Paph henryanum ('Select' x 'Tall Stem') 'A'

[Ross]

Here is the second bloom of this plant, grown from a flask I got from Tom Kalina a few years back. The form is not great, but better than the first time it bloomed. What I really like about this plant is its vigorous growth habit. It bloomed late last summer with one mature growth and two starts. One of those starts is now in bloom and the other is in spike. The plant now has 5 mature growths plus two more just starting.

Here is the whole plant in a 2 1/4 inch pot. I moved it outside because the cloudy weather reduced the light around my backdrop.

 

[Ernie]

Gotta love it- all that in a 2.25" pot. Lookin' good.

-Ernie

 

[Candace]

Sweet!

 

[Heather]

A wonderful species (and parent!)
Ross, as always, the plant looks beautifully grown - check out those roots!

Can you remind me what sort of mix you grow in? Thanks.

 

[Ross]

A wonderful species (and parent!)
Ross, as always, the plant looks beautifully grown - check out those roots!

Can you remind me what sort of mix you grow in? Thanks.

For these 2 1/4 inch pots that are fairly deep:

Approximately in these percentages
60% small chc, rinsed at least three times
20% perlite of a size to fit with chc
20% charcoal

 

[Heather]

Thanks Ross. I'm headed back into the world of CHC and am curious as to who's using it successfully again.

 

[Candace]

Heather, any reason for the switch to chc over other organic mixes?

 

[paphjoint]

looks very good

 

[Hien]

I have one that I pot in 4 1/2" diameter and 6 inch depth.
It stays small for many years and never flowers.
Maybe it is my mistake to assume about the deep pot theory for paphs.

 

[SlipperFan]

That's a really nice henryanum.

 

[bwester]

Heather, any reason for the switch to chc over other organic mixes?

uh oh, its gonna be just you left on the s/h float pretty soon. oke:

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

I've always done well with CHC...the trick is to load it heavily with aerating inorganics...spongerock, lava rock, dynarock, whatever...just lots of aeration. And be prepared to repot....I repot after more than a year, but usually less than 2 years...multiflorals seem to do well even up to 3 years, also brachy's less often because they hate repotting....CHC eventually will hold lots of water, and will decompose...but when well aerated its the best for paphs...but I still prefer bark for acidic paphs like delanatii and phrags. Take care, Eric

 

[NYEric]

Hmmmm.. a nice small species.

 

[Candace]

uh oh, its gonna be just you left on the s/h float pretty soon.

Yeah, "Oh Solo Mio"....

 

[Heather]

Heather, any reason for the switch to chc over other organic mixes?

My paphs aren't really growing many roots, Candace.

 

[Candace]

I knew you were getting out of s/h, but was wondering what's drawing you to chc over a bark mix.

By the way, there's a great paph grower, also an AOS judge at my center, who swears by adding sand to his mix. His plants looks awesome.

 

[Heather]

I knew you were getting out of s/h, but was wondering what's drawing you to chc over a bark mix.

By the way, there's a great paph grower, also an AOS judge at my center, who swears by adding sand to his mix. His plants looks awesome.

I had pretty good luck with a chc/diatomite/perlite/charcoal mix from Kelly's Korner before I switched to S/H. The plants seemed to like it.

 

[Ross]

I agree with Eric M. The secret to using CHC is to add the right amount of non absorptive materials for your own conditions and the preference of the plant. BTW, here's my second Paph henryanum ('Select' x 'Tall Stem') that has just opened. This is a first bloom seedling. For comparison, this one will be disignated as 'B', while the previous Paph henryanum ('Select' x 'Tall Stem') will be 'A'.

The whole plant

And finally a side by side comparison with 'A' on the right and 'B' on the left. The color is not as dramatically different as the photo shows. 'A' was closer to the bright, morning sun, and hence, appears to be yellower, more washed out.