Window growing version 3.0

A few things have been upgraded the last month or so in terms of humidity control and light quality.

A humidifier is a must-have in my case because the humidity drops precipitously during the day and even with my windows closed, this has some effect on the grow area. The 'upgrade' I performed was with the purchase of a humidistat/temperature controller. I've set the humidity at 54% and this has performed admirably to keep the grow area between 50-60% at all times, even when the air conditioner comes on in the evening. I'll be attaching a heater to the temperature controller when the weather cools down and keep the grow space warm for continuous growth in the winter!

In terms of light, the T5 HO fixture originally came with four 6400K bulbs. It worked well, but cast a bluish glow on everything. To counteract this, I replaced half of the bulbs with 3000K bulbs to get a wider spectrum of wavelengths and that did provide a more natural light quality. Hopefully this will also promote flowering as purported by using the redder spectrum, although this might not be the case for these phals that came from equatorial regions. Nonetheless, the flowers look better in this combination of bulbs and the foliage seem to like this as well.

Here is a picture of the current set up with the lights on.

I'm still working on organizing the grow space based upon the requirements of the different species and observing the growth of each individual. Each species seem to have their own quirks and behave differently in the grow space, so it's still a bit of a trial and error to find the position that each plant likes. Learning the requirements of each species is part of the fun I suppose.

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list update

This month, I discovered that a new phal species endemic to Borneo named Phalaenopsis rundumensis was described in 2011. It looks very similar to Phal. doweryensis to me but the raised spots on the greenish overlay is really quite cool (see the picture below).

I've added this species to the borneophals list. In addition, I have acquired Phal. fuscata recently as the newest member of this collection which is growing fast to the limits of my grow space. When the fuscata flowers, I will be very very tempted to make a cross with a bellina to remake Phal. Fuscabell. This is perhaps one of the most intriguing looking primary out there. I also bought another bellina along with the fuscata, mostly because one can never have too many bellinas!

Photograph of Phal. rundumensis from the Swiss Orchid Foundation.

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list 005

Species	Distribution
Phalaenopsis amabilis	Borneo, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Australia
Phalaenopsis appendiculata	Borneo, West Malaysia
Phalaenopsis bellina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis borneensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cochlearis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis corningiana	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand
Phalaenopsis deliciosa	Borneo, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines
Phalaenopsis doweryensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis fimbriata	Borneo, Indonesia
Phalaenopsis fuscata	Borneo, West Malaysia, Philippines
Phalaenopsis gigantea	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis lamelligera	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis maculata	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis mariae	Borneo, Philippines
Phalaenopsis modesta	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis pantherina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis rundumensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis sumatrana	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand

- Species highlighted green are the ones I currently have.

Other endemic orchid species

Species	Distribution
Phaphiopedilum rothschildianum	Endemic to Borneo
Paraphalaenopsis labukensis	Endemic to Borneo

Primary hybrids of Phalaenopsis corningiana

Right now, I'm on corningiana primary hybrid kick. I have obtained three of these so far. There's something about the color and fragrance that these hybrids can potentially produce that draws me to them, I suppose. In two of these primaries, venosa and lueddemanniana are not Borneo phals per-se but they are 50% corningiana and are hence blogged because of this parentage.

1. Phal. Dragon's Fire (Phal. corningiana x Phal. venosa)
2. Phal. Corning-Cervi (Phal. corningiana x Phal. cornu-cervi)
3. Phal. Chienlung Luedgiana (Phal. corningiana x Phal. lueddemanniana)

It's surprising how dominant Phal. corningiana is in most of these crosses and I'm looking forward to flowering out these guys out to see if this holds true. Among the three, I'm most interested to see how my Corning-Cervi turns out. In the meantime, they need to keep putting on weight!

The Chienlung Luedgiana came in bud and opened its first flower this weekend. So far, I don't smell anything yet, but I'll update if this turns out to be fragrant.

*Update: The bloom is fragrant! I smell mostly a lily-like scent with cinnamon and a very slight hint of the grape flavor that I really like from corningiana.. I'm not a fan of the lily smell unfortunately :/

The second bud on the Phal. Chienlung Luedgiana opened this week. The fragrance is more perceptible in the morning and is more grape-flavored than a week ago.

Phalaenopsis deliciosa blooms

This plant is doing pretty well in its current perch despite arriving with some heat-related rot on two leaves that had to be cut off. I got it from Parkside and it arrived in spike and the spikes have since elongated nicely and made some flower buds! Seems to be an easy grower and it is currently in its original bark mix. I've kept it on the dry side of things for the most part and haven't dared to water it fully yet. It's a neat little plant that is compact and has a nice dark green wavy foliage, with cute flowers.

*Update: I think this is not a standard deliciosa but instead, is Phal. deliciosa subsp. hookeriana because the petals and sepals are yellowish.

Full plant view:

Flowers: