Phalaenopsis care & culture: advanced tips and tricks for growing summer & winter blooming types 

Hahaha - That's awesome heh heh; sometimes when I film these, I'm worried i'm rambling too much. Glad you found it informative

@Magnus Clay f off

Thanks Linda!!

Solon - you bet! I’m happy to help others understand orchids better

Such great feedback. Thank you. I tried to pack a lot into this one and for me much of the information in this video took time to find, understand and apply. So I’m thrilled you’re finding it helpful too 💚

although i silently screamed when you touched the flowers! i thought we were to never do that

Hahaha. Glad you’ve found the info helpful. And yeah, the flowers are generally fine to touch as long as you don’t get too rough with them. Avoid touching newly-forming buds though, they can abort easily if there’s too much stimulation. AND on open flowers, be careful with the nose-if you bump the pollen cap off the flowers often drop a few days later

Hahaha - Thanks for listening. I've considered podcasting too but I think in a lot of situations visuals are necessary, so for now I'll stick to this. Thank you so much for following along and for the kind message :)

@@HerebutNot 2 years later... I now own orchids (15 of them) haha took me long enough

Thanks Bumblebee's Orchids! Yes, that’s a Mok Choi Yew...the leaves get bigger every year...I’m curious to see just how big they will get.

Yes Caroline, heat mats work for that. Depending on the type of Phal, some of the warmer growing ones are still more tolerant of “not hot” conditions. For example, Phal bellina is better with temps lower than Phal violacea, because bellina comes from higher areas in the mountains and trees-it’s for that reason they also are generally easier to care for. The leaves are thicker and they are better able to handle drought than violacea. Try to find phals that grow above 500-1000M in altitude and they should be better suited to manage your cooler temps.

Thank you so much for the advice! It's very warm here (Tennessee) and humid right now but the winters can be cold and the humidity is very low. But, if your warm, summer blooming phals can handle your winter climate, than I should have no problem!

Thanks Mende 976 - Phal hainanensis looks awesome. Hopefully you can get it to grow well/better for you

Here...but Not thanks 😉

Thanks Jack!

Hi Patricia! Yes...they definitely teach patience! Love phals!! Tnx for following!

Here...but Not ...I have to pop back in here to tell you with such enthusiasm that I watered / fertilized your method -monsoon style- 😃 and I had such fun! I mean, we all had a great rainfall soaking time and it was liberating! 😁 I also used a water bottle and Water was flying all over. I was a bit of coward and paper toweled a few crowns, but it was early with good light warmth and breeze coming in so I then let them dry naturally. By the way, just ordered 7 more Phal species. 👍 Sorry for how long this is. Thanks!

Patricia-SWEEEET! And dab the crowns out if you’re nervous! I’m glad I’ve helped liberate your watering experience 😂 I hope it goes as well for you as it does for me. What phals did you order?!

Here...but Not --happy to tell you! A Cornu Cervi ( young, but that's ok), L.S. Happy Eagle, Sapphire Galah, Hannover Passion, Zheng Min ' Joy ', Magic Panther, EquestrisxBellina, most 3" bl sz... Can't wait to get them and be patient, ha! What I want So Much is a Tetrapsis C1. ... And all the others!

Patricia-wow! Sweet haul. I really love the look of the KS Happy Eagle, Sapphire Galah, Zheng Min Etching ‘Joy’, and the bellina x equestris! Like...wow! They’re all beautiful but I definitely would put those on my wish list.

Lives in Greece - I'm so jealous! Once worked for a lady and she went to Greece and walked up the steps of the Parthenon! She was elderly, in her 80's and said she didn't like traveling alone, I said I'm not doing anything, I could go with you and she said are you going to pay half your way? Really? I work for you for $7 an hour and that's all I have I'm on disability)and you ask me that? She normally went with her grandson. She said when they went to Greece they weren't going to be there but maybe a week so her grandson stayed up all night even walking around. She said there were prostitutes propositioning him. I said what'd he say? She said, hopefully no! I love all the architecture, the caryatids and how they've redone them in some photos and added back their arms. There was one that was removed and put in a museum, I wonder if it's in better shape. I heard the ones that are presently there on the building are copies.

That’s great! Your tap water must be really pure

Thanks so much Henry! Appreciate the love

Thank you so much. Glad you’re enjoying it

It always comes down to preference; but at the end of the day there is a right way and a wrong way to get more flowers out of your plants. If you don't like scraggly spikes...stake them better. I have 2 other subgenus complex phals in bud (from a brand new spike) right now out of season, and they're only creating 4-5 flowers on an entire 3-foot-long spike. I had cut the old spikes off those two plants...so the logic that cutting old spikes yields more flowers, is clearly inaccurate. The reason they're only producing 4-5 flowers is because it's too warm right now and the bud formation stopped. Temperature, nutrients, and light is what play the key roles in flower production, not "taxation on the plant by a dormant (and photosynthetic) spike". On my Miva Smartissmo in the video (the pink spotted phal)...had I cut that spike, I'd have missed out on an additional 3 months of flowers. And in that case...maybe i could have gotten an additional 3-4 flowers on next spring's blooms...but again, I feel more strongly that temperature will play a major role in that. Also, If i had cut the spikes on the NOID red phal, I would have to have waited for an entire spike to grow (which is arguably more taxing on the plant, than just leaving the existing spikes). I get what you're saying...and I fully disagree. Of course, as with all things in orchid culture, It's entirely up to the grower...but if you want more flowers and healthier plants, i dont feel cutting old spikes that are still alive is the way to go...

