Paph. fairrieanum

[Dandrobium]

This bud was a few months in the works, but it was worth the wait. First bloom on a single growth, so needless to say, its getting lopped off soon. It would be nice if there were multiple growths/starts, but nothing yet.

 

[Ozpaph]

that's a tiny plant.

 

[blondie]

A lovely bloom and a very tiny plant

 

[tomkalina]

Nice one!

 

[TyroneGenade]

Very nice, Dan. How are you growing it? I see LECA: so I assume semi hydroponics? What fertilizer regime? Have you grown it in LECA since a tiny seedling? What size is the pot? I'm not having very good success with small paphs in LECA.

 

[Dandrobium]

Thanks! It is a tiny plant, around 6" LS. I bought it as a small seedling and have had it for nearly 2 years so it hasn't done a whole lot of growing. I've always had it in S/H and last I checked the root system was okay. Some paphs for me do not seem to enjoy it, but it's so convenient for watering that I like to give it a shot.
Pot size I believe is 24oz. Soft plastic semi-translucent deli container. Natural morning sun and bright shade the rest of the day. I use rain water and fertilize weekly at roughly 125ppm total of 12-4-8 fert with micros. Intermediate watering with cal-mag. Monthly substitute with fish fert and seaweed extract.

I have more consistent success with phrags and dens in S/H, but I'll keep trying with paphs. I have a number in root recovery right now

 

[Jaicigy]

Very nice... like a ballet union

 

[gego]

Amazing dark color on the petals. Congrats.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[GuRu]

How amazing, this lovely flower on this tiny plant. Take care of it (the plant).

 

[ksriramkumar]

Good one. should drain a quiet a bit of energy by sustaining blooms on a single growth.

 

[Linus_Cello]

I have more consistent success with phrags and dens in S/H, but I'll keep trying with paphs. I have a number in root recovery right now

Same here. I have a philipinnensis (a division in a pot with bark) in s/h, and it doesn't seem to be doing well. Good to know that fairrieanum does ok in s/h.

 

[TyroneGenade]

I have more consistent success with phrags and dens in S/H, but I'll keep trying with paphs. I have a number in root recovery right now

I have much the same problems: roots just disintegrate. Complex hybrids seem to hold-up better but not all. I do wonder what the issue is? I have two plants in root recovery... it was too late for a third plant. I also have more problems with crown rot (oddly).

It is nice to know that fairrieanum does well in it.

 

[Dandrobium]

I can't say necessarily that the fairrieanum does well, but its holding up so far.
My troubled paph experiments in S/H include:

SS seedling, now in coarse bark mix, doing well
Ho Chi Minh, crown rot, stopped with Phyton and still in S/H
sanderianum seedling, now dead
wardii alba, recovering in bark/sphag mix
emersonii seedling, recovering in bark mix
randsii seedling, recovering in bark/sphag mix
venustum seedling, recovering in sphag mix

I'd say at least 2/3 or more of my paphs are doing decent in S/H though.

Not sure exactly what it is. I could flush more often, but I water frequently with plain rain water, nothing added. I should test the pH of the reservoirs, maybe the LECA has some impact on that?

 

[TyroneGenade]

I thought flushing and salt build up was my problem in the beginning so I switched to watering with RO and daily misting with K-light. That seemed to help a bit and the plants grew but the roots were still suffering.

I had expected the Paphs to do well in the LECA. I used to grow Paphs in gravel. Crushed sandstone was useless... but crushed bricks worked fantastic. That is fired clay just like LECA. The next time I see a construction site using clay bricks I'm going to go pick up the crushed bits of the damaged bricks and try that again.

I have some plants looking very good after the summer but I suspect that if I checked the roots it would be a mess...

 

[SlipperFan]

That is a gorgeous one! Great contrast.

 

[DIN]

Nice shot beautiful close up photos.

 

[Migrant13]

Nice one and excellent close-up photos.

 

[cpmaniac]

That's a beautiful example of the species. Well done! AOS members: If you haven't seen it, check out Theresa Hill's fairrieanum lecture on the website.