Wow - thanks for sharing - that was interesting, to say the least! I'm always amazed by the atypical oddities you tend to find - I was walking around the nursery yesterday, and I happened upon their orchid section (of course) and it seems that whenever I see lots of plants together, there are bound to be some odd ones. For instance, I saw a phal that had a keiki growing on a double branched spike (ie branch from a branch off the main spike)...it was weird! Anyway, thanks for the photos - you have beautiful plants, regardless of oddities :)

Well...part of the phal "oddities" has to do with parentage....doritis is well known for producing basal keikis...the first one I had I mistakenly separated them...what a bad idea! They like the company and it helps keep the humidity up.

Aphrodite is well known for putting out keikis everywhere....Penang has some of those keiki producing fiends in the parentage...however, I have forgotten who....and at this stage in my growing, I've left off remembering! I just sit back and enjoy.

Phals are remarkable plants, even though they get trashed here frequently. Love 'em. I particularly love the leaf variegation. Thanks for sharing your photos.

Hey, brooke. That Penang Girl-- new leaves coming in great. I got the same one from Chesterfield, same sad droopy-floopy leaves, but again, new ones ccame in strong and green.

I *love* that doritis keiki fiend with spikes. I love doritis period. :)

Brooke, off subject(I think all my phals are odd!) but I see you grow in aircone pots also, don't you love them?!!!
I just received a few 6" pots for a couple of oncidium come spring. They are HUGE!!!!! :)

Hey, T-bred, speaking of those 6" air cones, you're so right: they really are honkers. One vendor claims you can stand on them, and I believe it. I bought some that I ended up using as shelf-raisers when I saw how deep they are. I'm skeered to use anything that deep.

I love air-cones, too, but clay is my #1 fave. I like bulb pans for oncid, lets them spread out without getting too deep.

t-bred my goal was to show that phals cannot be put into a small box because genetically, they are a very diverse family. Your phals aren't oddities, they are phals.

There are myths constantly repeated that basal keikis are a death knell for the plant. Sometimes it's a yes, sometimes it is because they "just" do it.

Roots refusing to grow into the media means the media is bad - maybe, but usually they just want their roots in the open because they are epiphytes.

Leaves should be a certain color or they are underlit or overlit or too cold or too warm or, or, or. Phal leaves run the gamut for coloration from maroon to light green to spots to variegation. I could bore you some more and show pics of a compot of 10 seedling with very dark maroon foliage to a beautiful green with maroon on the edges of the leaves, but I won't :>)

I love the air cone pots for phals and some other genera and clay pots for the ones that need to dry out more. I like being able to see roots and moisture because it takes the guess work out of watering. I also like mounts so I can water the bejeezus out of them!

Brooke

Mehitabel, you can stand on these!!When I was young, we used to make shoes out of sturdy buckets and string to hold onto. Made us feel tall. These would be perfect!!!!

Brooke, Your point is very well made-there is no norm.As a new grower I need to realize ther is no "one size fits all"A good example I have had in my limited experience is two identical seedlings I have growing right next to each other. Potting is the same,light is the same,temperature is the same yet one has grown almost double the size of the other. I guess sometimes they just do ther own thing.:)

Brooke:Phal hybrids are a diverce lot alright. I've been in the greenhouse today moving things around a bit (bought 6 more orchids yesterday got to make some room on the phal wall - lol - good grief) and I was thinking of something you said not long ago ..... "some leaves will be mat, some shine, some with red, some without...etc". And that is true of my phals - all with same FC's, same water, same, same. They do ...... they do their own thing......

Thanks for sharing your picures!!

I think this is why I find phals are so fascinating. I used to think they spiked in the fall/winter, then bloomed for months and then sat and looked at me for the rest of the year. I have a whole new appreciation for them now.

There are so many summer bloomers, multi-floral bloomers, small flowers, large flowers, spots, stripes and they are very close to blue now. Many have gorgeous foliage in all colors that are just as pretty when not blooming. When you are pretty out of bloom, it makes tending them much more enjoyable. It is also possible to get seedlings to bloom from out of flask within a year.

