Rajiv,

Maybe you should think of it as smaller vs standard size. Many of the
plants we have listed here are smaller than some of the huge monster phals
you can get out there.

The smaller phals bloom earlier on smaller plants. Some day they do grow
larger. I have a few equestris plants that have remained under 6 inches in
the 5 years I've grown them. I have another plant of equetris that has
different parents that has a 14 inch leaf spread. The flowers are the same
on both varieties.

Phal Mini Mark will stay very small and is a slow grower. I don't think
I've ever seen one larger than a 12 inch leaf spread. I could imagine that
someone would grow an old plant that would eventually get larger than that.

Doritis pulcherrma is another plant that stays very small. (this is in the
phal family). Each plant is usually under 12 inches in leaf spread. The
problem is that as it gets older it keikis and quickly fills the pot with
many of the 12 inch plants. The flowers are definitely small but can have a
very tall (12-18+ inch) spike.

The species lobbii and parishii both have flowers about 3/4 inch or less.
They are very small plants. They are the smallest phal species that I can
think of. Check out www.orchidspecies.com for info about these two plants.

So I guess there are no real "mini" phals but some smaller ones that remain
very small through their life.

Good Growing,
Gene

P.S. The only rule with orchids is that there are no rules!



"rajiv" wrote in message
om...
Now i'm confused...Are there any true mini phals??? both in flower
size and in plant compactness?

Rajiv



"Gareth Wills" wrote in message
...
I fully agree. My equestris hybrids include Be Tris, Three Times a Lady
and
Blue Too all of which have leaf spans over 10". They start blooming when
small and blooms are small but plentiful on bloom stems (semi-pendulous)
reaching 2 1/2-3'. I'd hardly call them mini's.
Gary

"Jim Landers" wrote in message
news:9JB3a.116226$2H6.2015@sccrnsc04...
I guess it depends upon what you consider a "minature", rajiv. It's
true
equestris
has small flowers. But I have four of them, and the smallest wingspan
is
12 inches. The largest plant has a wingspan of 18 inches, which I
don't
consider
a "minature". Compared to really large Phals, that may constitute a
"mini",
but I usually think of mini in terms of Mini Cattleyas that are
several
times smaller than a regular sized Cattleya.


"rajiv" wrote in message
om...
Thanks to everyone who answered my earlier query about phal species.
Now i read that phal equestris hybrids are usually miniature in size
and free blooming. I think it would be great if i could get some
mini
phals to add to my collection, as i live under severe space
restrictions.

Any suggestions for sources of mini phals. Browsing through the
vendor's websites does not give much idea about plant size and its
parentage.

rajiv