I gave up trying to

[ogus]

raise my lone phalaenopsis indoor. I am on a tropical island with
the average day time temp at around 95 and night time temp at around
80 with humidity running anywhere from 55 to 95% (with the floor
sprayed..) so obviously my indoor space has air conditioning running
24hr a day. My indoor space has almost constant temp at about
75F at about 35 to 40% humidity.

Temperature isn't what I am concerning about but the low humidity and
the nature of phalaenopsis needing higher humidity level are. So
there it went out to my little porch with all of my other orchids. In a
corner where it won't be burned by sun. I tried a water tray with pebbles but my hygrometer placed right next the tray won't tell me the humidity around the immediate area of the water tray is increased. So I am wondering how the humidity in a room is controlled to establish a suitable level for a pot of orchid indoor with AC / Heat devices running?

The tropic Sun is so strong that even I can't stay under it for long without
feeling burnt. And we usually get full rays of sun for about 10 hrs a day. So my resolution was to place all my plants in a covered porch facing north..
well, not a single book or internet researched articles say a thing about placing orchids in a room facing north.. but since my dendrobiums are blooming consistently and some stay bloomed for over 3 months, I think
it was a good decision. I even covered the area with a shade but feeling
they don't get enough light, I removed the shade and only depending on the
shade provided by the roof. So my plants get some direct early morning
sunlight and late afternoon sun for about 30min to 1 hr duration a day. I have a small fan running 24hrs tho.

[arleneg]

If you have that Phal. for a short period of time since you acquired it, the Phal will take a while to adjust to the indoor environment. Therefore, be patient.

Just a suggestion... You might want to set your a/c to 78F or 80F, instead of 75F. Phals are warm growers. Plus, that suggested temp. shouldn't dry out your indoor space to much. I, too, live in a warm area (during summer) where temperatures can reach up to 100F. So I have my a/c on during summer months.

[sandra]

I live in the tropics also ogus and keep all my orchids on a covered patio. Where are you, by the way? I have north east exposure, about 4-5 hours sun, early day and the tail end of the western sun, late in the day (obviously) in the summer months. None of my leaves have suffered sun burns (dends, oncs, phals, paphs and catts). They're very happy where they are. My large dend currently has 12 flower spikes. This is the first year I've had it. My friend who gave it to me, never saw a bloom in the 2 years following the first bloom, when he purchased it. So my patio and exposure, similar to yours, in tropical conditions like yours, has been very kind to my orchids.

I think you made a safe decision to move the phal to your patio.

[ogus]

I live on Saipan which is about 30 min from Guam.. very tropical island, hotter than Hawaii. I think I made a good decision to move the phal. to outside. I shifted pots around and found it a spot next to a wall on a humidity tray with pebbles ( I bought them for this pot and don't have any other use so I decided to use it anyways). 2 days passed.. no sign of sun burn! Usually it only take a day or two to show sunburn here with the strong sun rays so I guess it's o.k. there. So today I went out and got myself 2 more phals. I think I am spending all my retirement funds (well way too young for it yet anyways..)

So I am a proud father of 3 phals now! well 2 phals and a Dtps.

They are

Phal. Golden Silk ( I found just one picture of this flower, quiet intriguing with overall yellow with red rip and a bit of it's surroundings.) -- It is budding now..

Phal. Garnet Heart ( large white flower with red lip ) a huge plant.. the breeder who I get my orchids from really didn't want to let it go as it has about 15 inch leaf size and 9 leaves with my ring finger sized roots. She told me this is one of her mother plants.

Dtps. (Pulcherria x buddha's treasure) I think it's a smaller plant with red flowers as far as I can search from the internet.

It's amazing I still had spots in my porch to fit them in as they are sitting in a clay dish type pot about 12 inch diameters.

[ogus]

This is the first phal. I moved out side.. I think it looks really healthy..

[pikevi]

Healthy?? It is an understatement,hehehehe

Beautiful orchid. I counted 10 leaves. I have a few with 10 leaves too but they do not look as healthy as yours.

Keep it up

[sandra]

Oh my, that's beautiful ogus. And the shape of the pot compliments the shape of the plant perfectly! Curious, what kind of medium is that?

pikevi, I counted 9 leaves. I keep looking for the 10th one but I can't find it. I need more coffee.....and a different pair of glasses.

