Phal; 3rd flowering, different colour

[Kath]

I'm posting two photos of a Phal Elegant Deborah which I have. It's coming into flower for the 3rd time since Ive had it, but this time the colour is different. Is this possible? I have changed camera, so could it be that the camera is giving me better photos, and I can't remember the colour of the first??

[Pilot]

Kath--

I'm no expert by any means so take this for what its worth-- however, temperature can have a definite affect on color of flowers. Maybe not all flowers but with my amaryllis collection, the flower colors can change depending on whether the bud formed in too hot or too cold conditions. That isn't to say the temps are ever extreme, but if I have a flower form at 60 degrees versus 90, the 90 degree flower will look quite a bit different.

Now, an area where I AM more knowledgeable is the camera issue. If this was taken with a digital camera, which I imagine it was, the digital sensors have the most difficultly metering and rendering red colors. It can be very difficult sometimes to get the same red even on the same camera.

So there are two possible reasons...environment and the difficulty of capturing red in a digital camera.

Ryan

[Kath]

Gosh! That's brilliant! I should think it's the camera, as I changed camera recently, and it gives better photos, but my recollections is that the flowers were lighter before. Thanks so much for your knowledgeable words!

[quiltergal]

Kath the flowers may get lighter as they age. Not uncommon.

[ChasWG]

Kath, Ryan,

I too had a Phal bloom this past season and the color of the flower was radically different than when It bloomed the first time a year ago. I bought the plant (noid) while some of the flowers were open. It was a pinkish/purple with a tiger striped lip. When the buds oped this past season the flowers were now white, with a slight pinky tinge and still the same tiger striped lip. What changed? I think it was that the plant was in great distress. I have heard that these plants will bloom themselves to death. Shortly after the last bloom was fading I decided to see what was going on down in root world. Not good. I cut away the rot, repotted with new fir bark/charcol/perilite medium. Since then the plant seems to be doing well. The color of the leaves are starting to return to the right coloration. I have seen a couple new roots starting. Hopefully I will get the chance to see if I am right next bloom season.

Also, I agree with Ryan about the camera issue. Unfortuantly I didn't take pics of my Phal during it's first bloom for me. I did this last go around. If I am right there will be no way to blame the camera. Not that big of a color shift in camera!

[jkofferdahl]

Kath, it could be the camera but it could also be many other factors - even a combination of the camera and others!

The state of the media in which the plant grows can effect the output. The amount of fertilizers added. The amount of salts building up in the media. The temperature. The amount of light. The growing conditions are also going to effect the product; the media itself, the daily setting, the humidity.

In commercial agriculture, growers often see differences in plants. The same seed grown under different conditions can create dramatic differences in the outcome. As an example I'll use the politically incorrect example of tobacco. There is a type of tobacco called Virginia; obviously the original came from the US state of the same name. A seed from a given plant can be planted in the coastal areas of Virginia or North Carolina and produces a light leaf which turns a yellow color when cured. Planted in the Piedmont areas, the same seed grows a darker, heavier leaf which reddens when cured. And grown in the mountains, the same seed grows even darker and heavier. It is thought that the same seed was taken to Kentucky, where is was almost white and led to the development of Burley tobacco, which is far less sugary and far less flavorful than Virginia tobaccos. Finally, the Virginia seed is also now grown in Africa, where the product is almost that of a different species.

The same should apply, then, to other plants. It seems logical (though this is conjecture on my part) that a jungle-collected Phalaenopsis when moved to, say, a greenhouse in Georgia would produce flowers somewhat different than when in the jungle. The differences may be tiny but I would expect to find them. Similarly, a plant which grows in one condition could have different flowers under other conditions. I have a Phal. Nobby's Amy which, for several years, bloomed a flower about 2 - 2 1/2 inches across which was mostly white with a pink blush. This year the plant has received more light, is in a new pot with different media, and getting a different fertilizer regimen than it used to. The flowers are dramatically different! The plant has produced probably 3 times the number of flowers as in the past, but the flowers are about 75% of the previous size. They are much pinker, and have a nicer shape (to me) than previously.