My Phalaenopsis species seedlings

OK my seedlings of Phalaenopsis are made up of...

Phalaenopsis violacea

Phalaenopsis sumatrana

Phalenopsis zebrina

Phalaenopsis hieroglyphica

Phalaenopsis bellina

Phalaenopsis parishii (miniature)

Oddly when they turned up I had my doubts about the Phalaenopsis parishii but since these photos were taken all but the Phalaenopsis bellina have produced leaves and roots?! Typical as bellina ins my favourite out of the group ... JUST!

Now when you see these guys in flower, well the first FOUR, you would wonder why people buy the hybrids you see in the supermarkets?!

Also of note about hybrids, which are supposed to be easier to keep than species, they are NOT as easy as you think and this is because the parenting may require very different environments, heat, humidity and other things.

At least with species as long as I know where they originate from and WHAT altitude I can guess or find out if needs be EXACTLY what requirements they have!

 

 

 

RIGHT BELOW THIS SENTENCE I WILL ADD PHOTOS WHEN I HAVE OWNED THEM 6 MONTHS TO SHOW GROWTH ON EACH SEEDLING

My Vanda denisoniana

Well my Vanda denisoniana seedlings of around two years old?!

Yes were neglected due to unforeseen catastrophes, see blog Shocking Discoveries & New Beginnings, but still they pulled right through it all.

Now growing at a fair pace!!

Note they live in the glass jar and despite it being tall this allows water to collect and keeps the air inside very humid for the roots and base of the plant.

 

Note burn on Phalaenopsis hybrid in background...do NOT leave in window on cloudy days and forget they are there!!

My Schoenorchis fragrans

A very tiny orchid plant that is my Schoeneorchis fragrans around the size of a 50 pence piece, if that.

Flowers like tiny versions of pink moth orchids you see in supermarkets with a yellow centre and only a millimetre or two across!

In one or two photos you can see a warm mister working, which is complete with led lights to glow whatever colour you choose out of the four, which I purchased from Maplin for £15. Using rain water or RO Water the little membranes these use will go on for sometime!

The hard salts in tap water will destroy the membranes a great deal quicker than rain or RO water and this still has the original membrane and I bought this around 3 years ago now.

My Vanda coerulea

Right another species Orchid I wanted which was also blue like the Dendrobium victoriae-reginae and like that Orchid these can come out more purplish than blue?!

Hopefully and WHEN it flowers this will also be blue like the other and these two are often referred to as the Blue Orchid and this colour is very rare within the world of orchids! A shame.

Any Blue Vandas seen in Garden Centres will no doubt be hybrids produced from Vanda coerulea though but will be a darker blue than the wild plant.

Also the species tends to have twisted petals though many in captivity have had this bred out of them so the flowers appear flat like in the hybrids.

I am also hoping this is true of this plant but not likely to flower until April or May 2013.

In the last picture is my seedling Vanda denisoniana I have had for three years, despite it being neglected at times! It grows in a tall narrow glass vase now and has shot up in size since I did that!

The lighting in these pictures the Orchids grown under are Toshiba E-Core LED bulbs of 2700k colour temperature and one 19 Watt and one 16 Watt?! The rest made up of small 2x 2.8 Watt LED cold whites and 1x 9 Watt Warm and 1x 9Watt Cold. Around 18 Orchids are grown under these and though the Vanda have the highest LIGHT REQUIREMENT they grown very well under bulbs that are not that demanding in electricity and nowhere NEAR a window!!!

My Podangis dactyloceras

My Podangis datyloceras was in flower when it arrived and here it is.

I bought this as in my Flora's Orchids book the flowers look like they are made from frosted sugar or crushed diamonds!

My Dendrobium victoriae-reginae

First flowering of my Dendrobium victoriae-reginae and was pleased to say it was blue despite the purplish edging the the flower buds?!

Had wanted this particular species for a number of years and finally I acquired one this year.

This was around three months ago and is about to flower again but with two flowers this time round?!

 

 

 

Right the following photos are around 3 or 4 months later and you can see there are two flower buds this time round, these flowers on a diffrent cane (these are called Bamboo Orchids and each stem (actually a pseudobulb err kinda) is called a cane...

 

 

 

My Zygopetalums

Well here are my Zygopetalum in flower... a little late this year but normally re-flower, whether being late means no re-flowering I do not know but will before very long....

I have two of these and there is something you have to avoid with them that it does not tell you about on the label?! LOL.

Now had around three years or more and flower twice, two or three spikes each time, twice a year in quick succession!