About 50 species are known from the genus Phalaenopsis, a name created by the German-borne Dutch botanist Karl Ludwig Blume (1796-1862), one of the early fathers of modern orchid science. Blume created the genus name Phalaenopsis, meaning ¡±moth flower¡± because the first species named in this genus, Phalaenopsis amabilis, has big white flowers with spreading broad petals not unlike the wings of a moth. Distribution center of the genus is Southeast Asia with most species found in the Philippines and Indonesia. Some Phalaenopsis like Phal. Aphrodite in Taiwan or Phal. Wilsonii in Sichuan, Hubei and Yunnan are native in China. All Phalaenopsis species grew on trees or sometimes on bare rock, thus their lifestyle is called epiphytic (meaning ¡±living on plants¡±) respectively lithophytic (meaning ¡±living on stones¡±). Their main distribution areas are in tropical mountains between 500 and 1000 m with temperatures usually never below 20 ¡æ and relatively high humidity. Phalaenopsis grow above ground on trees, thus enjoy good air movement. In sticky warm air without movement the flowers will soon start to rot and the plants can get fungus infections.
In the early days of orchid cultivation in the west during the 19th and early 20th century Phalaenopsis were usually considered more difficult to grow. Only in greenhouses with good ventilation but warm temperatures they were happy while in the usually unheated homes of the people the plants suffered and died. When central heating systems became common during the middle of the 20th century and therefore the temperature in the flats and houses in western countries never dropped significantly below 15 ¡æ at night and below 20 ¡æ at daytime during winter, Phalaenopsis started to become easy pot plants. The demand for Phalaenopsis increased and thus the production of this type of orchid increased too. Today many millions of potted Phalaenopsis are produced and sold every year worldwide. In the United states alone about 200 Million US Dollar in retail were made with potted Phalaenopsis in 2002, which means that around 10 Million plants were sold. Other big markets are the European Union and Japan. But there are few countries in the world today, where Phalaenopsis are not sold as flowering potted plants.
How was it possible for an orchid genus that once was regarded as difficult to grow to become the most produced and most grown orchid of all times? The modern houses with central heating and big windows leveled the ground for producing that new crop. In 1886 the English orchid nursery Veitch & Sons produced the first horticultural Phalaenopsis hybrid, Phalaenopsis Intermedia, a cross between Phal. Aphodite and Phal. Equestris. From this beginning more and more hybrids were produced to achieve big and fully shaped flowers that can last long when cut for the vase. Until 1946 less than 80 true hybrids were internationally registered. Than an increase in the demand for Phalaenopsis set in. More and more hybrids where produced. The white ones are based on Phal. Amabilis, which was much improved by crossing the best forms within the species. Phal. Amabilis is also presented as a donator of shape and size in many other types mentioned below. The pink hybrids are based on Phal. Schilleriana and Phal. Sanderiana, the striped ones on Phal. Lindenii and the spotted ones on Phal. Gigantea. Yellow hybrids were tried with Phal. Mannii, Phal. Lueddemanniana, Phal. Sumatrana, Phal. Fasciata and amboinensis. Several other species where also used to achieve new colors and coloration types. Important for very intensively pink colored hybrids was the introduction of Doritis pulcherrima into the breading. The resulting hybrids are called Doritaenopsis, but in normal horticultural trade they are often also just called Phalaenopsis. According to a recently published book on Phalaenopsis by the American orchid scientist Eric Christenson Doritis pulcherrima has to be regarded as a Phalaenopsis too, but only part of the orchid specialists follow Christenson¡¯s opinion.
All these hybrids produced until the 1960¡¯s laid the foundation of the modern Phalaenopsis production. These older hybrids were already good in color and shape but it took 3-4 years from seed to flower, I.e. the production time was too long for a real big scale mass production. It needed many decades and often 10 or more plant generations to come to the breeding stock of the modern Phalaenopsis hybrids. The offspring of these hybrids already had rather stable characters regarding flower color and shape. So the selection for another character could begin: fast growth! Only the fastest developing seedlings were grown on, the slower ones were discarded. Especially in horticultural centers like Holland this selection took place. After years of consequent breeding Phalaenopsis hybrids were created that could flower within 6 to 9 months after the seedlings were taken out of the flask where they had developed within 6 month. Some types can flower even faster. Such plants, that could be produced within a year or so formed the base for an enormous orchid industry around the world that started some 10 or 15 years ago. In many regions, like the United States, the European Union, Japan and Southeast Asia big Phalaenopsis productions where established. But the leading position was achieved by Taiwan.
