Rhynchostylis gigantea is native to Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Borneo and Indonesia. In Myanmar, these plants are found near Rangoon and Toung-ngoo regions and virtually everywhere in the north...
Rhynchostylis gigantea also called as The Giant Rhynchostylis, Anota densiflora, Anota gigantea, Anota hainanensis, Anota harrisoniana, Anota violacea, Gastrochilus giganteus, Gastrochilus violaceus, Rhynchostylis gigantea f. harrisoniana, Rhynchostylis gigantea subsp. violacea, Rhynchostylis violacea, Saccolabium albolineatum, Saccolabium giganteum, Saccolabium giganteum var. illustre, Saccolabium giganteum var. petotianum, Saccolabium harrisonianum, Saccolabium violaceum, Saccolabium violaceum var. harrisonianum, Vanda densiflora, Vanda hainanensis, Vanda violacea, is a species of the genus Rhynchostylis. This species was described by Henry Nicholas Ridley in 1986.
IDENTIFY RHYNCHOSTYLIS GIGANTEA
Rhynchostylis gigantea is native to Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Borneo and Indonesia. In Myanmar, these plants are found near Rangoon and Toung-ngoo regions and virtually everywhere in the north, but do not occur in the province of Tenasserim in the south. In Thailand, they were found on most of the mainland territory from the eastern areas around Prachinburi north through Nakorn Sawan and Loei to the Chiengmai area in the north, where they were harvested at an altitude of 265 m above sea level. They are also found in the Kanburi district in the southwest, exactly to the north of the Thai peninsula. The occurrence of plants in Singapore and surrounding islands is known in Malaysia. In Laos, these plants were found on the Vientiane Plain and in the Bolovens region. In Cambodia, they was found on Mt. Camchay. In Vietnam, they are known for the city of Ho Chi Minh and Quangtri. In Indonesia, the plants grow on the island of Anambas and other islands of the Chinese Sea. In Borneo the plants were found in many lowlands.
It is a medium sized, monopodial, warm to hot growing epiphyte, which reaching 61 cm in height, with a stout, 10 cm stem carrying imbricating at the base, linear, very thick, channeled, acute lobed apically, up to 30 cm long and 5-7.5 cm wide leaves.
The Giant Rhynchostylis blooms on the axillary, arcuate, to 37 cm long, racemose, densely many flowered inflorescence, with sweetly fragrant blooms that last for about two weeks. The flowers are 2.5-3.8 cm in diameter. They are usually white, with red-purple, amethyst-purple or crimson mottling, and often have a clearly visible peak in the same color. The lip is also red-purple, amethyst-purple or crimson and usually fades at the base and towards the center until the white color. There were also found varieties with white flowers, and occasionally you can find specimens with red flowers.
RHYNCHOSTYLIS GIGANTEA CARE AND CULTURE
Cultural information should only be used as a guide, and should be to be adapted to suit you. Your physical location; where you grow your plants, how much time you have to devote to their care, and many other factors, will need to be taken into account. Only then can you decide on the cultural methods that best suit you and your plants.
Light:
Rhynchostylis gigantea needs a light level of 30000-40000 lux. Sunlight should be strong, but not direct, diffused light is more beneficial. Direct sunlight at noon can threaten to burn the plant. Strong air movement should be ensured all the time.
Temperature:
It is a thermophilic plant The average day temperature is 32-33 ° C, and the night (24-25 ° C), with an amplitude of daily fluctuations of 8 ° C. The average temperature of the day in spring is 34-35 ° C, and the average night 24-26 ° C, with a daily amplitude of 9-10 ° C. The average winter temperatures are 31-33 ° C and the average temperatures are 20-23 ° C, with a daily amplitude of 10-12 ° C.
Humidity:
The Giant Rhynchostylis needs the humidity of about 80% for most of the year, in winter and early spring, falling to around 70-75%.
Substrate, growing media and repotting:
Rhynchostylis gigantea grows best in a way that allows it to hang loosely on numerous aerial roots. You can place it in wooden baskets without adding any substrate or fix it to tree ferns or cork without substrate around the roots. Under such growing conditions, high humidity should be ensured, and the plants should be watered at least once a day, and on hot and dry days even several times a day.
They can also be grow using pots filled with very loose, quickly drying ground, which allows the roots to dry quickly after watering. Good results are obtained by using a mixture of equal parts of medium and large sized pieces of fir bark and charcoal. As a substrate, you can also use charcoal alone.
They reacts unfavorably to repotting, but if the plants grow in containers filled with a mixture of bark, they should be repotted every year, because possible decomposition of the bark may quickly lead to the death of the root system. Since inflorescences form at the base of the stem, the plant should be planted very shallow. Plants adapt faster and with less stress if they are fixed or repotted in the phase when new roots are just beginning to grow.
Watering:
Rainfall in the natural environment varies, from abundant to very abundant. They start at the end of spring and last until autumn. Then, the drought season starts quite rapidly, which lasts 3-4 months in winter and early spring. The cultivated plants should be watered abundantly during the growth period, but the air around the roots should be ensured at this time, allowing them to quickly dry after watering. In the case of plants growing in pots or baskets, the substrate used must not be soaked or wet.
Fertilizer:
During the active growth, the plants should be fertilized every week 1/4-1/2 of the recommended dose of fertilizer for orchids. You can use sustainable fertilizers throughout the year, but you can also use fertilizer with an increased nitrogen content from spring to mid-summer, and then, in late summer and autumn, fertilizer enriched with phosphorus.
Rest period:
Rhynchostylis gigantea need much less water in the winter and should rather dry out before the next watering. If the humidity is high in the place of cultivation in winter, sporadic morning fogging of plants between rare periods of watering should provide enough moisture for proper development. If the humidity is low, the morning misting should be more frequent. These plants should never completely dry up. Fertilization should be reduced or completely eliminated until more intense watering starts in the spring.
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