Phalaenopsis bellina
This phalaenopsis is important to us as Phalaenopsis bellina is Sarawak’s state flower, and so transports us to the wonderful forests we have explored in Borneo. We have several clones of the species.
The outstanding characteristic of Phalaenopsis Bellina is its wonderful fragrance. the scent is very reminiscent of roses and is really strong so that it fills our front room as well as the IKEA cabinet it grows in.
This phalaenopsis species is found across Borneo and it grows it hot lowland forest in swamps or near rivers. (the third photo is one of the plants we have seen in Sarawak) Plants grow low in trees where it is often in deep shade and temperatures rarely fall below 23C. The trees here have no moss and so the flattened roots cling to bare branches. Rains are frequent throughout the year but plants dry out between times.
As you can see we grow our Phalaenopsis bellina plants indoors in our IKEA display cabinets with supplementary lighting. The temperature here will be above 20C all summer with and a winter minimum of 17C though the daytime temperature is in the mid 20s most days of the year. We water by spraying the compost every few days but making sure plants dry out between waterings just to mimic the conditions wild plants experience.