P. tetraspis 'C1'
 

I got this P. tetraspis 'C1' from Ten Shin Gardens in 2012, and it has been growing rapidly and seems to be flowering every 2 months. It's supposed to be the mericlone of the original 'C1'. Some people consider that this clone is P. speiciosa.

It grows well with pretty minimum light. A 24W LED grow light (the actual energy consumption is <20W), covering 2x2' area, is the only light source, and this plant is at the edge of this area.

Here is the flower from Dec. 2012:
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2888/9...32bb1abbb4.jpg
Phalaenopsis tetraspis 'C1' normal flower with hairy lip

This is from Mar. 2013:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5498/9...04c900f174.jpg
Phalaenopsis tetraspis 'C1'

Some of you may have noticed the weird lip this time. There were 2 flowers on a same inflorescence with this morphology. The lateral lobe doesn't have yellow color, and the middle lobe doesn't have many trichomes (hair) at the tip. Also the color of the middle lobe is different with white stripes. Here is the magnified view (with lateral lobe removed):
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7306/9...ee9c7e5151.jpg
Phalaensopsis tetraspis 'C1', middle lobe of the lip

So this trait may be infleunced by the growing condition/environment or it is developmentally unstable. I thought this is interesting, but this happened only once so far.

You can also see 2 sets of callus. The front callus is on top of the black paper. I believe Eric Christenson's book (Amazon.com: Phalaenopsis: A Monograph (9781604691719): Eric Christenson: Books) mentions that P. speciosa has 2 sets and P. tetraspis has 3 sets of callus. So 'C1' is closer to P. speciosa. But I've heard that most of typical P. tetraspis (white flowers with or without small red bars) available for horticulture has only 2 sets.

In July 2013, the plant made flowers with more red, and some flowers were completely red. I'm wondering if heat causes expression of red. The lip was normal.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7321/9...8533af3386.jpg
Phalaenopsis tetraspis 'C1', red flower

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3727/9...82574a2e1f.jpg
Phalaenopsis tetraspis 'C1'

It's an interesting plant, even though the origin of this clone is not completely known. Some people think that it is a hybrid. So I made self-pollination.

That's a real beauty!

Bill

Fabulous!

That is so cool!

Yes, I noticed the lip difference too. The tetraspis c1 is one of my absolute favorites!! I LOVE yours! It's beautiful!! :love:

That will be really interesting to see what the offspring look like that result from this 'selfing'! I hope u will update when you get the flask back, and then in a few years when they flower! :biggrin: lol, I have wanted to do the same, but my C1 is still a seedling :( and, I can't find a C1 lately (that's w/in my price range), that's healthy, and from a grower/seller that I trust (like, not from eBay, lol). So I am very interested in what this 'selfing' will produce. (I am familiar with how well a 'selfing' can show whether a plant is a hybrid, or species)

Thanks all. Mary Linn, I think I have seen quite a few P. speciosa for sale if you are ok with something similar. Mine is supposed to be a MC of the original clone, but I can't be completely sure (some vendors erroneously use 'C1' to indicate this "type" of P. tetraspis/speciosa). But it's more fun to grow orchids from seedlings, and I'm sure yours will flower pretty "soon".

That's very pretty, I love it. I think I saw this on someones sight and was thinking some day I will have to have one. Can't say I remember the name but it was one that had random red and white like this one must have been this same one. Very different kind of blooms.

Wonderful!

Very nice C1, whatever it is in fact. ;) Lucky you.

Very keen observation. You have a gorgeous plant. This kind shows different shades depending on the temperature you grow it and of what season of the year. Someone posted some time ago and showed us also the different shades of red and white =sometimes all red flowers.

Wow, that's special!

I just received a Phal tetraspis Jaiho Red from Seattle orchids. I'm told its very similar to this one. I hope so, because yours is beautiful!

---------- Post added at 05:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:43 PM ----------

Do you have a pic of the whole plant?

I have seen the photo of 'Jiaho's Red', and it looks similar to mine. The lip of 'Jiaho's Red' looks a little redder than mine, but it could be due to the photo or culture condition. I hope yours will bloom soon. Are you happy with the plants from Seattle Orchids? They have some interesting species, but I've never ordered from them.

I'm attaching the photo of the whole plant. The 1st photo is about 1 month ago, and the 2nd photo is 13 mo ago when I got it imported. So it was already a big plant from the beginning with 1 old flowering stalk.

Mines pretty small, but I think it looks healthy. I was told it is 1 year to 18 months from blooming and it is in a 3 inch pot. I'm thinking of putting it in s/h.

It looks healthy, Joy! I noticed that the leaves of mine has much darker color than yours. Light intensity usually influences foliage color, and I put mine at very low light (but it is growing/flowering well). I've started to think that light spectrum also influences the color. With red/blue LED grow light, most of phals and paphs seem to become greener than those under the florescent light.