I think it may be the Dtps. Queen Beer 'Red Sky'. What a weird name.

That is as good a guess as any, Ken. There are just too many Phal. hybrids to nail it down.

Jim

The lady that I traded the plant for told me she thought it came from CH Orchids and I contacted them and sent pictures. That's where the name came from. They had to do some research since they don't have that Dtps. any longer but told me they once had that plant in stock several years before. I thought it was very nice of them to respond to my question. Many companies would not have given me the time-of-day!

Ursula:
Thanks for the advice. I haven't put any plants out yet because we are still having some nights that drop down to the 40's. Do you put your plants out facing south? I never dared to, I was afraid they would get sunburned.

Lorli, yes I do.
If you look into the thread "My growing area" you will see that there is a tree to the left and another tree inside the right side of the cage. All plants inside the cage get some degree of straight sun at one point during the course of the day.
The door faces South, back corner is West, just for orientation. Sun loving plants are in the middle of the cage where they are in full sun pretty much all day, except for the grid of the cage. Schoms are part of the middle population, along with Vandas. Cattleyas, Dendrobiums are also fully exposed several hours during the day.
If it is a Schom, it will certainly take a titch of 40 degr F, I don't think the possible Dendrobium in question will hick -up a lot either, since day time temperatures are now getting warmer.
But, my plants spend the Winter in a glass greenhouse with a glass ceiling, so I can go straight outside in the Spring without worrying about burning them. If I didn't, I would probably try to hang them into a tree going outside or similar and then in a couple weeks moving them slowly to more sun.

The plant is outside now and should be getting some sun. One thing I did noticed this morning when I was watering was a sort of line around the middle of the pseudobulb. At first I thought it was broken, but when I looked closer saw that It is some sort of dividing structure. It looks like a black thread tied around the pseudobulb, looks like a tight thin belt. I did not notice that on the photos before but when I look now, I can see them. It is only on some of the pseudobulbs.

Is that something that would occur on all of the species or could it help to narrow down the list of of possible identities?

Any news on this? Just curious….

Thank you for asking! It is indoors now and hanging in my sunniest window. It has 2 healthy looking new growths but no evidence of flowers ... I will keep an eye on it! It will probably not like all the attention! But I like the way it looks even without flowers!

I wish this was an update showing pictures of flowers, but something looked a little different on it.
First, here is how it looks (overall) after a summer outside:



Then, a close up:


Those yellowish bumps at the place where the leaves come out of the pseudobulb, on the 2 growths furthest to the right side in the photo. Are they bugs or diseases? Or new leaves starting out? I never noticed them before today.

Thanks,
Lore Lisa

I don't know Lore. Dip a Q-tip in alcohol, and gently scrub that yellow "bump". It could be inflorescent stems starting or even a new leaf I guess. I guess I have so many plants I just don't check them as closely as many folks do.

The plant looks really healthy, but the leaves are kinda dark...maybe it needs stronger light or longer exposure in order to bloom?

Please, please, no Q-tip with alcohol!!! My Dendrobium farmeri blooms from those bumps!!!

http://forum.theorchidsource.c...
And
http://garden.org/thread/view_...

Now Lore's plant doesn't seem to have those square pseudo bulbs! But, I would think now that Melissa was correct with saying Dendrobium!

Ursula, by George I think you've got it! Except for the square shape, as you say, but your plants and mine both have that "too-tight belt" around the pseudobulbs! I am so excited to see what species of Dendrobium it turns out to be, and found several other yellowish bumps on pseudobulbs on the other side of the plant!

Now to keep from killing it with kindness (overwatering, mainly). When I think that it has been hanging in the window for more than 7 years! I'm awfully glad I asked in this forum: it wouldn't have occurred to me to put it, or anything other than Cymbidiums, in full sun.

Kate, can you believe that it is hanging in a south facing window, no curtains, no trees or shrubs outside (luckily, no neighbors). I am thinking of getting some type of artificial light because that is as much natural light as I can get, we have not seen bright sunlight for weeks now, or at least that's how It seems.

Wow! I may be wrong! I am an amateur. I have just heard many times that an orchid may fail to bloom without adequate light. I'm guessing that's because if it can't photosynthesize enough to sustain a bloom, it doesn't bother. I've also heard that they won't bloom if there isn't enough of a temperature difference between night and day. I'm guessing their blooming requirements are directly related to their pollinator's seasonal behavior, too....so very, very mysterious!

You are absolutely right, Kate, at least from what I have read and from my personal experiences over the last forty plus years. Blooming (and growing well) is a complex equation of light, water, fertilizer, temperature (and that may require several weeks of coolness), light intensity, light duration, and probably a host of other factors. That's what makes growing orchids both challenging at times and rewarding.

Those tight "belts" around the pseudobulb are pushing my guess more toward a Dendrobium.

Jim

LoreLisa, regarding more light, don't forget we are at the shortest day of the year this weekend. You will be getting more and more natural light as the days get longer now. In fact, it's possible that by March you'd need a sheer curtain or some sort of mesh to temper the bright sunlight. Once it's warm enough to take that orchid outside, May-ish ?? it might want only morning and late afternoon sun.

It may be that the plant will respond to the lengthening days from now into spring by putting up a bloom spike. Adding artificial light might push the window a little bit or it might stress the plant. I'd go with the natural light for now and see what happens. Or just turn on the artificial lights on cloudy days, but keep the same day/night schedule.

Mine definitely respond to day length as well as day/night temp changes by spiking, especially the Phals. They are pouting right now because our days have not been getting awfully warm lately. The Gulf cooled down pretty early this year due to 3 cold fronts with rain and cloudy days in November that we rarely see.

I can't remember the las time we had more than 2 hours of sunshine.

Bright and sunny here, Lore, but chilly. The outside temperature is around 40 F and the greenhouses are 70 F. They warm up quickly when the sun is out. I expect them both to get around 80 F but each will have two fans running, so the greenhouses are very comfortable, both for me and my plants.