Orchids: Two new phalenopsis in my house..., 1 by Todd_Boland

Todd_Boland wrote:
The blotchy one is a colour combo I'm seeing poping up more than ever. It is a fairly recent development in phal colour. The blotchy one actually has a very good form. The striped one is wonderful.

The cheap ones available at local home depots and the like rarely have that perfect round shape. Look at this pic for example. It's one of the cheapies I got a few years ago. Nice striped pattern but the lateral petals (two side petals) are not as round or wide top-to-bottom as in awarded plants...also a wide gap that exposes the dorsal sepal (uppermost 'petal'). According to phal judges, the lateral petals should nearly touch, hiding most except the tip of the dorsal sepal and even obscuring most of the lateral sepals. Mind you, one man's meat.....

Novelty type phals (small-flowered reds, oranges, heavy spotted yellows) do not have to follow these rules as stringently as for the large-flowered whites, pinks and stripes.

Again, compare the shape of this phal to that of the award winning phal posted by eclipse.