Vanda coerulea?

[smweaver]

Here's a couple of pics I took this afternoon of a plant I recently acquired that is supposedly V. coerulea. Hopefully I didn't waste my money on a hybrid. Any opinions will be very much welcomed.

Steve

Vanda coerulea | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Vanda coerulea lip detail | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[katierkincaid]

Very pretty

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

It looks like it.

It also depends on where you got your plant from. As in, whether there is reason for you to believe in their questionable abilities to correctly identify plants. Or whether they sell a bunch of hybrids and could easily get them mixed up.

The petal arrangement and the hooks on the lip look very much like those of V. coerulea though.

[katierkincaid]

Hey Phil, What is the issue with the Vanda Hybrids? Do they not do well, hard to grow ?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Not all Vanda hybrids are difficult to grow.

The ones that are are generally plants that incorporate V. sanderiana, which is a warm grower and has a relatively narrower range of temperature tolerance.

Most Ascocendas don't have this problem, Ascocentrum are mostly intermediate growing, with some being cool growers as well. Ascocendas also tend to use the cooler growing Vandas in their heritage.

Mokaras are difficult for a similar reason to the Vanda hybrids with V. sanderiana. The orchids in this line tend to be warmer growing.

Then there's the whole growing bareroot in a basket thing with the humidity being low to moderate in most regions in the US.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I forgot...

Size factors in this too.

It's difficult for most people to accommodate a full grown Vanda hybrid, (that is generally large), in the average house or apartment.

[smweaver]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

It looks like it.

It also depends on where you got your plant from. As in, whether there is reason for you to believe in their questionable abilities to correctly identify plants. Or whether they sell a bunch of hybrids and could easily get them mixed up.

The petal arrangement and the hooks on the lip look very much like those of V. coerulea though.

Phil, the plant came from RF, and I have no reason to doubt them. But I know that there are a lot of plants labeled as V. coerulea which are, in actuality, hybrids that have V. coerulea as a parent (I'm especially suspicious of the near-perfect looking "line bred" plants that are claimed as this species). And while I've found numerous vendors who list the hybrids on their websites, there aren't many that carry the species. So when I saw this listed on RF's site I decided to take a chance and get one, hoping that it would end up truly being the species.

Steve

[Roy]

Steve, I don't have any problems in calling this a V. coerulea. Its one of the better 'line-bred' forms. A darn good one at that.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I think it's labeled correctly. I just checked out their website, and checked out the hybrids they carried. I was able to tell the difference fairly quickly even with those small thumbnails that can't be enlarged.

However - they may have other hybrids not posted online. But I think you've got the real deal.

[elitebettas]

There is no way to tell if it is definitively or not. It looks like it to me, especially because of the wide windows it has. As the flowers mature, do the petals reflex a bit?