Variegated Phalaenopsis
 

I have a small Noid variegated Phalaenopsis which I have owned for a couple of years. It is in bud and the flowers are not open yet. Other than having snail damage it is very healthy.

During the summer I keep it in the shade house in fairly bright conditions and as it is winter here now I have brought it indoors.

The older leaves seem to be losing their variegated margins and the new leaves are developing without variegated leaf margins. Why would this happen?

In other plants variegation can vary with light received. Some plants lose variegation in too-low light; others turn green in high amounts of light.

And variegation is not always stable; plants can gradually revert to normal forms. Variegated plants that normally branch will frequently grow normal growths, which need to be nipped off.

Many variegated plants available now are the result of treating tissue culture propagules with chloroplast poisons in low doses, in the hope that some of the propagules will have portions of their meristems stripped of chloroplasts, rendering the plant variegated. Some of these artificial variegations are very unstable.

There are some naturally variegated Phalaenopsis that remain variegated. This is a picture of my plant from Big Leaf Orchids. (picture is from Big Leaf Orchids)

If your plant is variegated like this plant, it should not be loosing its variegation. A picture of your plant will help.

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Thank you, I am doing an assignment on variegated Phal leaves, and am training for orchid judging. Every bit of information is really appreciated.

---------- Post added at 02:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:51 PM ----------

Would it mean that it is a natural occurrence?

Variegated Phalaenopsis
 

Fiona, I think this Phalaenopsis is "naturally" occurring. You might want to contact Peter Lin of Big Leaf Orchids for more information on this plant. There is another Phalaenopsis that is variegated like this one but it is a miniature and it is called Phalaenopsis Sogo Vivienne. This plant is also available from Big Leaf Orchids.

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Thank you Matt.