Bloom event - Phalaenopsis Diamond King and a No ID

I'm really getting my money's worth out of my Phalaenopsis this year, although I suspect my audience might be getting rather bored of them. I'm hoping I grow enough interesting ones to keep everyone interested. In the meantime, here I present a couple of fairly generic ones that are in bloom for me. They might be uninspiring to a lot of orchid growers, but I have a certain respect for them. The first for today is another one of those British grown ones called Diamond King. You'd expect a beautiful crisp white with a name like that, wouldn't you? Wrong !

I like the markings on the lower sepals. I guess there is some Phalaenopsis stuartiana buried in there somewhere. This hybrid is a robust grower and always flowers well.

I think its fair to say this one will need repotting once it has done blooming as there are a lot of roots outside the pot now. This isn't a problem in itself, but the potting medium will need changing as this is one of the last ones from that batch that I haven't done yet.

There isn't a lot more to say about this one, really, that I haven't said elsewhere about one of the others. Pretty though, isn't it? Second on the list today is a no ID that I bought in IKEA a few years ago.

This is a strong grower and a good bloomer (aren't they all?). The flowers are a decent size, bigger than Diamond King pictured above, and a quite unique salmon colour that isn't seen around often. There is never a huge amount of buds on the spike, but enough to put on a show. This particular plant actually got crown rot not long after I got it. This is the only plant I have ever had that happen with. You might ask how come I still have the plant. Well it turns out that provided the rot doesn't spread down the stem of the plant, there is a good chance the plant will just produce a side growth and continue to grow. Make sure the crown is dry, and sprinkle some cinnamon in it to help keep further diseases out. This plant sat there for several months not doing anything at all but eventually a keiki developed from the base of the stem and has now grown to the size of the original plant.

All the original leaves from the mother plant have now fallen but you can still just about make out where the original crown rotted and a side growth took over. You can also clearly see that the plant has bloomed at least four times before this stem emerged. Once again, I will need to repot this before long as the original growing medium is surely breaking down by now.