New phaleonopsis orchids

I ordered a couple of plants on eBay and revived them Saturday. They are small phaleonopsis orchids. But they are blooming size. The smaller of the two did come with a flower, but it was dried and fell off after a couple of days. Since they should rebloom on the same spike, hopefully another bud and flower will form soon.
I'm very interested in species phals and fragrant orchids. Can't wait for them to bloom.

Phal bellina 'TH'  (Right)
Phal (bellina var. coerulea 'Bessing' x violacea 'USA Blue')  (Left)

Repotted the orchids on September 3rd.

I used decorative orchid pots.  This is the first time using one of those glazed pots with holes on the side. Once it matures and roots grow through, it'll be stuck forever right?  No repotting I guess unless you want to rip all the roots off. Not sure how I feel about that. I guess we'll see.

The other pot is a very small glazed pot. There are no holes on the sides but there is one large drainage hole.

Both orchids were potted with a lot of styrofoam peanuts for drainage along with bark and charcoal. The larger pot also has perlite.

Phalaenopsis Princess Kaiulani 'Chin Yo'

Princess Kaiulani is a cross between amboinensis and violacea. The colors on the flowers are unreal. They're almost neon. I do like natural colors but the pictures of these flowers on the web are amazing. I haven't seen this orchid available in online nurseries so once I spotted it on eBay I jumped on it. I was nervous about buying an orchid on eBay, but the sellers ratings were good. I purchased it over the weekend. It was shipped Monday and I got it today. 
It was potted in sphagnum moss and I repotted it in bark and included a lot of styrofoam peanuts that came with the shipment. The pot is kinda of large for the orchid so I wanted to make sure drainage was excellent. 
It is supposed to be blooming size. There is no spike. I really want a flower! What are the chances I can get one this year? They are supposed to be summer blooming. I am also not sure if I should keep it outside. It will probably grow better with natural light but the it will be exposed to the elements. Inside it'll just get light from a window but be protected from pests. I have brought a bunch of other orchids outdoors. They are doing ok so I might give it a try outside. Wish me luck!

Mini haul

More plants. 😀
I stopped by Home Depot on Wednesday 5/17 to look for some garden plants. We've had 90 plus degree weather for a couple of days so the plants looked a little crispy. So I was a little disappointed and went to look around the indoor houseplant section. And look what I found!!

It's a fragrant mini phaleonopsis. I was so excited when I caught the scent.  It's difficult to describe but it reminds be of a floral scented soap. It wasn't labeled but I'm pretty sure it's Phal. Jiaho’s Pink Girl.  It is a cross between Phal. Schilleriana and Phal. Zuma’s Pixie.  It looks like it has picked up more traits from the Shilleriana parent. I love the spotting on the flowers and the dark mottled leaves.  It also has branching flower spikes. Such a tiny plant with so many flowers.

There is one flower that's missing a lip. Strange. I wonder if it is a genetic thing. Hopefully I'll get it to rebloomed. I have a lot more luck with large phaleonopsis. I feel like the smaller ones are easier to overwater. Not sure why, maybe it's because it's in such a small container it seems like it would dry out too fast, but it really doesn't.

 Another strange thing is I didn't smell the scent the next day. Maybe it's the change in environment. Some require sunlight to become fragrant. I did move it into more sun and it did help, but it's still a lot more mild than it was before.  I'm really glad I found this one.

 Echeveria setosa var. minor

The hairy leaves were just so cute. It kind of looks prickly, but they are not spines. I don't have any fuzzy echeveria yet, and now I do.

Another big lip phaleonopsis

I bought another phal at Trader Joe's yesterday. They had several big lip ones including this unique dark purple one which looked like it was tiedyed. But it has a shorter smaller flower spike so I went with the tall one.  It is missing a couple of buds but it looks like there are a lot more buds to come.  Seems like the big lips are becoming more available. But I have only seen them at Trader Joe's for sale.

Like the majority of plants around here there is no ID. But after googling photos, it looks like Phalaenopsis Yu Pin Fireworks (Sogo Dove x World Class). Based on the name it looks like the same orchid breeders as the last one I purchased. They actually look the same where one is subtle and this one has dark intense lines. They also both have branching spikes.

Rescue-able phal?

Can this phal be saved? I received this plant from someone who regularly throws away the orchids after they have bloomed. I didn't get a chance to take a picture before I cleaned it up. There were three other dried flower spikes I ripped off. There was a single remaining green one. And since the stem was rotted, all the leaves fell off. The leaves themselves didn't look bad but were connected to a mushy center. I'm hoping that I can get a basal keiki off the base of the spike because there is basically zero stem left.

The roots look ok. The majority are firm and I only cut off a small amount.

Update 01/28/2017:

Definitely very dead. There is black rot in the bast of the stem. 

Below shows my successful rescue although it doesn't look like it. I think this is the only orchid I've ever had which had crown rot. But it ended up growing a basal keiki. The basal turned into a full grown plant. So I've ripped it off and potted it leaving the original stem and roots. And you see that tiny green nubbin in between the roots? Another keiki.

Here is another angle. The keiki is on the right side.

After a couple of months there are a couple of small leaves. 

And here is the grown keiki that is in a four inch pot. It still needs to develop a stronger root system but the plant is just as big as all my other mature phals. 

Blooming phaleonopsis

I have a NOID phaleonopsis that bloomed today. It is from a branching of a previously bloomed spike. This is probably my oldest orchid, about 7 years maybe?  It hasn't really gotten any bigger as it looses leaves at the same rate they grow. I have that problem with all my orchids. How do I get it to grow more leaves? It seems like I only get 1 per year.

Another new orchid: Looks like a Phal. Dtps. Sogo Yenlin "Coffee" ?

I have purchased more new plants in the last couple of months than I have in several years combined. I really need to stop. I don't really have room to put them. Good thing this is new acquisition is a mini phaleonopsis. I put it back on the shelf a couple of times but eventually gave in. I purchased this one for the leaves rather than the flowers. Variegated leaves! It didn't come with a tag. Please comment if you know the ID of the plant.

Phal. Yu Pin Fireworks X Dtps. Yu Pin Ocicat

I saw this orchid yesterday and I just had to get it. I've only seen one big lip orchid in person at the MOS orchid show.  They should be fairly new in the market, and I have read that the big lip is due to a mutation. The flower was a simple subtle orchid sitting in a bunch of flashier colored orchids which looked amazing, but I selected this one due to the shape and size of the lip. Also notice the branching in the flower spike. My other complex Phal. hybrids which are noids flower on a single straight spike.   Enjoy!