Phalaenopsis equestris - pale green leaves

[naoki]

Nastia, I also got P. equestris from Oak Hill around the same time. Mine is (unfortunately) var rose x var. aurea. This wasn't described in their web page, and I don't like hybrids or inter-variety crosses. Oh well... That's great yours is already spiking!

Mine has the similar color of leaves to yours, which is quite different from another specimen I have. It is not as pale as P. hieroglyphitica or P. pallens. P. equestris appear to have some variation in leaf morphologies: short vs long leaves, and difference in green color. The following page is not translated to English yet, but check the photos about half way down:
Equestris
This site is wonderful for pure species lovers who admire natural variation than people who like to "improve" species or create "beautiful/weird" hybrids.

Camille, according to the same site, P. pallens prefers higher light and temp. than most Phal species (there is English version of this info there). It could have been Mg def., but the recent growth could also be partly due to higher light of summer time, couldn't it?

[JaneEyre]

Originally Posted by naoki

Nastia, I also got P. equestris from Oak Hill around the same time. Mine is (unfortunately) var rose x var. aurea. This wasn't described in their web page, and I don't like hybrids or inter-variety crosses. Oh well... That's great yours is already spiking!

Mine has the similar color of leaves to yours, which is quite different from another specimen I have. It is not as pale as P. hieroglyphitica or P. pallens. P. equestris appear to have some variation in leaf morphologies: short vs long leaves, and difference in green color. The following page is not translated to English yet, but check the photos about half way down:
Equestris
This site is wonderful for pure species lovers who admire natural variation than people who like to "improve" species or create "beautiful/weird" hybrids.

Hi Naoki,
Sorry to hear you got something other than what you expected from Oak Hill Gardens. Mine has a generic "Phal equestris" tag without varietal info. However, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that I got the same plant as you since you are describing similar plant. We should definitely compare flowers together when they bloom.
Thanks for the link. It is an interesting comparison of different types of equestris.

[naoki]

Originally Posted by JaneEyre

Hi Naoki,
Sorry to hear you got something other than what you expected from Oak Hill Gardens. Mine has a generic "Phal equestris" tag without varietal info. However, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that I got the same plant as you since you are describing similar plant. We should definitely compare flowers together when they bloom.
Thanks for the link. It is an interesting comparison of different types of equestris.

It was just one small surprise out of many plants I got, and I'm really happy with healthy plants (and great price) from Oak Hill. They are great. Yes, mine probably needs quite a bit more time to bloom, but I'll be looking forward to seeing yours.

Camille, when I was in Lyon 2 years ago, it was hell hot. Well, I guess that it was more of cultural differences; warmer soda, no ice in water at the restaurants, higher temp set for the AC (or no AC) etc. But I guess people in the US waste more energy, and we are wimpier. But I enjoyed great food there!

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by naoki

Camille, when I was in Lyon 2 years ago, it was hell hot. Well, I guess that it was more of cultural differences; warmer soda, no ice in water at the restaurants, higher temp set for the AC (or no AC) etc. But I guess people in the US waste more energy, and we are wimpier. But I enjoyed great food there!

Indeed, that's the normal summer weather. Hardly any one has AC in their homes unlike in the US, and though we are used to it, oh how we suffer! On very hot days it would still be 100F in our apartment at midnight, and opening windows would do nothing, not a breeze to be felt. And we don't even use fans. We don't have 'cooling centers' like they're been during during the recent heat wave in the US. We suck it up. And you're right, no ice. You can't even buy bags of in the supermarket like you can in the US.

I'm mostly living in the Netherlands now, and there is no summer this year, again (and it's only marginally better in france). We get a week of 'summer' per month it seems and the rest is rain or clouds! That's why I'm convinced that my Phal pallens responded to the Epsom salts, and not the light. I think that if it had been light it would have responded much sooner, as all the other Phals started their growth in early June, which was a bit sunnier. I watered twice with Epsom salts in the space of a week, within 10 days of second watering the leaves lost their yellowness and the crazy growing started.

[naoki]

Originally Posted by JaneEyre

Hi Naoki,
Sorry to hear you got something other than what you expected from Oak Hill Gardens. Mine has a generic "Phal equestris" tag without varietal info. However, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that I got the same plant as you since you are describing similar plant. We should definitely compare flowers together when they bloom.
Thanks for the link. It is an interesting comparison of different types of equestris.

Hi Nastia, is yours doing well? I just posted the photo of mine here: Peloric Phalaenopsis equestris

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by naoki

Camille, according to the same site, P. pallens prefers higher light and temp. than most Phal species (there is English version of this info there). It could have been Mg def., but the recent growth could also be partly due to higher light of summer time, couldn't it?

No, I don't think it's that. Summer? What summer? It's been nasty chilly rainy weather most of the time.

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by camille1585

My semi alba is also a light green. But not yellowy green. That reminds me, I watered my green-yellow Phal pallens twice with epsom salts, and the result is amazing. The leaves are now a nice light green AND the plant suddenly started growing roots and a leaf, both of which it had not done at all since getting it a year ago. So I conclude that it must have had an Mg deficiency...

Interesting, I understand the difference now. Mine is a pale green but not yellow green.

[JaneEyre]

Update:

Well it's official, my equestris is not an alba.



It looks as plain to me as all other equestris' I see on pictures. Although, I do like its coloring.

One discovery I made is that this one is extremely sensitive to light. It was sitting next to my other phals (couple of them just seedlings) and equestris' leaves started to get paler. Other phals were just fine. None of those get direct sunlight and are about 3-4 ft away from an eastern window. At first I didn't even think it was the light but the next day I saw a darker green line on one of the leaves where a stake was casting a shadow. I moved the equestris further away and it is no longer getting paler. At this point I don't know if the leaves are that color from light overdose or nutrition deficiency or something else. Hopefully it will make a new leaf that is normal.

[The Mutant]

Originally Posted by JaneEyre

Update:

Well it's official, my equestris is not an alba.

Attachment 71912

It looks as plain to me as all other equestris' I see on pictures. Although, I do like its coloring.

One discovery I made is that this one is extremely sensitive to light. It was sitting next to my other phals (couple of them just seedlings) and equestris' leaves started to get paler. Other phals were just fine. None of those get direct sunlight and are about 3-4 ft away from an eastern window. At first I didn't even think it was the light but the next day I saw a darker green line on one of the leaves where a stake was casting a shadow. I moved the equestris further away and it is no longer getting paler. At this point I don't know if the leaves are that color from light overdose or nutrition deficiency or something else. Hopefully it will make a new leaf that is normal.

I like it and it doesn't look like your generic equestris as they do look like here in Sweden at least, they look more like this;


I've also noted that some varieties of equestris seem to be more sensitive to light than others. I've had to move some of mine to my "darker" room since they started getting a bit too much of a red tint on their leaves. The ones that doesn't seem to care at all are my generic equestris, Blue Lips, rosea, and the aureas, while my equestris 'Orange' had to move pretty quick, followed by 'Apari' pink, and then later, 'Apari' and coerulea. I think it's really interesting that the coerulea is more sensitive to light than the Blue Lips since they're almost the same colour...

[K.C.]

I think it could just be getting more sun than it needs.