Paph. gigantifolium culture

[Camellkc]

Hi all, I am a paph. grower from Hong Kong and would like to enquire about the requirements for growing Paph. gigantifolium properly.

I have been growing muti-florals paphs (like lowii, rothschildianum, philippinese, kolopakingii and William Ambler) in a south facing windowsill with humidfier to maintain humidity and they seems happy to the environment in the past year.

I have a chance recently to get a gigantifolium in spike (and with one more mature growth) and wish to learn form the expert guys here whether it is also suitable to place the plant along with my muti-florals. I have read some threads here and learnt that gigantifolium seems not easy to grow and need very much humidity. I wonder if there are any special requirements to make it happy.

By the way, may I also have some advises on the potting medium? I grow the muti-florals with mixed medium of perlite, bark plus a little coconut shell and charcoal.

Thank you very much here in advance.

 

[Rick]

I would say do exactly what you are doing for kolopakingii and you'll get the same results.

If your gigantifolium is wild collected and your other plants are selected seed grown cultivars then you might want to use a lower feed rate.

However, my minimal humidity is 70% anyway so I can't tell you if there is a lower threshold for gigantifolium different from your other big multi plants.

 

[Camellkc]

I would say do exactly what you are doing for kolopakingii and you'll get the same results.

If your gigantifolium is wild collected and your other plants are selected seed grown cultivars then you might want to use a lower feed rate.

However, my minimal humidity is 70% anyway so I can't tell you if there is a lower threshold for gigantifolium different from your other big multi plants.

Thanks for your advice Rick, in fact my kolopakingii grew very fast instead, the new growth for one year already got the leaf span of over 85cm and it will be probably flower next year. Hope my giganti will got the same result.

As for the humidity, I just keep over 50% or higher but they also seems happy about it.

Thanks again.

 

[Paphman910]

They get big!

 

[Camellkc]

They get big!

Yep. especially my kolopakingii is going to be a monster plant. It makes me lacking space to buy more lovely muti-florals!

 

[Paul]

gigantifolium has to be grown exactly like anitum: humidity as high as possible (air and roots), low salts in the medium (not like kolopakingii or roths...) and shady. It's not growing as fast as kolo do, unfortunately...
temperatures arround 20°C are the best for it, to me!

 

[Camellkc]

gigantifolium has to be grown exactly like anitum: humidity as high as possible (air and roots), low salts in the medium (not like kolopakingii or roths...) and shady. It's not growing as fast as kolo do, unfortunately...
temperatures arround 20°C are the best for it, to me!

Thanks Paul. I got very worried to hear the phase "grows like anitum" as I have heard of many failure cases on anitum even for those growers with professional growing facilities. My growing area, of course, is not as good as those professionals. In fact, my growing environment is somehow bright so that I grow multi-florals which requires more light. Should I conclude that I just acquired a wrong plant here? It is also expensive too......

 

[Paul]

you just have to grow it more sahdy than the others, and be careful to water with soft water. It's not hard to grow, it just can't bear dry areas or too hot.

I treat my (supposed) anitum too this way and it's very happy, so are the seedlings. I think if your kolo is growing so well, you should not worry about the growing area, only focus on water and light.

 

[Camellkc]

you just have to grow it more sahdy than the others, and be careful to water with soft water. It's not hard to grow, it just can't bear dry areas or too hot.

I treat my (supposed) anitum too this way and it's very happy, so are the seedlings. I think if your kolo is growing so well, you should not worry about the growing area, only focus on water and light.

Got it, I will try my best and see if the giganti could thrive~~~:wink:

 

[polyantha]

Your potting mix is good. If your culture is good with your other plants, you will not have much trouble with gigantifoliums. Mine are growing very quickly, but one of them recently got a fungus in the root area. It was horrible, new roots got infected and instantly died. Repotting and fungicide hopefully helped. What a pity that it had the size to bloom. Now it will start with a new growth and I will have to wait until it flowers in some years. But my other gigs are still growing like crazy. So I would say that culture is pretty easy if you don´t get this fungus :/

 

[Fabrice]

In my conditions, I'm growing 2 plants like my roth and kolo... And they grow well, even if it's a little slower than those 2 species.

 

[Camellkc]

Your potting mix is good. If your culture is good with your other plants, you will not have much trouble with gigantifoliums. Mine are growing very quickly, but one of them recently got a fungus in the root area. It was horrible, new roots got infected and instantly died. Repotting and fungicide hopefully helped. What a pity that it had the size to bloom. Now it will start with a new growth and I will have to wait until it flowers in some years. But my other gigs are still growing like crazy. So I would say that culture is pretty easy if you don´t get this fungus :/

Thank you for advice, I think you are an expert in polyantha paphs., aren't you? Anyway, I have posted some of my paphs in the forum, feel free to have a look

 

[Rick]

gigantifolium has to be grown exactly like anitum: humidity as high as possible (air and roots), low salts in the medium (not like kolopakingii or roths...) and shady. It's not growing as fast as kolo do, unfortunately...

As well as high humidity I only offer low salts to my roths and kolo's too (and they like it:wink.

I only have one anitum that is growing very well since reducing fert strength too.

 

[polyantha]

gigantifolium has to be grown exactly like anitum: humidity as high as possible (air and roots), low salts in the medium (not like kolopakingii or roths...) and shady. It's not growing as fast as kolo do, unfortunately...
temperatures arround 20°C are the best for it, to me!

As far as my gigs are concerned, they are not grown like anitums. My anitums stay wet and never dry out, but I handle my gigs like roths. Here is a pic of one of my gigs:

In one point I have to disagree with Paul, it is obviously not essential to grow them in very high air humidity. The one above grew to this size in less than two years from a new starter growth. Always with humidity under 60%. Growth rate and leaf color are very good. (Sorry for the blue color of the light )

 

[Camellkc]

As far as my gigs are concerned, they are not grown like anitums. My anitums stay wet and never dry out, but I handle my gigs like roths. Here is a pic of one of my gigs:

In one point I have to disagree with Paul, it is obviously not essential to grow them in very high air humidity. The one above grew to this size in less than two years from a new starter growth. Always with humidity under 60%. Growth rate and leaf color are very good. (Sorry for the blue color of the light )

Wow, it is excited to see the stunning color and shape of the leaves: nearly Perfect!!! Actually, keeping a very high humidity is challenging for my windowsill growing environment. By concluding the comments from the expert guys here, I have more confident to grow the gigantis properly, thanks all.

 

[eggshells]

I want that giga!

 

[Camellkc]

My Paph. kolopakingii

Just would like to also share my kolo. The new growth facing you has been growing for 1 year.

The plant also has a sound root system.

 

[eggshells]

That is one nice kolo. Congrats.

 

[Paphman910]

Wow Looks beautiful! Reminds me of my stonei plant

 

[Ozpaph]

If you can grow a kolo like that you should be able to grow most multis - its a beautiful plant.