Phalaenopsis Journal First Quarter Vol. 21(3) 2012 | Page 20

Phal. equestris var. cyanochilus
‘Martel’s Blue’ 2n (Phal. equestris var. cyanochilus ‘Martel’s Blue’ × ‘ABC’)
doing extensive research trying to understand this unique
color form. By 2001, my research had lead me to the con-
clusion that with a focused hybridizing program, I should
be able to not only successfully hybridize coerulea phals
but also be an industry leader in this direction. I started
documenting what I believed at the time would be the
right approach and began a multi-year quest to build the
most extensive collection of coerulea phals possible. Over
the course of those early years as my collection grew, so did
my planned hybridizing program. What started as a some-
what simplistic and frankly naive approach eventually
evolved into what is now a full research program focused
on trying to understand the pigments and inheritance of
the coerulea color form in Phalaenopsis.
Being in the computer gaming industry, I’ve always taken a very active role in online communities so I gravitated to
online orchid communities. I originally started with the
Orchid Talk group and later began spending a great deal of
time at Peter Lin’s Big Leaf Orchid Forum. It was there that
I met and forged relationships with the other Phalaenopsis
hybridizers that have had the most significant influence on
my own personal development in this area. During that
time Robert Bedard, David McDaniels, Dr. A.D. Stock
and I started collaborating on breeding projects and the
four of us became a sounding board for working through
some of the more difficult issues we were facing in our own
respective areas of focus. In 2007, Robert started the Hy-
bridizers Forum and a fantastic community of hybridizers
developed that created a platform for beginners to expe-
rienced growers to share and learn from each other. Un-
Phal. violacea ‘Sapphire’s Navy’
(P. violacea ‘Krull’s Navy Blue’ AM/AOS × ‘Crystelle’ HCC/AOS)
20
Phal. equestris var. cyanochilus 4n
Phal. Equalacea grex
Sapphire’s Indigo Equalacea ‘Anacapa Beryl’ AM/AOS
First Quarter, Vol. 21(3) 2012 - Phalaenopsis