Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid

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Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid are among the most popular orchids sold as potted plants owing to the ease of propagation and flowering under artificial conditions. They were among the first tropical orchids in Victorian collections. Since the advent of the tetrapoloid hybrid Doris, the Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid have become extremely easy to grow and flower in the home, as long as some care is taken to provide them with conditions that approximate their native habitats. Their production has become a commercial industry.

In nature, they are typically fond of warm temperatures (20 to 35 °C), but are adaptable to conditions more comfortable for human habitation in temperate zones (15 to 30 °C); at temperatures below 18 °C watering should be reduced to avoid the risk of root rot. Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid requires high humidity (60-70%) and low light of 12,000 to 20,000 lux. Flowering is triggered by a night-time drop in temperature of around 5 to 6 degrees over 2 to 4 consecutive weeks, usually in the fall.

Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid prefer to be potted in osmunda fiber (tree fern roots), a nearly ideal medium, but this has become expensive. More usual now is fir back, which is more free-draining than sphagnum moss. Keep them in pots with a lot of drainage. One of the common blunders that new growers make is to rot the roots. Overwatering and poor drainage cause the roots to deteriorate, therefore killing the plant. The safest thing to do is to water when you feel the potting medium and find it is dry through and through.

Light is vital to the well-being of the Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid orchid. Keep it in indirect light near a southern window. Be sure the sun does not directly reach the leaves, which will cause burning and unaesthetic brown marks. If the leaf feels hot to the touch, move it away immediately! On the other hand, phalaenopsis grown in poor dark areas tend to grow floppy dark green leaves and rarely flower.

Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid roots are quite thick, and the green point at the ends signifies that the root is actively growing. It is okay for them to climb out of the pots. Keep the plant fertilized with a 1/4 diluted strength balanced fertilizer three times out of four waterings.

The flower spikes appear from the pockets near the base of each leaf. The first sign is a light green "mitten-like" object that protrudes from the leaf tissue. In about three months, the spike elongates until it begins to swell fat buds. The buds will thus bloom. Usually you can tell what color the Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid is by looking at the bud color. After the flowers fade, some people prefer to cut the spike above the highest node (section). This may produce another flower spike or more rarely a keiki (a baby orchid plant that can be planted).

Using two Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid clones, Matthew G. Blanchard and Erik S. Runkle (2006) established that, other culture conditions being optimal, flower initiation is controlled by daytime temperatures declining below 27°C, with a definite inhibition of flowering at temperatures exceeding 29°C. The long-held traditional belief that reduced evening temperatures control flower initiation in Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid appears to be false.

source of Wikipedia

The generic name means "Phalaen[a]-like" and is probably a reference to the genus Phalaena, the name given by Carolus Linnaeus to a group of large moths; the flowers of some species supposedly resemble moth in flight. For this reason, the species are sometimes called Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid.

They are native throughout Southeast Asia from the Himalayan mountains to the islands of Polillo and Palawan of the Philliphines and northern Australia. Orchid Island off Taiwan is named after this Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid. Little is known about Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid habitat and their ecology in nature since little field research has been done in the last decades.

Most are epyphytic shade plants; a few are lithophytes. In the wild the Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid are typically found below the canopies of moist and humid lowland forests, protected against direct sunlight, but equally in seasonally dry or cool environments. This Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid species have adapted individually to these three habitats.

Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid shows a monopodial growth habit. An erect growing rhizome produces from the top one or two alternate, thick and fleshy, elliptical leaves a year. The older, basal leaves drop off at the same rate. The plant retains in this way four to five leaves. If very healthy, they can have up to ten or more leaves. They have no pseodobulbs. The racame appears from the stem between the leaves. Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid bloom in their full glory for several weeks. If kept in the home, the Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid usually last two to three months.

Some Phalaenopsis Moth orchid species in Malaysia are known to use subtle weather cues to coordinate mass flowering.

source from Wikipedia