Dtps. Black Butterfly 'Orchis-01'

[sadie]

These are two of my favorite orchids. The first one, Black Butterfly, I bought as a tiny seedling in 2002. It was described just as a cross of Golden Peoker x Taisuco Sweet so I was expecting a spotted harlequin. When it bloomed, . . . well, let's just say I am now a little biased against all those spotted harlequins.

The other is a no name phal. (My first orchid ever.) All the blooms are at least 4.5 inches, many of the blooms are over 5.5 inches. I know it wouldn't win any awards, but I still love the show!

[RSJ]

Wow! I hope my first orchid ever grows up to put on a show like that phal!


RSJ

[Ennui]

very nice blooms,
seeing your white phal reminds me that
there's a reason that hybrid white phals are classics.
the graceful arching of those white blooms,
almost hovering in air,
i'll bet it gives you much peace and serenity.
thank you for sharing,
it's a nice way to start my day

[Piper]

Sadie,

Nice plants! I love harlequins too - the Black Butterfly is great! I love how it's almost completely colored, but not quite.

The white NOID and the photo are tremendous. It looks like a swarm of butterflies floating on the the wind.

Thanks!
Julie

[LJA]

sadie, awesome awesome job growing those. The show your NOID white is putting on is spectacular. Definitely pat yourself on the back!

[Dana]

I really like the perfect positioning of the blooms on the white phal
How DO you DO it?

The blooms on my white phal turn different ways and I've heard that this is due to moving the plant when in bud. But I've kept this phal under lights all the time and I've been careful not to move it to much from it's position.
It could be that the lights coming from the nearby window was stronger then the grow lights

So what's your secret?

[sadie]

Thanks for enjoying these phals with me. Although it doesn't have a pedigree, I really do love the white noid. After the first blooming, the crazy thing has bloomed twice a year every year with HUGE branching spikes. I actually cut them off after 4 or 5 months to give the plant a rest, but a few months later, it will send off 2 or 3 more branching spikes.

Dana, I grow this one facing a shaded south window in my house. Your growing environment actually sounds fancier than mine, so I'm not sure why it doesn't work. Maybe having light coming from two directions, rather than just one causes the blooms to open in different directions. Whatever direction the light is coming from, the blooms will open to it (you can tell I moved mine slightly after watering etc because not all the flowers are positioned at the same angle). Maybe try blooming your phal with just one light source so the flowers will all open toward that direction only.

[Gin]

Beautiful blooms , you did a first rate job of growing them . Gin