Lovely hybrid!

Love those large flowers!

Here's a tiny little plant of Phaius Microburst 'Wild Thing' with its first two flowers finally open. I just wanted it because of the name.

They said it would bloom on a smaller plant than the other types, but really it's hard to believe this one. It's still in a 4in. pot, and the stem is only about 15in. tall. Considering how huge my other Phaius are, it's pretty amazing.

Oh, Microburst is so pretty!! I might have to look for that one if it stays small!

Lovely!!!!

We went on an orchid hunt to Apopka on Wednesday. I got a beautiful big Phaius microburst Dan Rosenberg 'Tropical' for $8. (sorry, my Scots heritage dictates I must brag about a bargain)

Now that it's opening, I'm wishing I'd bought a couple more!

Elaine, you have every right to brag, that's a gorgeous bloom!

Oh wow.
DO tell me, these are terrestrial?
I have always avoided orchids cause of the difficulty to grow them over here.
I have a few slippers ... waiting for them to bloom... but I have always wanted some orchids I could grow in real dirt, normal conditions (not exaggerated humidity or whatever orchids require).
I love this Phaius both for size and bloom.
Do these ever produce SEEDS???

Calin...I doubt if your climate would allow for a happy terrestrial orchid... Sadly.

There are orchids indigenous to every continent accept Antarctica, but many are not as showy as this one. You might Google orchids in Romania and see what you come up with.

Calin, you might get away with growing terrestrials, but you'd have to keep them in pots and bring them indoors to protect them from freezing. I cover mine here in Florida when the temps go below 40deg. F (4.5 C) Phaius are big plants for the most part, and might be a pain to keep in the house in winter. Know anybody with a greenhouse?

In summer do you have hot, humid weather? How hot does it get? In Hawaii where Carol is, the Phaius grow naturally. Her hottest temp is probably not over 85deg. F (around 30C). Mine are in pots and I move them around the yard to make sure they don't get too hot. Our hottest temps are about 95deg. F (35C). We also have high humidity most of the year, which is good for all orchids.

I don't know about setting seeds, I've never seen any. But I did successfully propagate one of mine last year from a stem cutting of the flower stem, and I'm going to give it another try this year. I really would like to propagate these Phaius microburst Octoberfest as I just love the vivid color of the lip. I got some stuff called Keiki Grow Plus that is a hormone to stimulate flower stems to produce keikis (as baby orchid plants are known). Will post here if I am successful.

Phaius Octoberfest still going strong, but just about to open its last bud.

Thank you all for the info.
Yes. I'd say it's not easy.
Big and tall... yes. But that's why I like this one.
And I know it would have to be in a pot.
Our summers are really hot. Well around 35 C. Which is hot. Problem is... not humid at all.

I received a small plant from the US in a trade, but the info I got on the internet made me overwinter it on the balcony and the temperature proved to be too low.

Elaine, last bud? You mean they're done for this year? Or they will rebloom later on?

Good luck with the propagation.

Yes, they are nearly finished blooming for this year. The flowers open sequentially for about 6 weeks though, so it's a long blooming cycle through spring.

You definitely would have trouble growing these without some way to keep the humidity up.

Yup, probably... and I am past the stage when I would just give it a try, no matter what.
With so many fails and bad-looking plants... I try to refrain from difficult tropicals.
SO I'll just enjoy yours

Last bud about to open on my Phaius Dan Rosenberg 'Tropical'.

Update on my Phaius, I tried a little experiment on some of the flower stems after the flowers were finished. I had bought a vial of a growth regulator paste called 'KeikiGrow Plus' to try to propagate some of my other orchids from keikis. Since last year I had one stem of the Phaius put up a keiki, I thought to try this on them as well.

Well, the results are pretty amazing! Every node that I applied the paste to has a nice fat little keiki coming along. I'll wait until some roots show, then pot them up separately.




ps. Lin if you are still watching this thread, do come over to the Florida Gardening thread and post some of your lovely garden pictures? We have a nice thread going, on 'What's in your Florida Garden'.

Elaine, Oh my goodness ... that is wonderful! I've never heard of KeikiGrow!

Thanks for the heads up on the thread @ the Florida Gardening Forum ... geesh, I live in Florida and I have no idea why I never think to visit that forum! I will try to be better, promise!

KeikiGrow? Please...tell me more. Name of maker...this could be terrific!!!!!

Carol, I was googling about it and found this site, selling 10 grams for $11 (and apparently 10 grams goes a long way): http://www.orchidinsanity.com/

Carol, mine came from a company called Plant Hormones Canada. It's called "KeikiGrow Plus" but I'm sure it's probably something similar to what Lin found. Here's their FAQ page if you're interested. http://www.orchidmall.com/horm...

It's also available on Amazon now, I see. I bought mine from Carter & Holmes orchids, as I had an order coming from them anyway. Mine was 'way more expensive, $29.95 for a half a pill-bottle size. But as Lin says, a tiny amount would go a long way. I've used it on about 30 plants and haven't hardly made a dent. Now that I read further down the FAQ, I see you can use it for propagating other plants, too. I'm going to get busy with that!