Phalaenopsis seedlings

Earlier this summer I bought 8 small seedlings of different phalaenopsis species. They were unfortunate enough to get stuck in transition due to the stupid postal strike and got really overheated in the airless environment. Some parts of their foliage had unsightly yellow patches and with me being totally new to phal seedlings they had to go through several re-pottings as I couldn't make up my mind with regards to medium. Finally I stopped on sphagnum moss and here are some results.
Phal. violacea var. coerulea R.I.P.-ed almost instantly.
Phals amboinensis, violacea var. mentaway, tetraspis and lueddemanniana progressing well growing new leaf and/or new roots:


Phals gibbosa, parishii and panterina lost some old leaves and do nothing, except that parishii managed to get mealies into the growing point and had to go through whole wiping and isolation process:

I am starting to realize that small seedlings are probably not the best purchasing option and requires a lot of patience with orchids. At least now I am instinctively looking for b.s. or n.b.s. mark when searching for the plant I want.

Phalaenopsis fasciata 'Shaffers'

Potted into plastic pot with fresh sphagnum moss after its bareroot arrival, Phal fasciata 'Shaffers' looks happy. There are four spikes and one of them looks like it will even branch. Hopefully I will keep it alive in sphagnum moss...

Orchids arrived

Bunch of phals from Kingfisher orchids complete my b-day purchases. I ordered six of them, but got seven - one was a bonus!
Here is a group picture:


Barerooted at the front is Phal fasciata 'Shaffers', it has healthy nice roots and four spikes!
In the second row from left to right are:
Phal. Kuntrarti Rarashati ‘Copperstate’ with something like tiny spike.
Phal. bellina (‘Ingrid Ohh’ X ‘Joy’)
Phal. equestris ‘Blue’ BM/TOGA X self with basal keiki
and Phal. amboinensis
Large ones at the back are
Phal. equestris var. alba with strange round hole on the leaf(hope it is nothing serious) and bonus plant with long name - Dtps. Freed's Beautiful Girl 'Blue' X Phal Equestris 'Alba' (I copied the label) and with very pretty flowers.
I am happy with the plants and vendor.
And the blooming phal alone:

I will re-pot and post each of them separately a bit later.

Vanda Robert's Delight 'Garnet Beauty'

I came across the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day on the May Dream Gardens and joining with my blooming Vanda Robert's Delight 'Garnet Beauty'. I hope the indoor garden counts too.

The flowers are opening a bit more and getting even larger.
Of course I was also looking for another excuse to take a picture and post it.

Waiting for new chids

Patiently waiting for the orchid order from Kingfisher Orchids in BC. They were sent out on Monday by FedEx and I hope they will be here before the weekend. Here is the list of what is in there:
Phal. equestris ‘Blue’ BM/TOGA X self
Phal. equestris var. alba
Phal. Kuntrarti Rarashati ‘Copperstate’
Phal. fasciata ‘Shaffers’
Phal. amboinensis var. Common
Phal. bellina (‘Ingrid Ohh’ X ‘Joy’)
The Kuntrarti Rarashati is a primary hybrid between equestris and venosa.
And, I know, I already have tiny phal amboinensis seedling, but the new one is supposed to be n.b.s and for only $15, I just couldn't pass by...

Phalaenopsis cornucervi

This cute plant with bunch of healthy roots arrived together with Vanda denisoniana below. I am pretty sure on the advertisement picture it had dark solid flower not yellow with dark pattern, but at the time of packing or transition flower dried up and got lost. Now I need to wait for a new bloom to confirm it. So here it is - Phalaenopsis cornucervi with two spikes.

I know by now that Phal cornucervi continues to bloom on the same spikes, I should not cut them off. Also I really hope that these spikes would stay not yellowing as it happened to my Phal bellina. For now it looks like a little swan in the lake of sphagnum :).

Vanda denisoniana

New Vanda denisoniana is another b-day purchase from ebay. It has old dried out spike - means it is a blooming sized plant. One stubborn root wouldn't fit into vase, so I left it out causing somewhat asymmetrical look.

Sedirea japonica activity

Sometimes it seems that plants have no clue what they supposed to do. Sedirea japonica finally decided to wake up and grow something.

It arrived initially with whole bunch of nice healthy roots, but instead of growing for example a new leaf she puts out five more new roots, as if she doesn't have enough already.


Not like I am complainig - still some activity, but, I don't know, a spike would be so much better.

Update:
Sedirea japonica died. Sob,sob!
Leaves became brown very fast, I got worried and threw it away scared that it might spread onto other plants.
Archived.

Phalaenopsis pictures

Yet one more website with incredible pictures of phalaenopsis species and hybrids.
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/knert/album/110660/show/with/7823645
Enjoy the slideshow!

Vanda in full bloom

Well, I patiently waited for the blooms to open fully, but they still seem a bit shy. Even the one that opened first. So here is my vanda Roberts Delight 'Garnet Beauty' blooming.


The flowers close up:




Color is much more deep, a bit purplier and texture is a bit waxier than it came out on the pictures. I took it out to the yard hoping that natural light will help to capture the right color, but it didn't. Here how it looks inside:


I get lots of wows from non-orchid people, they seem to think that plant is not real :)