Here...but Not I agree that it is inaccurate to say it yields more flowers. But to me it yields cleaner spikes without the excess length, and that's all I'm saying now. Staking has nothing to do with that, and is even problematic when you are limited on height in your grow space. But with that being just about the only downside(visual and space constraints) I'm not disagreeing and I actually completely agree(I realise I havent in the past but I've since experienced more of it) that you end up with more flowers. I've also admitted this before. You've "opened my eyes" so to speak. My focus now is seeing what differences I experience with leaving them intact in my growing environment and which plants perform best leaving the spikes on. I can only think of one that I have that refuses to keep its spikes after the first flowering no matter what, my "Mukalla". It's a schilleriana cross but idk what else is in the background because it's technically still a noid

Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks Paulo! Sorry, I work in Marketing & Web Development; it's been very busy lately and unfortunately my side projects have only given me little bits of time to water the plants. I'm hoping to do an update video this weekend though. Thank you for checking in

Gem Orchids awesome! I’m thrilled my advice is helping. I get my orchid media at Greengate Garden Centre; “WillGro” perlite, orchid media, pumice, and charcoal-but I get my sphagnum moss from Forestview Gardens (shipped from BC)-“Spagmoss” brand. If you’re not already a member of the Foothills Orchid Society, you should consider joining!

A good chunk of the paphs species grow in limestone areas, so some people believe that they do better with more alkaline water (7-8pH). If you have a hybrid and it’s growing, I would t worry. Just avoid giving them very acidic water

Here...but Not Thanks. The Paphs are growing well so I won’t sweat it.

My goal isn’t continuously wet summer or winter, just moist. In winter, I suppose I try to keep them slightly drier by shortening the soak time to, but my goal is not a hard dry like is often good for “classic phals”. Also, if the potting mix is very dry (to the point the plant or roots are starting to show signs of water stress - like slight wrinkling), then I’ll soak longer.

@@HerebutNot Thank you. Next winter is the first with some polichilos for me, I hope to give appropriate conditions and your experience is important. 🥰

@@tom8928 you may find select types from that group easier to grow than others then. For example, violacea tends to like warm temps, but a lot of the species from the Philippines are more tolerant of variable conditions. Those include: bastianii, mariae, pulchra, etc. So test a couple varieties out as you’re figuring out what does and doesn’t work for you

@@HerebutNot I have 2 violacea, 2 bellina and 1 tetraspis. 😅 I'll let you know next spring if they'll be still alive. 🤞🏾

Hi Roxanne-thanks for watching. Uhhh, so here is my perspective on lights: more is generally better, and quality of light counts. I am a big fan of the newer strip LED grow lights-but they’re still going to run you about $100-200 depending on the length. The SunBlaster LED grow lights I like the most, run me about $150 for a 36” strip. All of the “cheap” lights I’ve tried are awful. I don’t like the red/purple tint ones either. So...for you, if you can’t find SunBlaster LEDs, I recommend going to a hydroponic shop and asking what they have in terms of latest LED full spectrum grow lights. It sounds dodgy, but cannabis and those indoor growers know their stuff when it comes to good lighting. That’s probably not the answer you’re looking for. If you’re looking for cheap and cheerful, the only other brand I would recommend is Jungle Dawn LEDs for incandescent fixtures. The bulbs are really good. Probably still cost a bit ~$35-60+

My general recommendations for raising seedlings: 1) Still raise them like regular phals - I see a lot of people trying to put them into humidity chambers and they end up getting rot because the conditions are stagnant...I grow mine just like my other phals, but in smaller pots; 2) pay attention to moisture - smaller pots will dry faster, so you want to try to keep the roots evenly moist and water just as they're approaching dryness...using sphagnum moss can be helpful for this if you find bark is drying too much (anywhere from a blend of bark & sphagnum to 100% sphagnum - just be aware that in larger pots sphagnum may not dry fast enough); 3) make sure your nutrients & light are pretty honed in for best growth...if your growing them too bright or too dark, they'll be slow and it will take longer for them to reach maturity. If you're not offering an optimized (& ph-adjusted) fertilizer routine, they will also grow slower. If you want to know more, I tracked my entire experience in this post: herebutnot.com/deflasking-phalaenopsis-seedlings-how-to-first-time-experiment/

That is Phal Mok Choi Yew - it's a primary hybrid with phal giantea (the largest phal species). Here are some more photos of that plant, all the way back to when I got it in 2017: herebutnot.com/phalaenopsis-mok-choi-yew-gigantea-x-violacea-care-culture/

Should be easy enough to put that together. The easy and most direct response: 1) I have a pH meter (cost $100) to test pH, 2) I use "pH Down", a product I got at a hydroponic shop; it's phosphoric acid and drops the pH of my water (I use 30 drops per gallon to go from 7.5 to 5.8)--it's very acidic, so be careful not to get this on your hands, eyes, or spill it.

