u/whynotehhhhh

I highly recommend this orchid for people that want to get into polichilos (summer blooming phaleanopsis).

It's a Phaleanopsis tetraspis/speciosa ( purple mountain).

Normally summer blooming Phals are really fussy about temperature, light and watering but this one is so unaffected by any change, any accidental neglect.

Last year I wasn't sure if I liked it so I put it in my brightest window (cactus light) and it clearly loved it and didn't burn, I repotted it recently and not a single root was dead. I also live in a flat that can be as low as 10°C in winter and 35°C in summer and it didn't seem to mind that either. This year it has 5 spikes 8 flowers/buds all at once which is also not all that common in summer blooming Phals. Normally they have only a few flowers at a time, even if they have many spikes.

The tetraspis also has different types, there's the C1 and C2 that are very popular and I'm sure are just as easy to look after.

Usually it has the trait of each flower being different with different petals showing white or colour.

Hello everyone!

Thought I'd post some nice blooms I have this spring 😊

I'm loving my schilleriana at the moment, the last couple of years it's had really fast growing and compact flower spikes compared to what I've seen others like. I'm a much bigger fan of the more 'wild' form of the flowers rather than the big round pink blooms as those ones look like something you can get at the supermarket.

Also if you guys like orchids and you have very sunny windows, cactus are so underrated! When they bloom they are so nice! Amaryllis bulbs are great too 😊

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to post an update to the mystery amaryllis bulb that had an infection.

I posted a while ago about how I'd spotted rotting on it with a red hue, I'm lucky that I don't have any other bulbs so I thought I'd try to rehab it.

My 'treatment' was to remove all the soil around the bulb for more air flow, I put it in my sunniest, warmest window and I treated the infection spots with a citric acid solution.

It has since flowered and it's so pretty as you can see in the photos! 2 flowers in one go. The outer layer dried out and although I can see a few red spots, the infection doesn't appear to have spread. I did think it was a goner though while it was flowering as the bulb felt soft, I've since learnt that that's just the flower using energy stored in the bulb and after flowering it has stiffened up again.

I'm really glad I didn't mess with it too much and trusted my instincts! Some people were telling me to cut up the bulb for propagation and that just sounded like the worst idea. Why would I make an open wound on something that has an active infection 😅

Anyway I'm new to Amaryllis and I'm so happy with my new plant that will flower year after year 😁