A recent complex hybrid (registered in 2017 by Orchis Flor. company), with Asian origins, impressive for its color contrast, medium size, abundant flowering typical of the multiflora group, Phalaenopsis Yellow Chocolate amazes and equally attracts orchid collectors and genus enthusiasts.
Remarkable for robustness and prolificacy, with specialists knowing cases of production of both flower spikes and keikis, occasionally on the same node, Phalaenopsis Yellow Chocolate rewards its followers with easy care and spectacular flowering. The high productivity associated with sequential flowering suggests completely avoiding the removal of flower spikes (always multiple, never single!) after the flowers fall, as this vigorous hybrid is known for the variety of surprises it offers, especially with proper care.
As a growing medium, it is equally suitable for classic cultivation, where it prefers medium to large-sized pine bark, like the rest of the Phalaenopsis hybrids, mixed with one part sphagnum moss to 3-4 parts bark, and possibly expanded clay balls or large-grain pumice stone, in a proportion of 1 part to 4 parts total substrate, but it also gives exceptional results in semi-hydroponic cultivation, as long as the addition of nutrients and fertilizers substitutes for their absence in the inorganic growing medium used in this method. However, this hybrid can also be successfully grown by various other methods, depending on the grower's ingenuity and initiative. Thus, cultivation in coconut fiber containers, Kokodama type, on bark or cork plaques, in a hanging system like species of the genus Vanda, can be experimented with if a ball of sphagnum and bark is ensured around the crown, and if fertilization and watering are adapted to this type of culture by increasing frequency.
Since species of the genus Phalaenopsis and implicitly their hybrids are sensitive to root rot, crown rot, bacterial infections that cause wet rot, it is recommended to carefully monitor watering, the administration of fertilizers at correct dilutions and appropriate intervals to prevent chemical burning of the roots, spraying, as prolonged water stagnation on the leaves is not recommended, ensuring proper ventilation, and quarantining newly introduced plants in collections for at least two weeks.
Containers used for cultivating Phalaenopsis Yellow Chocolate are represented by standard orchid pots, made of transparent plastic material, to allow continuous observation of root development and health status, equipped with additional perforations in the side walls, which will ensure good drainage of water administered during irrigation and at the same time efficient aeration of the substrate and roots.
Irrigation will be done weekly, as a general routine, or as needed, testing the substrate moisture either by direct observation (water droplets and condensation deposited on the inner walls of the pot) or by the method of testing with a bamboo stake inserted into the substrate. If upon extraction it is dry, watering is recommended; otherwise, if signs of moisture are found, waiting until they disappear is advised. Fertilizer will be applied every 4th watering, leading to a monthly feeding routine for the plants, but during the warm season, when temperature, photoperiod (the duration of time solar radiation is available), and light intensity are high, the interval between fertilizations can be shortened to stimulate and accelerate vegetative growth processes. Either balanced formula fertilizers, such as 20 – 20 – 20, can be used, or a complex scheme can be chosen, with specific fertilizers for growth and respectively for flowering.
The plants can either be separated individually into growing containers or specimens can be cultivated that keep groups of keiki on the stems or trunk, to increase the spectacular effect, provide volume at flowering, and preserve a more stable growing environment, with greater thermal, chemical, and water inertia.
For this hybrid, some growers claim the existence of a scent reminiscent of chocolate, strong, filling the room, an aspect also suggested by the taxon's name, but at the same time, a good number of enthusiasts who have experimented with this taxon do not notice the presence of the scent, probably correlating this aspect with the lack of appropriate parameters, similar to the case of Liodoro Sweet Memory, where the intensity, presence or absence of the scent is deeply influenced by the temperature and light intensity present in the cultivation area.
Recommended growth temperature should not negatively exceed the minimum value of 15.5 with an average around 21 and a maximum no higher than 26.
Recommended brightness for this hybrid is typical of the values for the Phalaenopsis genus, which includes species with preferences for low to medium light radiation values, at least in terms of light intensity favorable to orchid species. Under growth conditions (in this regard) similar to the genera Ludisia, Zygopetalum, Paphiopedilum, fitting within the range of 10000 – 16000 lux.
Regarding the ancestry of this hybrid, its scheme is complex and equally interesting, as it contains perhaps the most attractive botanical species of the Phalaenopsis genus, and the number of these, no less than 17 species, is at least impressive even for a Phalaenopsis hybrid taxon, where specific crossing is commonplace. Its detailed composition is as follows: Phal. equestris 25.07%, from which it inherits the multifloral characteristic and abundant flowering, Phal. Amboinensis 23.45%, whose presence is noticeable in the impressive color palette, Phal. Stuartiana 12.51% highlighted by the shape and size of the flower, as well as by the specific coloration present at the column, labellum, and the two lower petals, Phal. Mannii 12.5%, the other specific taxon defining the coloration, alongside amboinensis, Phal. Micholitzii 9.38% from which it inherits the reduced size, Phal. amabilis 5.69%, Phal. venosa 3.13%, Phal. violacea 3.13%, Phal. amabilis subsp. amabilis 2.35%, Phal. lueddemanniana 0.98%, Phal. aphrodite 0.92%, Phal. sanderiana 0.27%, Phal. hieroglyphica 0.2%, Phal. fasciata 0.2%, Phal. pulcherrima 0.1%, Phal. aphrodite subsp. Formosana 0.01%, Phal. schilleriana 0.01%.
In turn, Phalaenopsis Yellow Chocolate is one of the parents of the hybrid Phalaenopsis Joy Spotted Cat, alongside the botanical species Phalaenopsis lueddemanniana.
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