Phal's are Phabulous! They are always dependable and beauteous. Snatch them up and have flowers year round. Mine love pine bark fines and fish water. No marketing power as they are common to most. To me they are magical.

Though many knowledgeable orchid growers here on ATP say that the Phal. tribe are hard to grow, I find them very easy. They are not my favorite orchids and I only keep a few dozen on hand (mostly compacts). As you say, because the large commercial growers flood the market with them, they are common.

Could be they're easy for you and David, Ken, because you both have greenhouses with controlled conditions for the winter months.

Jim says he does well with the compact ones, and I'm now trying out a couple of those, but I've sworn off buying any more big ones, even if they are only $3 on Lowe's clearance rack . .. Mine survive, but they are by no means 'easy'.

What Elaine said.

Jim

Mine come inside for 2-4 months, depending on how long they stay in bloom. Like yours, mine are outside 7-8 months, under my oaks. I really don't treat them any differently than my other orchids. Believe me, I don't have any secrets.

Y'all have probably said this already, but tell me again why they are any more difficult to grow than any other orchid? I have two lectures coming up in the next three weeks, and more questions are directed at growing Phal. than any other orchid, simply because that's about all you see sold around these parts. If I know their growing-pitfalls, I can better answer their questions.

Thanks.

I would like to see your Phal's Ken and its odd that something so common is of interest in your lecture. If this helps; mine are growing in all Pine fines, and are watered with pond water that have fish living in them.

I realize its humid here in Florida in the Summer but have found the heat through a greenhouse;.....even small like mine, can dry it out dramatically. Having a 55 and 20 gallon tank with life in them has dramatically helped without a misting system, which I have and never use as the heads clog so fast with my well water that its tedious. I just use my greenhouse hose setting on mist and run it around every day or so................All my exterior shade coverings are gone this time of year and the vents are opened and closed to suit our odd weather shifts. I never mist the Tomatoes or wet their leaves. It causes fungus.

I have never even tried to use pine bark (I assume that's the same as fines?). If it works well, it sure would be way, way less expensive that the Douglas fir bark I use. I don't have any aquariums, so mine just get city water dosed with low concentrations of fertilizer every few days. Other than on cloudy days, I mist/spray all my plants every other day or so. Some of the mounted ones dry out more quickly (though I use mesh-pots almost exclusively for my potted orchids), so I might spray them daily.

Because of my flooring, the humidity stays pretty high in my greenhouses. But I also run 2-3 fans in each greenhouse. During the cool/cold months, the fans come on around 10:00 AM and turn off around 4:00 PM. As the weather warms, the fans will run longer. If anything, because I don't heavily water very often during the colder months, and certainly don't water during cold, cloudy days, I probably keep my orchids on the dry side. Of course, all the fans help. I don't know if my keeping them somewhat dry is good or bad. I assume my plants won't grow as fast as they would IF I had a really controlled environment (like the truly commercial growers have) and I probably get more "wrinkling" of the pseudobulbs doing this, but for better or for worse, that's just the way I grow mine.

They love Pine. The oldsters in the past also attributed anti-fungal qualities to the same. I like to believe they were right somehow............., and Turpentine used to be drunk as an elixer in past era's. Eerie era huh!?

It is possible that cheaper products can be more beneficial then more high end marketed products in growing I think.

When growing up, my grandmother swore that turpentine was good for cuts, sores, all kind of skin problems. I don't know about the drinking part though.

I have absolutely no fungal problems in my greenhouses. The fans take care of that. I have a little bit of algae on the walls during the winter months though and I just spritz some Physan 20 on those wall areas and that takes care of the algae. I actually did the spritzing yesterday and the algae was gone today.

I would do ok with Phals, if I were to keep them inside year around. But, keeping them outside over the Summer, they just don't look happy when I bring them back inside in the Fall. Chewed by insects etc, the leaves always get damaged outside.

I guess that's one advantage of growing the compact ones. All mine go outside, regardless of their leaf size. But I do have those "cages" built around the tree-borne shelves, so that would help. But those of mine that are mounted just hang outside those cages.

My mother has a black thumb and she has actually been having good luck growing Phals in the master bath. I need to get in there and take some pics. I was in there a week ago and it was mostly buds but she said they were opening up. She grows them on a plant stand that sits right in front of the glass block "window". I don't know if she remembers to water them or if she's over-watering them. She's been guilty of both. She did say the ones she moved to sit on the tub didn't do so well. Maybe they really like the bright light from the window?

Spathoglottis! Thanks! I knew it was somewhere in my brain. I usually don't see much variety at Home Depot or Lowe's when it comes to orchids, so I was a little surprised today. I do think Lowe's tends to have a greater variety of plants and I always seem to find something out of the ordinary there, whereas Home Depot is the same old thing over and over. I was actually headed to Home Depot and as I was driving I was approaching the Lowe's (because you know they always build them near each other) and I figured I would probably have better luck at Lowe's. Of course, I promised myself I wouldn't buy any plants until closer to our last frost date (Feb. 15), but when you find a bargain, you have to grab it! I can always throw a blanket on them if we get a frost.

Guess I should try growing mine out there under the oaks like you do, Ken. As you've said before, the oak trees do keep it cooler in their shade, so maybe that's part of the 'secret' to keeping Phals happy. I'm just not sure if I could keep the water under control enough for them. Right now I have them under an overhang inside the pool cage so the rain doesn't drench them every day in the summer. The other orchids don't mind all that rain, but the Phals get crown rot, insect (mainly mealybug) problems and root rot. Maybe I'll mount them all . . . I only have one mounted at the moment.

If mine go through the whole summer without an episode of wrinkly leaves (which most people think is deadly, and throw the plant away) then they do fine through the fall and winter, and usually bloom. Last summer, off and on I had Phals with the wrinkle thing going on. It sets them back a lot, and they make small leaves for a while after they recover. They do usually recover, though, but may not bloom the following season. That would be one thing I'd tell your audience - don't panic if the leaves suddenly wrinkle up! Just mist and don't water until they recover. Most people also increase watering when they see that wrinkly thing, I think. Death for sure then!

Oh, I forgot, just got back from a Lowe's trip and I got two more of those pretty Spathoglottis in the color I like. Such a bargain at $6.95 each! One had the flower stem broken off, but at least I could see what color the flowers were. It's in a vase on my kitchen counter now. The other has a nice fat spike getting ready to open. That's the beauty of them, the spikes keep elongating and opening new flowers for literally months!

I'm at everyone's orchids. Several I'm not familiar with but they are sure very pretty!

Ellaine that ground orchid is simply gorgeous. I have a no ID nun orchid that shoots showy blooms every year. I repotted it in fall so not sure if it will rebloom since it is busy making babies.

I experimented last year in attaching my Catts and Dendrobiums on my oak tre. This morning I was surprised to see the blooming pink Catt on my oak tree. I love the natural look.

Gigi, your Catt obviously likes it too! beautiful!

That looks wonderful, Gigi! It's obviously pretty happy with it's mounted state there.

Melanie, I forgot to thank you for posting those Spaths. I got the last two plants of that color at Lowe's. Btw, the ones they usually have are purple, and I know that's your favorite color, so keep an eye out for them.

Thanks Carol and Ellaine. I think now that i finally found a happy place for my orchids, I think I will grow more of them.

Such a perfect Cattleya on your tree, Gigi!

I love that color, Gigi.