Phal. Liu's Cute Angel

More buds opened on Phal. Liu's Cute Angel:

Phal. Liu's Cute Angel

So, I had no idea that these cute little things bloom twice a year. What a great plant!
Phal. Liu's Cute Angel bloomed in April, then dried the spike out and soon after that started a new spike, which now bloomed:



And this new spike has two little branches.



I think I need more of these, preferably in yellow colors. Any suggestions?

Phal. Liu's Cute Angel

Phal. Liu's Cute Angel wants to bloom again. I just recently cut off the old spike that flowered in the spring, it got dry and brown.
And now there is a new spike, on the other side:



I was going to repot this phal to change moss that is not quite fresh, but now it probably is better to wait for this new spike to finish whatever it will be doing (hopefully flower).

Phal. Liu's Cute Angel: first bloom

Liu's Cute Angel opened first bud today and it is really extremely cute:



Spike grows upright, plant is very compact and takes minimal space in the tank:



I like orange splashes around the middle of the flower, I didn't see it on pictures of other plants on the web.



Contrasting red lip looks wonderful.



There are few buds on the spike and separate small branch:

Coming up: Phal. Liu's Cute Angel

First bud on Phal. Liu's Cute Angel is almost ready to open:



Notice the next bud - it was accidentally caught on my hand when I was taking other plant out from the tank. I was lazy to move it so I could have better access to the plants behind and here is the result. I was almost crying...

Plant itself looks good and healthy:



The spike is growing a branch too. I like how small and compact the plant is, it almost looks overpotted compared to the size of the pot, but that pot is full of roots and they are sticking out from all the sides:



Such a busy little plant.

Dtps. Liu's Cute Angel update

Liu's Cute Angel is a perfect name for this little phal.

It has the cutest leaves:



Cutest healthy roots randomly poking out from the net pot in several places:



And a cutest spike which now definitely looks like a spike. I like how fat and sturdy it seems, it doesn't flop down but grows up, although pretty slow to my taste:

Dtps. Liu's Cute Angel update

Whatever Dtps. Liu's Cute Angel was growing - is not a root, because plant(being sarcastic, I guess) grew a new root right beside the thing and it looks totally different:



I still don't see a mitten, but am going to assume it is a spike and will oficially wait for the blooms.
Here is the view from the back:



Off-topic: I removed another tube from my lighting fixture in the tank and now it has just two 4ft T5 HO tubes in the middle. With three tubes it was still too strong light for phals, some of them had leaves just 12 inch from the lamp and they were burning. I positioned the fixture to have tubes above the middle shelf and put cattleyas there so they are right under the tubes. Phals are concentrated on the back and front where there is no direct lamp above them but still plenty of light.
Too bad I don't have light measuring device and have to experiment. Newest leaf on one of the bellinas got unsightly yellow patches because it was growing under burning lamp and I tried to shade it with other plants, oh bother...

Dtps. Liu's Cute Angel: can you see a mitten?

Something started to grow on Dtps. Liu's Cute Angel:



I am breaking my eyes trying to see a mitten shaped end that is usual for spike development. Unfortunately I can't see it yet:



Suspense is killing me, is it a spike or just a root...

Dtps. Liu's Cute Angel

Dtps. Jiaho Cherry x Phal. lobbii = Dtps. Liu's Cute Angel



I find all crosses with lobbii or parishii just adorable. Plant is small but sturdy with nice roots. Since lobbii is a mini, I don't expect it to grow very large and maybe my little plant is actually a bloom sized one.