Originally Posted by Kmac
Kathi though you are correct that it comes from my country, the Philippines, but Tuberolabium Quisumbingii is endemic to our cool mountain forests up North.
Thus you have to be able to give it the cool, mossy, humid/misty environment that is typical of mountainous tropical cloud forests where it best thrives in. I guess Geoff won't have much of a problem in growing this since England does get pretty cold over there and his greenhouse provides much of the needed humidity the plant enjoys. The plant loves plenty of light and where it can regularly dry out in between mistings/humidity in the air. It likes a drastic temperature differential drop from day to night. Just imagine the environment if you are living up in a tropical cloud forest. (Hmmm .... that reminds me so much of Cxcanh's photos on his thread when he went up mountain climbing up in Vietnam's cloud forests in Fansipan.)
I am able to grow this here in Manila in my grow area where I can provide the humidity because of my daily watering and frequent misting but because I am unable to attain the very cool environment that the plant needs in order to induce it to flower, it just gets bigger and bigger but no flowers! Well, at least I'm happy that I am successful in growing it here in lowland Manila - who knows by some strange twist of "climatic" fate, it might just surprise me one morning when it does flower. Hmmm ..... the days and nights have lately been getting cooler here due to the November-December months .... who knows?
And yes, most in the Tuberolabium family is scented specially this one which has the heaviest perfume of them all. That is why I LOVE this orchid so much despite the small size of its flowers. One can be misled by the small size of its flowers - the perfume from this sweetie can really be so powerful! On close-up view, the Tuberolabiums sure have pretty, colorful flowers specially on its lip!
Cheers all!
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