Paph. Micranthum In Sheath!!

[Malipoense]

I couldn't contain my excitement when I saw that one of the growths on my paphiopedilum micranthum has a sheath!! You can see the dark coloration of the sheath compared to the leaves and the little black thing growing out of the sheath. This wouldn't be a regular leaf. 1 and a half years of waiting or 582 days! Yes, I calculated the amount of days It was a multi-growth plant from springwater orchids on ebay. It already came with a sheath/bud, but it blasted a few days after arrival probably due to shipping stress, as I received it in the middle of winter. Ever since then I have been waiting, checking if the larger growths had a sheath poking out, and finally my wish has come true! How long will it take for it to mature and bloom? Maybe 2-3 months? Also, do you think I should move it somewhere cooler where it sits outside so warm temps don't blast the bud, or just leave it where the plant is? The day time temps here are between 70-80 degrees and night temps are in the 60s or high 50s.

 

[Pleurothallidan]

I looks like a leaf to me, from the pictures. But if it is a sheath congrats! Might just be the angle/ lighting. (Edit: I see the little sheath sticking out now!)

Mine took about 4 months for the inflorescence to poke out of the sheath and once it did that it developed very quickly. About 3 weeks until the flower opened. Your temp range is the same as mine.

 

[mrhappyrotter]

Congrats! It's a lovely species even when it's not in bloom. I wish I had more information and advice for you, but I don't. I purchased a micranthum last year, and it spiked up for me back in June of this year. Way too hot. I also considered if I should move the plant into cooler temperatures (indoors) but left it out in the greenhouse. The spike continued to develop, even had a nice bud on it. Then, almost over night, I went out one day and the spike and bud had turned brown. Oops. I feel like it was a damned if I do, damned if I don't situation. I generally try not to drastically change conditions for the Parvies when they are spiking up, since pretty much all of the species are prone to blasting.

So many words, more easily summed up by saying: Good luck! And post photos & advice when it's in bloom.

 

[Malipoense]

Thanks, fall is approaching here soon so I'm wondering if I could leave it outside longer than my other warm growing orchids, since it can tolerate cool temps of 40-60 degrees in the fall/winter. The place where I plan to put it in winter is my garage growing area, where day temps are at 70 degrees max and night temps are between the 55-60 range. It's the same conditions as it is outside, so hopefully the move inside won't blast the bud. Fingers crossed!!

 

[mrhappyrotter]

Thanks, fall is approaching here soon so I'm wondering if I could leave it outside longer than my other warm growing orchids, since it can tolerate cool temps of 40-60 degrees in the fall/winter. The place where I plan to put it in winter is my garage growing area, where day temps are at 70 degrees max and night temps are between the 55-60 range. It's the same conditions as it is outside, so hopefully the move inside won't blast the bud. Fingers crossed!!

I experimented with mine this past winter. These can reportedly handle brief periods of frost at a minimum. The plants in my greenhouse experienced multiple nights down to around 33 to 34F, and frequent nights down to 36F (that was my target temperature). Micranthum showed no signs of any issues with that. I did keep it and other experiment Paphs on the dry side when temperatures were that low, and it's important to note that my P. micranthum was not in spike/bud/bloom during that period so I can't comment on that aspect of things.

 

[JustinR]

Well done, hope it doesn't blast. From my research and experience micranthum doesn't mind a bit of warmth in the Summer. Keeping it outside as the temperatures drop in Autumn is also a good idea.

I put together this table (in Celcius) for the Parvisepalums different growing conditions pulling together data from a number of sources. P. micranthum is listed as 29 degC average Summer day temp which is pretty warm. Elevation ranges from 360 to 2000m (if it is to be believed) which might indicate some degree of temperature tolerance. It ranges from North Vietnam to Southern China, combined with the elevation the climate might be considered sub-tropical. Year round warm tropical climate probably wouldn't be appreciated.

This is one source: https://www.orchid.or.jp/orchid/people/tanaka/perv/enpervcult.html
the rest is just what I could find on different sites like Travaldo's blog.

Species	Winter min	Winter max	Summer min	Summer max	Elevation low	Elevation high	Light	Rest
delenatii	13 - 15 - 18	21	17	25 - 30	700	900 / 1500	5 - 35,000	drier Winter
malipoense	5 - 12 - 15	20 - 22	16 - 22 - 25	20 - 25 - 30	450 / 1300	1450 / 1600	12 - 20,000	drier Winter
vietnamense	<= 15		16 - 22	20 - 25	350	550 / 1400		drier Winter
micranthum	4 - 10	15 - 27	18 - 22	28 - 30	360 / 600	1600 / 2000	12 - 20,000	drier Winter
armeniacum	0 - 13	16	16	24	600 / 1000	1000 / 2000	18 - 20,000	no rest
hangianum	6 - 8	14 - 17	20	28	800	1000	18 - 25,000	drier Winter
emersonii	5 - 13 - 16	14 - 20 - 23 - 25	17 - 22	22 - 28	450	750	12 - 20,000	no rest

 

[Tom-DE]

Thank you for the info, Justin....I am quite surprised to see that they don't recommend a winter rest for armeniacum. Also, to learn that the hangianum and emersonii can handle much cooler winter temperature than I thought.

 

[Malipoense]

Thanks for the helpful info on temperatures, but I am sorry to say that the "sheath" that I thought was developing turned out to be a regular leaf. The little black thing that seemed to be coming out of the center was just a tiny piece of bark that somehow lodged itself in there so perfectly that it made it look like a bud. I found out it wasn't a sheath just now. I got my hopes up too soon...

 

[Tom-DE]

False alarm

 

[DrLeslieEe]

Well done, hope it doesn't blast. From my research and experience micranthum doesn't mind a bit of warmth in the Summer. Keeping it outside as the temperatures drop in Autumn is also a good idea.

I put together this table (in Celcius) for the Parvisepalums different growing conditions pulling together data from a number of sources. P. micranthum is listed as 29 degC average Summer day temp which is pretty warm. Elevation ranges from 360 to 2000m (if it is to be believed) which might indicate some degree of temperature tolerance. It ranges from North Vietnam to Southern China, combined with the elevation the climate might be considered sub-tropical. Year round warm tropical climate probably wouldn't be appreciated.

This is one source: https://www.orchid.or.jp/orchid/people/tanaka/perv/enpervcult.html
the rest is just what I could find on different sites like Travaldo's blog.

Species	Winter min	Winter max	Summer min	Summer max	Elevation low	Elevation high	Light	Rest
delenatii	13 - 15 - 18	21	17	25 - 30	700	900 / 1500	5 - 35,000	drier Winter
malipoense	5 - 12 - 15	20 - 22	16 - 22 - 25	20 - 25 - 30	450 / 1300	1450 / 1600	12 - 20,000	drier Winter
vietnamense	<= 15		16 - 22	20 - 25	350	550 / 1400		drier Winter
micranthum	4 - 10	15 - 27	18 - 22	28 - 30	360 / 600	1600 / 2000	12 - 20,000	drier Winter
armeniacum	0 - 13	16	16	24	600 / 1000	1000 / 2000	18 - 20,000	no rest
hangianum	6 - 8	14 - 17	20	28	800	1000	18 - 25,000	drier Winter
emersonii	5 - 13 - 16	14 - 20 - 23 - 25	17 - 22	22 - 28	450	750	12 - 20,000	no rest

I can confirm these temperatures are in the ballpark when I was there in Vietnam. And wet!