Some people use citric acid which is safer. You'll still need a pH meter to test the water.

You’ll start to get chlorosis - yellow mottling one the leaves, or red edges

@@HerebutNot 😌 no wonder the leaves slowly turned yellowing light green. Thanks

rotfl! I didn't notice anything.

I am, there are many really wonderful people there and I’ve come to value the society more than just for the plant sales

TheFloatingflower I have seen a few that it could be. I thought maybe Zheng Min Parakeet or Tying Shin Baby Smile 'Rojo' AM/AOS. The only reason I don’t think it’s the Parakeet is because the flowers on mine fade to a purple fuchsia rather than a warm orange-red. 🤷🏼‍♂️ there are a few red clones that look similar. Sogo Grape I think is another

Next time you get a chance, please show this Phal. very closely and extensive on the screen please. I own a couple of these, Sogo grape as well.Maybe I can compare it with mine...the same applies to all your other seemingly NOIDs. I would like to see those from the close with a good camera...and good light. Daylight. Like orchid wisperer shows her plants. Maybe I know the IDs of your NoID´s. One looks like Phal. Florida. But you could also ask Orchid wisperer or Missorchidgirl, they also know a lot of Phals. I love Phals, as they are truely beautiful plants, no matter how often they are sold everywhere. @@HerebutNot

I’m on Instagram as @here_butnot I have a bunch of these as single photos

@@HerebutNot I´m not in social media. :-))

Oh, no prob! Sorry

Thanks Nelson, I'll see if I can look into this more. Admittedly, I don't know much about this area in general and don't write or speak Spanish. It may be something down the road that RU-vid just does...they seem to have the tools to do so. But I'm not even sure how i would go about doing this myself, you know?

Kisschai - I would love to...but I’m pretty sure my partner will kill me if I have the plants take over any other area of our home. Hahaha - I have been thinking about installing a flask wall (light, shelf, light, shelf, etc)...I got in trouble when I asked. 🤐

Catnip2011 in Canada?

Phal Zheng Min Anaconda maybe? The orange one?

Hi Patty 👋🏻 sorry to hear you can’t hear the audio. In newer videos I have started using a mic, but I haven’t had any other people comment about audio problems. Try turning your phone audio up

Earphones, my friend!

Too many plants. Got into breeding and growing orchids from seed and they took over

Still posting updates on Instagram regularly though: instagram.com/p/CjMswE-uWlj/?igshid=NjQxMzA2Mjk=

Sorry it’s not up to your expectations. Good luck with your plants!

edited

Hello Here...but Not, please don't get me wrong, im not a keyboard warrior, i think we share the same hobby. Regarding the comment, you can use water+nutrients with a pH value between 4.5-8.5pH only if you use chelated nutrients. Chelations occurs when a micro-nutrient molecule is surrounded by a chealing molecule which prevents the oxidization of that molecule by either oxygen or hydroxides in the root zone. You can find chelated ingredients at most hydroponic products. For example: EDTA or DTPA are synthetic chelatants that you will find in many hydroponic lines of nutrients. The derived from list will read: Copper EDTA, Zinc EDTA, Iron DTPA, ect. Fe2 is often chelated with DTPA because Fe2 wants to turn into Fe3 in the presence of oxygen or hydroxides. Fe3 is a non-bioavaliable form of iron,whereas Fe2 is a bioavailable form of iron. This just keeps the nutrient solution available to the plants and free of superfluous nutrient build ups. Regarding orchid's, every orchid's lover should know at least the PH and nutrients availability and how PH affects plant nutrient uptake.

Antonio...riiiight. But I’m not using hydroponic fertilizers. And...more to the point of my statement in this video, many lythophytic species have adapted to survive in high pH environments where they are better-able to absorb iron in nature where freely available iron is less (because the pH is higher from interactions with water and limestone). My point about high pH is that many ppl have struggled to care for lithophytes (such as Phal lowii and cochlearis), and I believe it’s because those species can suffer from iron toxicity at lower pH levels where iron is more abundantly available to the plant. This nutrient toxicity affect is known in many alkaline-preferring plants that have adapted to high-pH environments (but are then grown in low pH environments and struggle). This same issue happens for people who grow lithophytic paphs and phrags (such as kovachii). Getting to the point of your comment...am I an orchid expert? Sure I am-I grow and care for over 250 plants and that makes me, in some capacity, an expert. Am I a biologist or chemist? Naaaa... If you don’t find value in my videos, no problem; feel free to block or hide my channel. You live in Portugal where growing orchids is EXPONENTIALLY easier than growing in a climate like mine. Thanks for the comment-enjoy your day.

Here...but Not i enjoy your videos. I really do, and i understand your point of view. Im gonna edit my first comment. Take care