OrchidVault Blog and Articles

We are thrilled to announce that we have started a new Speciality Coffee and Artisan Tea store called Cup O' Paca Coffee and Teas. Visit for high quality coffee and teas delivered straight to your door. https://cupopaca.com/

I'm really excited to introduce my new tetraploid cross P. SDO Indigo Dragon. This cross will be an important foundation cross moving into more tetraploid large flowered coerulea hybrids.

P. SDO Indigo Dragon
(P. Louise Burns X P. Princess Kaiulani)

This cross is the result of 3 generations of breeding plus a lot of work doing colchicine conversions with the parents.  It is primary a cross with lots of P. violacea and then a little bit of P. amboinensis and P. equestris.  These plants will get rather large and should carry 4 to 6 flowers on each inflorescence.  

KNOWN WEBSITE ISSUES....  (updated 4/02/23) Please check this post for the list of known issues with the new website.

The site is brand new and we are still working on some issues and adding new functionality.  We know a couple areas are not working correctly, so please check this list before you report issues to us.  If you find anything that is not on this list, please send us note.

Updated: March 27, 2023

"The Coerulea Color Form in Phalaenopsis" I have put together an article about the coerulea color form with a proposed updated definition and information on what the color form really is:

Read the Article Here: The Coerulea Color Form in Phalaenopsis

Coerulea pulcherrima's at SDO...

We have been really lucky over the years to be able to pull together a first class collection of different coerulea pulcherrimas.  Our breeding program has combined some of the best lines from around the world. We are really excited to be able to start offering very select divisions and some great new hybrids.  Check out our store for our new offerings. 

What is the coerulea color form in Phalaenopsis?  I see a lot of comments these days about what is a coerulea and what is not a coerulea, and using being loosely determined by what other pigments are and are not being expressed. Ultimately I think we are looking at this incorrectly and we need to redefine what a coerulea form is.

In the genus Phalaenopsis, there are no blue pigments.  There are a range of green, yellow, orange, magenta and violet pigments.   It's the combination of these pigments that gives us the full range of colors that we see in Phalaenopsis.   While coeruleas are sometimes referred to as "blue" Phalaenopsis, in reality they are a violet in color.  But what actually makes them this violet color?

(Princess Kaiulani var indigo X Gelblieber var flava)

Exciting new cross going into the lab.   This is a first attempt at making an indigo coerulea form of Yungho Gelb Canary.    The Gelblieber that we used was made with the same amboinensis that also produced the coerulea Princess Kaiulani's.  So we have every reason to believe that this cross will bloom out coerulea.