Ascocenda Princess Mikasa 'Indigo'

This orchid is a cross between Vanda coerulea and Ascocenda Royal Sapphire.  The pictures below are from two plants that I bought a year go as seedlings.  They are still only about 7 inches tall.  Based upon this early first bloom, these plants promise to be very floriferous.  The color is a brillant, electric blue.  Since these blooms are the first for these plants, the flower spikes are SHORT, and they do not have very many flowers.  However, as these plants get larger, they promise to have many more blooms and longer flower spikes.

This orchid seems to enjoy the South Florida environment.  It seems to be tolerant of a fairly wide range of temperatures.  It is generally recommended that this orchid grow in cool to intermediate temperatures.  This would mean that night temperatures should be between 50 and 60 F.  South Florida may get some of these kind of nights during the winter but most of the time the night time temperatures are going to be much warmer.  These plants went through the hottest part of the summer without any problem.  Some recommend that these plants receive full sun.  However, here in South Florida, I have been giving them only about 50% of full sun, and they seem to be doing fine.

In addition to having a brillant color and being an early bloomer, the flowers are very well shaped.  They are very flat with no gaps between the petals and sepals.  If you live in South Florida, I would highly recommend getting one of these orchids for the color alone. 

They are BEAUTIFUL.