Color differences
Understand that I am way beyond my area of "expertise" but I can tell you from experience that color definitely is influenced by the heat. We have a Slc Golden Fleece hybrid that blooms twice a year. It has just opened and the petals and sepals are primarily a peachy/orange color. When it blooms in the fall/winter it is almost a pale lavender.
As to the striking variation in colors and bloom size, it may be that the plants are seed grown instead of mericlones and you are getting genetic differences. We were at Akatsuka's Orchids in Hawaii a couple years ago and they had a tray with 7 Phals in it. One's blooms were twice the size of the others and I asked the owner if they were all the same plant. He assured me they were and his explanation was that they were seed grown and the one plant got the "big bloom" gene. That's the one we bought and this year the blooms were 5 inches wide. Hope this helps.
Sandra in South Carolina
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