Orchid is turning pink!

[Mantis Man13]

My male continues to grow pinker while my female orchid keeps getting whiter. How is it possible for them to change color when they are not molting?

 

[birdiefu]

Congrats on the pink! How long since the last molt? I have noticed some color changes in my S. viridis about a week out from a molt (from tan to green), which seemed to intensify for a few more days.

 

[Mantis Man13]

I know was really hoping one of them would get pink! .They look so much more exotic that way! Glad I have one that is white and one that is pink to see the difference later on. Also, my female has developed a green ring around the thorax and my male a brown ring.They both molted to L3 2 and a half weeks ago and started showing all these color changes a few days ago and are intensifying. My male keeps getting pinker and my female is now almost completely white! How long do you think it will take for them to molt again?

 

[sppc9876]

In my experience, bright light and higher humidity has caused my orchids to fluctuate in color, even between molts. It seems I can alter my female's "pink" intensity by adjusting these two factors. Regardless of how pink a male becomes, when he turns into an adult, they seem to turn to a universal appearance of mostly brown and white. Females can hold more color, but play around with those parameters if you'd like to intensify their colors. 2.5 weeks seems about the time due for the next molt, provided you fed more and kept temperature up.

Female before:



Female after molt:



A few more days after molt:



Male before:



Male after molt: