Maybe I am just an uneducated bumpkin but why do there seem to
be so darned many white Phals out there? What are Phal
breeders hoping to achieve? Is it simply lip colour or are
they going for bigger and bigger flowers or more per stem or
what have you?

I don't mean to sound like I don't *like* white Phals (I have
two) but I am curious as to what people are trying to achieve
with them such that there seem to be so many that are just
barely different.


- Sandy

Sandy,

Huge size and overlap of the sepals and petals... plus high bloom count out
the ying-yang and multi-spiking... and twice yearly blooming, of course.
If you have this white Phalaenopsis hybrid then you have reached the epitome
of white Phal ownership.

Mick

Mick,
Don't forget about the need to acquire all of these wonderful attributes
on a first bloom seedling in about 18 months out of flask! -- Mark
"Mick Fournier" wrote in message
. ..
Sandy,

Huge size and overlap of the sepals and petals... plus high bloom count
out
the ying-yang and multi-spiking... and twice yearly blooming, of course.
If you have this white Phalaenopsis hybrid then you have reached the
epitome
of white Phal ownership.

Mick

Sandy,

Huge size and overlap of the sepals and petals... plus high bloom count out
the ying-yang and multi-spiking... and twice yearly blooming, of course.
If you have this white Phalaenopsis hybrid then you have reached the epitome
of white Phal ownership.

Mick

I would also add there is still continued effort to get better substance and
eliminate the mid-ribbing on the blooms.

The substance factor is also very important since white phals are a mainstay of
the corsage and pot plant market. Better substance means longer lasting flowers
and more importantly- blooms that ship far more durably.

The pot plant market is yet one more reason why whites are so common. The white
and pink Phalaenopsis still strongly drive that supply- and the pot plant
market dwarfs any serious breeding program you care to name.

Many breeders on the cutting edge have largely left white Phals however.
Carmela does very little hybridizing with these anymore- at least compared to
10 years ago when all the Hakalau crosses set a new standard. They, like Zuma
Canyon and others, are more focused on reds and yellows these days- with some
further attention still on whites with spots.

Tom.

This is an interesting question , i'm selling phals to flower shops ,
and most of them are asking for white phals they need biiiiiiig flowers,
insane numbers of flowers on the stem and cheap price.
At this moment i'm trying to introduce new hybrids into their display (
like Everspring for example ) but the response is low when it comes to
spoted flowers.
The feedback i have from flowershop is the following :

- most peoples buy plants as a gift , and need something that "show off"
with long spray of big flowers ( "wow this must be expensive" effect )
- they buy white because, if gift, you can't go wrong with that color
since they don't know where the person that does receive the plant will
put it ( white matches a lot interieurs )
- peoples will not buy something that is too complicated , they assume
that a complicate flower design might need a complicate care program.
- untill today growers ( industrial ) focus on pink and white plants
because of the demand
- single color plants are more easy to sell when it comes to packing and
selling a lot ( more easy to grab 12 white / 12 pink than 12 similar
looking spoted plants to sell in cartons of 12 where all the plants have
to be less or more identical )
- big advantage of phals is the lenght of the flowers, even the worst
gardener will keep the plants blooming for at least one month ( while ,
for example with Cattleyas , 2 weeks seems to be an average, and don't
expect non orchid amateurs to buy plants at 30 $ that will only bloom
for 2 weeks )

It would be interesting to have feedback from other sellers , how they
try to introduce new plants in the market ( at this moment i'm trying to
introduce local European orchids as garden plants ... )

O.

Bacchae wrote:
Maybe I am just an uneducated bumpkin but why do there seem to
be so darned many white Phals out there? What are Phal
breeders hoping to achieve? Is it simply lip colour or are
they going for bigger and bigger flowers or more per stem or
what have you?

I don't mean to sound like I don't *like* white Phals (I have
two) but I am curious as to what people are trying to achieve
with them such that there seem to be so many that are just
barely different.


- Sandy

Sandy,

I'm with you on this one. White Phals are BORING!

I believe they are in demand because of interior decorators. If you open
any Home Beautiful, Southern Living, Better Homes and Gardens, etc magazine
you will see the required white phal in the decorating scheme.

If it's not a white phal then you'll probably see a yellow oncidium or a
dendrobium in a fancy pot.

Another demand for whites is the wedding industry. A nosegay of white phals
and dendrobiums would make even the ugliest bride look good (I probably
should say that in public). Someone once told me that a bride once came to
him and wanted white phal blossoms floating in a fountain at her reception.
I think he cut the flowers from about 100 plants to get her dream.

One year I was at the Little Greenhouse in Baltimore just before
Thanksgiving. I was warned to be careful around the white phals because
they are in demand for the Jewish holiday season. I asked some Jewish
friends why this was so and they never heard of such a thing. I suspect
that if you are decorating a table in the Blue and White colors of the
season the white phals fit in well.

As I'm sitting here writing this I happened to look up at the TV and noticed
that I have a big white Phal on the end table. Ok .... it's not that boring
and looks nice there.


Good Growing,
Gene

As I'm sitting here writing this I happened to look up at the TV and noticed
that I have a big white Phal on the end table. Ok .... it's not that boring
and looks nice there.


Good Growing,
Gene


Gene -
You missed the ones "ON" TV when you were listing the places
giving White Phals the push. Watch the next time one of the high
end furniture manufacturers advertises. The sideboard, the
dining table or the hall table - guarantee a white phal will show
up.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

O³ wrote in :

This is an interesting question , i'm selling phals to flower shops ,
and most of them are asking for white phals they need biiiiiiig flowers,
insane numbers of flowers on the stem and cheap price.
At this moment i'm trying to introduce new hybrids into their display (
like Everspring for example ) but the response is low when it comes to
spoted flowers.
The feedback i have from flowershop is the following :

- most peoples buy plants as a gift , and need something that "show off"
with long spray of big flowers ( "wow this must be expensive" effect )
- they buy white because, if gift, you can't go wrong with that color
since they don't know where the person that does receive the plant will
put it ( white matches a lot interieurs )
- peoples will not buy something that is too complicated , they assume
that a complicate flower design might need a complicate care program.
- untill today growers ( industrial ) focus on pink and white plants
because of the demand
- single color plants are more easy to sell when it comes to packing and
selling a lot ( more easy to grab 12 white / 12 pink than 12 similar
looking spoted plants to sell in cartons of 12 where all the plants have
to be less or more identical )
- big advantage of phals is the lenght of the flowers, even the worst
gardener will keep the plants blooming for at least one month ( while ,
for example with Cattleyas , 2 weeks seems to be an average, and don't
expect non orchid amateurs to buy plants at 30 $ that will only bloom
for 2 weeks )

It would be interesting to have feedback from other sellers , how they
try to introduce new plants in the market ( at this moment i'm trying to
introduce local European orchids as garden plants ... )

O.

Bacchae wrote:
Maybe I am just an uneducated bumpkin but why do there seem to
be so darned many white Phals out there? What are Phal
breeders hoping to achieve? Is it simply lip colour or are
they going for bigger and bigger flowers or more per stem or
what have you?

I don't mean to sound like I don't *like* white Phals (I have
two) but I am curious as to what people are trying to achieve
with them such that there seem to be so many that are just
barely different.


- Sandy




Thanks O
That explaines why the bloomed out orchids my friends find in their at work
trash are always white ones. They give them to me because they know I grow
orchids. Most are not to healthy by then.
The good thing is when I get them to rebloom I pass them on to some of my
other friends who are interested in trying their hand at growing orchids.
Just passing the obsession on.
Dusty