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Species library › Phalaenopsis › Phalaenopsis tetraspis
Orchids Partly documented

Phalaenopsis tetraspis

A warm-growing epiphytic moth orchid from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and northwestern Sumatra, with broad fleshy leaves and fragrant, waxy flowers that are white or splashed and barred with purple. The species once split off as P. speciosa is now included here, because flower colour varies even on one plant from season to season. Grow it like other hot lowland Phalaenopsis: shaded, warm all year, humid, and never allowed to dry out for long.

Phalaenopsis tetraspis
Photo: Orchi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

It grows on trees in hot, humid lowland tropical forest on islands, where the moist sea air and monsoon rains keep conditions humid most of the year. Detailed microhabitat notes are scarce; like related lowland Phalaenopsis it probably hangs from shaded trunks and branches with its leaves angled downward.

No elevation records are available. Its island range is mostly low-lying, so it is almost certainly a lowland plant.

Andaman IslandsNicobar IslandsSumatra

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.