[sandra]

ok, I think I found the 10th leaf....second from the bottom left, there's one overlapping the other, right? Whew, I feel much better now.

[ogus]

the medium is a mix of coconut husk, charcoal, coconut shell pieces (they don't decompose like the husk) mixed with Schultz orchid mix. it's got 10 leaves.. but if you think this is healthy, I will take a picture of my Phal. Garnet Heart.. you will see the REAL healthy one.. he he..

The pot is a dish type and 12 inches across so you can have a basic idea of how large they are.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Ogus, Phals can adapt to lower humidity. We have plenty of home Phal growers here in dry Arizona, with typical humidity around 20% or less before air conditioning. So, moving the plants outside sounds like a good idea just for the convenience of it, but you may want to consider some change come winter if these don't bloom by late winter. For blooming, many Phals are intermediate growers, and expect a night time drop in temp in winter (60F, or a little lower), and a shortening of the day length, which I wonder if you are going to get much of. Why don't you up date your profile with your location, and maybe your latitude embedded in the location. Some of the warmer Phal species will bloom without these ques.

Your Phal pulcherima X Buddha's Treasure has a name. It is P. Laurel Lea Baldan. This plant has a summer blooming habit because of the pulcherima in it.

[arleneg]

Ogus,

That's a healthy Phal., and love the pot! Since you're using coconut husk chips which retains moisture, that should help with increasing the humidity, if you still have the Phal. indoors. As Cynthia mentioned, Phals can adapt to the indoor environment.

Thanks for sharing your Phal pic. I look forward to seeing the other.

[pikevi]

Yep, that is right, sandra. 6 on the left and 4 on the right.

No need to change the pair of glasses, lol

[ogus]

Cynthia

Saipan is enjoying one of the most stable weather in the world with the average day time temperature at about 85F and night time temperature at about 76F year around with the average humidity at 77%. My house is averaging 73F / humidity 35%. So I thought it was just better for me to move the plant outside.. I didn't realize but my cat nipped at the tip of my phal., so that was one of the other reasons why..



---- My Phal. Garnet Heart.. well just to show you the size of the plant.. I placed that garden shovel ..(upper left corner is the golden silk leaf where my cat.. took a bite.. /sigh..)



And my little orchid sanctuary..

[pikevi]

Can we trade places?

Beautiful plants and a superb setup!

Thanks for the 'group photo'

[sandra]

OK, first it was the 10th leaf I couldn't find, now it's the shovel..........I don't see the shovel! Pikevi, can you help me out here? LOL

What shovel?

moments later....OMG, I was looking at the wrong picture, lol. Never mind pikevi!

[pikevi]

LOL, sandra! It is only Thursday. Have you started partying already?

May be you need to get to an orchid doc soon to get your 'nerves' under control, hehehehehe

[sandra]

I was going to delete the post after I found the shovel in the other pic but I'd rather laugh than cry too.

I'm going to the orchid doctor's GH today, Michiela's Orchids (the man who gave me that great big cattleya) to get a few supplies and a Cheetah orchid (cattleya). He also told me that he just received over 100 new plants so I'm in deep trouble pikevi ............

[pikevi]

Just visit him with $50 or $100 in your purse. That way you can avoid giving in to temptation.

My will power when it comes to plants is weak and I went berserk with orchid buying last month even though I too went in with a predetermined amount. That is because the store owner was so nice she will bring the plants that I liked to the car and put them all inside and said I could pay at a later visit. That was OK for the orchid geek in me but not on my wallet. It is too bad she closed the store

And leave your credit cards at home.

I am almost reluctant to wish you a 'happy shopping'.

Good luck

[ogus]

Heh Pikevi

Even the old lady from whom I get most of my orchids are like that.. she tells me I could pay at a later visit. And that sweet temptation of 5 bucks off is even worse..

So what usually happens is that.. I pay back what I owe then pick up another to owe one more pot of orchid and that gives me another excuse to visit her nursery and the whole vicious cycle repeats itself.. hehe

I was quiet successful defending myself from the gorgeous cattleyas she has yet miserably failed against that name.. "Phalaenopsis Happy Stripes".. so have another 15 bucks to pay back.. and I swore more than once to only take the money to pay back not a dollar more.. but I will have to see if it will really happen..



My Phalaenopsis Happy Stripes / Dtps. Laurel Lea Baldan (thanks Cynthia)