Phalaenopsis Kingfisher’s Kaiulani King

Hybrid Name: Phalaenopsis Kingfisher’s Kaiulani King
(P. Sogo Kaiulani ‘Joy’ X P. LD’s Bear King ‘RK1’ HCC/AOS)

Care Group: See Phalaenopsis Orchid Caresheet
Backstory: See Deflasking Phalaenopsis Seedlings: How to / First Time
Images of other Phalaenopsis Kingfisher’s Kaiulani King specimens

Culture & Care

I picked these guys up as a compot (community pot—a small pot of 6 seedling-sized plants) from Kingfisher Orchids in early September 2017. They have grown steadily under my care, with all of the seedlings starting to put out a new leaf within the first month. I grow them in a South-facing window that has a plastic shade over the window to reduce the intensity. They’re grown in about a 30% sphagnum moss mix and they get watered once a week as the medium approaches dryness. I have a small fan running over them to help encourage air movement, especially during the winter months which could result in cooler nights (and I don’t want the plant staying wet and cold for long).

I’m expecting (or rather I’m hoping for) dark red Princess Kaiulani-like flowers. I was expecting patterning or banding (likely based one the higher percentage of amboinensis) but the first of the six seedlings bloomed out solid red. Both parents are solid red, but I expect that the back-crossing of the hybrids will result in patterning in some of the siblings…assuming that pattern displays as a recessive gene of the parent orchids? Regarding this—I have no clue about orchid genetics, this guess is purely for my own interest.