mrhappyrotter
Grand Chupacabra
I've had this plant for several years now. It was "blooming size" when I bought it, but it took awhile to adjust to my growing conditions before it started growing well. Care and growing conditions are similar to all of my water loving Phrags. I grow it indoors under lights (summers are too hot here for most Phrags and winters are far too cold for them). I grow these sitting in a bit of water year round, using good quality water, and low strength but regular fertilization year round. I grow in all manners of potting mixes. I think this particular plant is in a bark based mix.
I'm really enjoying the "greenie" Phrags much more these days, even though they've mostly fallen out of fashion compared with besseae and kovachii hybrids. I enjoy the grassy foliage of this and similar species and the fact that they are some of the fastest growing and easiest to flower species in the genus (in my care and conditions). Hirtzii has fascinating flowers and nice earth toned colors. It's not a super rare species in cultivation, but it's also not terribly common.
The color of the lip is incredible for a "green" Phrag! I like the general stature of the flower, and I think this is a strong contender for my favorite Phrag species of this general type (still lots of competition with species like besseae, kovachii, and humboldtii from other sections).
I purchased this from Ecuagenera several years ago. Seems that the semi-recent sentiment on this forum suggests that Ecuagenera has released a lot of mislabeled plants over the years, so I'm really hoping this is the real deal. Personally, I can't recall having ever gotten a mislabeled plant from Ecuagenera and this is one of the last few plants to bloom of many that I have purchased from them. Overall, though it does look like a true P. hirtzii to me, and I'm glad for that.
This is the smaller of 2 spikes on the plant, so I should have many more blooms to come this summer!
I'm really enjoying the "greenie" Phrags much more these days, even though they've mostly fallen out of fashion compared with besseae and kovachii hybrids. I enjoy the grassy foliage of this and similar species and the fact that they are some of the fastest growing and easiest to flower species in the genus (in my care and conditions). Hirtzii has fascinating flowers and nice earth toned colors. It's not a super rare species in cultivation, but it's also not terribly common.
The color of the lip is incredible for a "green" Phrag! I like the general stature of the flower, and I think this is a strong contender for my favorite Phrag species of this general type (still lots of competition with species like besseae, kovachii, and humboldtii from other sections).
I purchased this from Ecuagenera several years ago. Seems that the semi-recent sentiment on this forum suggests that Ecuagenera has released a lot of mislabeled plants over the years, so I'm really hoping this is the real deal. Personally, I can't recall having ever gotten a mislabeled plant from Ecuagenera and this is one of the last few plants to bloom of many that I have purchased from them. Overall, though it does look like a true P. hirtzii to me, and I'm glad for that.
This is the smaller of 2 spikes on the plant, so I should have many more blooms to come this summer!
