly around the roots.
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