P. equestris, or?

[The Mutant]

To my inexperienced eyes it looks like a P. equestris. I just bought it, saw it on the Swedish orchid forum and before my brain had registered what on earth my finger was doing I had clicked the "buy" button...

So have I bought a P. equestris or a look-alike?

http://www.neovita.com/orkideer/bild...234623.400.jpg

[Paul Mc]

Lol... It reminds me of fairy charm which has equestris as part of parentage, thus the look alike. But I'd default to someone else's judgement.

[The Mutant]

I've asked the seller, but they haven't answered so far. It's cute whatever it is, but I really want it to be a P. equestris ( I have so many Noid hybrids already), otherwise I think I'm going to be a good girl and cancel the purchase.

---------- Post added at 04:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:41 PM ----------

Oh darn. It isn't an equestris... The flowers are too big; 6cm or 2.4".

That's what happens when you are too trigger happy (or maybe clicker happy?).

[Val]

I wouldn't cancel the purchase.

Some 15 months ago, while in a nursery, my wife fell in love with a small Phalaenopsis. I wasn't impressed by the plant nor by its flowers, but bought it nevertheless, for my wife's sake. For me this Phalaenopsis was a kind of "unwanted chid"

Long story short: it is now my #1 performer, with 14 keikis last year and quite a number of new spikes as we speek. It's not a pure breed equestris, but a secondary hybrid [(equestris X schilleriana) X equestris] i.e. "Patricia Lillian". My ugly duckling

So welcome yours, love it - and it will love you back.

[Paul Mc]

It does appear to have parentage of the one you want. I second it. If you like its color and form, then keep it! BTW, true species tend to be harder to keep alive outside of its preferred growing environment. While some have cross bred same species with
More tolerance, they are still particular. Hybrids such as this may be a better starting point as they are more forgiving.

[Paul Mc]

Just generally speaking though.

[The Mutant]

Maybe I should... I do love the colour of the flowers and it definitely has that equestris look I adore.

I have three species equestris (four if you count the dying aurea who was afflicted with stem rot) where I actually made the drastic decision to put the smallest one of them in sphagnum because I felt it was too small to stand in a bark mix (they're all seedlings, but this one is called Tiny Tim for a reason). So far its newest leaf has started to become more firm compared to earlier. On the even brighter side, I discovered during the re-potting that its roots had started growing since coming here.

In other words, I must do something right.

[Paul Mc]

Congrats!

[camille1585]

If you like it, get it! It may not be 100% equestris, but it certainly has a lot of that species in it.

Originally Posted by Paul Mc

It does appear to have parentage of the one you want. I second it. If you like its color and form, then keep it! BTW, true species tend to be harder to keep alive outside of its preferred growing environment. While some have cross bred same species with
More tolerance, they are still particular. Hybrids such as this may be a better starting point as they are more forgiving.

Generally true for most species, but equestris is an exception to the rule. It is an extremely forgiving and tolerant species, and I've found that they will bloom very well despite suboptimal conditions, and in standard hybrid Phal conditions I just got 4 spikes on one of them. My equestris plants are by far the best performers in my group of Phal species, and even in the entire Phal collection.
To me Phal equestris is actually an excellent beginner's plant.

[The Mutant]

That sounds great to me since I'm so very much in love with these little Phals.

I'm participating in an orchid auction where I'm bidding on a P. equestris 'Orange' and a P. equestris 'Blue Lip'. I really hope I win them...