Taiwanese nurseries had started to focus on Phalaenopsis some 20 years ago. Phalaenopsis aphrodite is native to Taiwan, which grows on trees in the warm lowlands of the Southeast of the Island. Traditionally the Taiwanese call it Phal. Amabilis, although from the scientific point of view the native plants on the Island clearly belong to Phal. Aphrodite. Recent research on the genetics of these plants even suggest that it is a species of its own. However, for the Taiwanese growers the native Phal. Aphrodite stands at the very beginning of their work with Phalaenopsis and thus they prefer to call it amabilis, because ama is the Chinese word for grandmother. Based on experience with the native Phalaenopsis, the use of good hybrid parents from the international Phalaenopsis markets and supported by extensive local scientific research on the optimal propagation and production methods for Phalaenopsis Taiwan became the leading producer of this orchid worldwide. Millions of potted Phalaenopsis are produced every year on the Island.
Specialized laboratories in Taiwan produce the young plants under sterile conditions in flasks in big quantities. Some are produced from tissue, most are from seeds. There are big companies that own laboratories and nurseries, in other cases nurseries send their seeds or plant tissue to independent laboratories. When the young plants have developed good roots and big enough leaves the flasks are delivered to the nurseries, where the plantlets are taken out and planted into small pots or in trays. The standard medium for growing Phalaenopsis from seedling to flower in Taiwan is high quality sphagnum moss from New Zealand and Chile. This type of moss has course leaves and long fibers and stays open in the pot so that the roots of the Phalaenopsis get enough air. When the young Phalaenopsis have reached a certain size they are repotted. This goes fast and easy with sphagnum. The little plant is lifted with the old sphagnum, more fresh sphagnum is placed around the root ball and then the plant is put into a bigger pot. A quick application of some fungicide completes the procedure. About three times the plants will be repotted into bigger pots until they reach flowering size and can be sold. Plants are usually marketed when in flower.
A strict temperature regime ensures fast growth and reliable flowering. White flowered Phalaenopsis will take one or two years to flower in uncontrolled conditions. If the temperature is strictly kept at 30 ¡æ daytime and 25 ¡æ nighttime and fertilization is optimal the plants will develop much faster. When the total leave surface of the plant has reached 300 cm2 or more, the plants are given a cold treatment with temperatures of 25 ¡æ day and 20 ¡æ night. Within a few weeks the first flower stalks become visible and about three months later the plants are full flowering at this cooler temperature regime. If the plants are placed back into the higher temperatures of 30 ¡æ day and 25 ¡æ night after all flower buds are fully formed the plants flower earlier and with better quality. Temperature control is crucial because if the Phalaenopsis are brought into cooler temperatures of 20 ¡æ day and 15 ¡æ night to induce flowering the flowers appear much later and are fewer in number. The Taiwanese growers can elongate the period in which they can offer flowering Phalaenopsis again by controlling the temperatures. This is done in winter by heating greenhouses, when Phalaenopsis are needed that should flower later, and in summer by transporting flowering sized seedlings to greenhouses in the cooler mountains at altitudes of 600-1000 m to insure early flower induction without expensive cooling systems.
If a customer has bought a nice flowering Phalaenopsis hybrid and wants to keep it alive after the flowers have passed and let it flower again the next season, he or she has to keep in mind some points. Phalaenopsis needs an open substrate that insures free drainage and yet enough moisture around the roots to nourish the plant. If the Phalaenopsis you have bought grows in sphagnum moss, be aware that sphagnum holds a lot of water. Don¡¯t water the plant too often, but only when you feel no water left in the upper part of the pot, when you put your finger 1-2 cm into the pot or if the pot has become significantly lighter when you lift it. On the other hand the pot shouldn¡¯t by bone dry down to the bottom before the next watering. But usually Phalaenopsis are killed by too much watering. That lets the roots rot and without roots the leaves start wilting, the grower thinks the plant is too dry and waters even more, thus finally kills the plant. Better water your Phalaenopsis once too less than once too much!
Take care that the Phalaenopsis gets enough light but don¡¯t let it burn in the full sun of a south facing window. So give it same shade at south and west facing windows or place it at a east facing window. On a north facing window the plant will grow but most likely will never flower. The temperatures should not drop below 15 ¡æ in winter nights and not below 20 ¡æ on winter days. Regular application of an orchid fertilizer every second watering keeps the plants strong. When the growing substrate becomes soggy, I.e. the moss ore bark is decomposed, repot immediately. Remove the old substrate, put new one around the roots and place back in the cleaned pot or a new bigger one when the plant has grown well. Never use too big a pot, the size should fit the roots, not the leaves. And never use soil or other dense material to pot the Phalaenopsis or any other western orchid! Instead look for good quality sphagnum moss or bark. Other coarse materials will do too, especially if mixed with some sphagnum. The coarser the more you have to water, the denser the less watering is necessary. |
