Species Specific Forum : Growing Orchids and Hybrids

[smweaver]

Okay, I know that this hybrid is the national flower of Singapore, and it would stand to reason that it should be grown with continuous heat throughout the year. However, since the species Papilionanthe teres is one of its parents, and that particular species tolerates cool winter conditions, does anyone know if Miss Joaqim inherited any of the cool tolerance from her teres parent? Does anyone have any experience growing Miss Joaqim in conditions that do NOT approximate Singapore's climate? I'm just wondering whether or not I would be wasting my time (or condemning this beautiful primary hybrid to an early death) if I attempted to grow it with intermediate conditions during the winter months (say, night temperatures in the neighborhood of 10 to 14 C)? Thank you!

Steve

[Roy]

Steve, an honest opinion, as I don't grow the plant myself, is that provided you give it all possible light it should be ok.

Roy

[smweaver]

Thank you, Roy. I think I'm going to give it a try. I found a nice alba variety to experiment with. Providing high light won't be a problem. I'll probably keep it out of the cool sunroom at night, so that it will only have to adapt to "cool" night temperatures of about 18 C (I know that temperature would probably have the residents of Singapore running around in panic looking for heavy wool coats, but perhaps the plant's more forgiving).