Please, don't tell my catts and phrags how much I love the phals. I don't want to hurt their feelings but they take sooooo much longer to reach maturity and put on a show. I guess phals are more of an instant gratification orchid!

Brooke

Hey, Brooke. You mean you aren't bored to death by phals? I agree about the variety of leaf colors and flower color and texture among them once you get away from the old-fashioned Standards into the newer kinds. And the beauty of them as well.

Summer bloomers include two of my favorites: P violacea and Doritis (and hybrids of these).

I have been collecting violacea hybrids as they come on the market. Some are quite small seedlings, but a few are blooming size. A couple that have bloomed this year are really beautiful, just outstanding. Both from Norman's. Both have those lovely, shiny, Granny Apple green, wide violacea leaves.

One is violacea x Viotris (3/4 violacea and 1/4 equestris. Fairly large flowers of intense magenta, with just a small rim of green around the edged on short spikes. The color is so intense it makes a show with only a couple of flowers open, but a new spike puts out 4 or 5 at once, and two spikes at once is fabulous.

The other violacea beauty this year is violacea x P. Timothy Christopher (cassandra x aphrodite). This one has clusters of white flowers on short spikes, wonderful thick substance on the flowers. They look carved. Gorgeous.

I also love Doritis and hybrids. All the doritis have narrow, thick, cardboardish leaves. Many, but not all of the pink doritis hybrids have beet red leaves, the "blue" and white have light green cardboard. C & H is offering a selected "dark pink" Doritis for $10 that came in bloom this summer, and is a radiant, irridescent magenta, but green leaves. Fabulous color.

These things bloom sequentially over a long, long period of time.

And one tiny seedling of Doritis x P lindenii has little round speckled leaves. I guess the specks come from the lindenii. Just a charming little thing (from C & H).

So, absolutely. The diversity among phals in leaves and flowers as well as other characteristics is immense and increasing every day as genetic contributions from new species are brought into the mix.

No, definitely not bored by phals. In fact, the more I study and learn, the more appreciative I am of their unique qualities.

I used to be a phal snob and turned my nose up to adding more to my collection. After all, I had the pink ones, the white ones, some spotted ones and even some stripped ones. I could get the out of bloom things at my grocery for $5 and be surprised when they bloomed. I wanted the big floofy catts, I wanted the hard to bloom, bizarre ones. I wanted to broaden my horizons and not just have the common. Boredom and the computer introduced me to the diversity of this plant.

This is Phal. Hilltop's Jewel {{gwi:140757}} In April Dick Wells of Hilltop Orchids was the speaker at our club and of course brought plants for sale. The Jewel is a huge plant, with multiple spikes, two basal keikis. It is currently blooming off of a new spike and the old spikes have the buds starting to swell too. The sibling plant to mine had been awarded that week-end and he brought that for everyone to see. For some reason :>), the sib wasn't for sale so I opted for second best!

Enjoy your vio x Viotris cross - I've seen pics and it's a beauty. Timothy Christopher has proven to be a great parent. I have a hard time finding a violacea cross I don't like.

Brooke

I've really learned a lot from this thread. No more cutting down phal spikes for me. I got worried they would bloom themselves to death and - wack - wack. They are just sending up more spikes, and leave me thinking - "WHY did I wack them off in the first place!?!" I think letting them do their own thing is good advise. Thanks for posting this Brooke!!

I found an oddity yesterday on a Phal. Brother Sara Gold. It was blooming when I got it last spring but didn't feel like the plant was in super duper condition. I cut the spike down to the first node and eventually new leaves and roots started growing but not overly rampant.

Yesterday I found another spike growing right next to the cut down spike. The original spike still has color but it never regrew or turned brown, just sat there. The new spike has to be from a node under the potting mix.

The more I think I know, the more I realize I haven't even scratched the surface.

Brooke