Vandachostylis Azure 'Fair Orchids'

[Fairorchids]

This is a cross between Rhy. gigantea & V. coeruleas.
I bought this plant back in 2018 as an unbloomed seedling. It since bloomed with 2 inflorescences each year from 2019 thru 2021.

This year it has 5 inflorescences, so the plan was to take it to judging on Saturday.

And then they canceled judging due to the uptick in Covid-19 (Omicron).

[Ray]

Nice growing, Kim!

Of course the judging was canceled...

[smweaver]

That's a great-looking plant. I like the blooms also, but it's always good to see a well-grown vandaceous plant that still retains its older sets of leaves.

Are the blooms fragrant--and did this hybrid inherit any of V. coerulea's tolerance/preference for cooler temperatures?

[Fairorchids]

Originally Posted by smweaver

That's a great-looking plant. I like the blooms also, but it's always good to see a well-grown vandaceous plant that still retains its older sets of leaves.

Are the blooms fragrant--and did this hybrid inherit any of V. coerulea's tolerance/preference for cooler temperatures?

Only very light fragrance. I find that Rhy. gigantea does quite well under intermediate to intermediate/cool conditions, so this plant does very well in GH with thermostat set at 55F (and it occasionally gets a little cooler than that).

[smweaver]

That's good to know about the cold tolerance, especially of Rhynchostylis gigantea itself. I've always avoided that species because I thought that it couldn't take much cooler temperatures than the mid 60's at night. Maybe one more to add to the ever-growing list of species to try. Thank you for the reply!

Steve