Paph. niveum var. ang thong 'Maybrook', AM/AOS

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Dick Hanson sent me this photo today of a plant he has flowering in his greenhouse. Dick grows his brachypetalums in a specially constructed “case” in his greenhouse with interior lateral air flow from small muffin fans and auxiliary overhead lighting. He has recently improved lighting conditions by replacing old fluorescent shop lights with 6500K T-5 fluorescents and is really pleased with the results.

angthong_MB.jpg


When looking up Paph. niveum var. ang thong ‘Maybrook’, AM/AOS in OrchidWiz it appears that this is, or was at some time considered synonomous with Paph. godefroyae. I confess I don’t know what the current taxonomic stance is this week, but this particular cultivar grows much more like Paph. niveum than Paph. godefroyae.

This cultivar belonged to G.A. (Bert) Wright, who created so many great and wonderful paph hybrids over the years. This cultivar grows vigorously and is quite rot-resistant. I know Bert shared this plant with many growers over the years so it’s possible some of you out there may have this in your collection.
 
Scott, if you are suggesting this clone was created then its quite possible the name should be P. Greyi which theoretically is the man made cross of P.Ang-thong = niveum x godefroyae. This also look a lot like a lot of P.Greyi from the net & what I have seen in person.
 
From the time period that Bert Wright obtained this plant, it is almost certainly a collected plant of Paph ang thong which is a natural hybrid.
 
Tell me about his specially constructed case -- my question is, with the fluorescent lights, is it the quantity or the duration that makes them flower so well???
 
Here we go again

Stop this - This is a really beautiful plant - I dont care if it is natural or a created plant - If you saw this plant in the wild would you slap a P. Greyi name plate on it - Nature rules - I wish all plant crosses were left to natural collections and stop trying to out due nature - john
 
Dick Hanson's "Brachy Case"

Tell me about his specially constructed case -- my question is, with the fluorescent lights, is it the quantity or the duration that makes them flower so well???

I wanna know more too!

Here are some photos that Dick sent over after he heard folks were asking for more information on his brachy case. It is essentially just a section of the bench that has been isolated between two vertical walls to create a separate environment. When the case was first built it had sliding glass doors on the front much like a retail display case. There is a four-lamp T-5 fixture hanging above the four-level shelving with two muffin fans offset on opposing walls to create airflow from both directoins. The slots that held the glass doors are still visible in the lower front. There is a small electric heater mounted above the lighting fixture to maintain a temperature separate from the main greenhouse temp when desired. However, after implementatoin it was difficult to control the heat and humidity with those doors closed and the turbulence from the fans turned it into very efficient desiccation chamber! Removing the sliding glass doors did a good job of addressing that problem and it is still a very effective brachy-friendly environment.

case_1.jpg


Dick feels that the improvement this year in both plant health and flowering quality is due to more frequent repotting and improved lighting conditions - giving credit to higher intensity and improved color spectrum. The exposure time has not changed since the old shop lights were removed, but he has increased the frequency of fertilizer applications to twice a month in order to allow for the additional lighting the plants are now receiving.

case_2.jpg


One observation I have made is that keeping these paphs at nearly eye-level in a semi-sheltered location allows one to make quick and early assessments that might identify a potential problem (rot, bugs, etc.) very early and while there is still time to deal with it. We sometimes have a miserable time keeping brachys happy in our climate and to have a plant more than 5-10 years is considered a pretty good accomplishment. Many paph growers in this area consider it only a matter of time before we lose our favorite brachys - usually to some form of rot. Often we tend to divide and distribute our favorites among fellow growers as quickly as possible - sometimes out of generosity, but just as often as a way to hedge against extinction of the plant with some hope of getting a division back.

case_3.jpg


Any resemblance some of those plants on the top shelf bear to ascofinetias is purely coincidental :)

case_4.jpg
 
Scott, First, super plants! Question: what size are those aircones?

Almost all sizes. Everything except a 2 and a 6.

Top shelf has 2.5", 3", 4".

Lower shelves have 2.5", 3", 4" and 5". Sure wish Ray would have done those 5" pots several years earlier while he still had the pots. The jump from the 4" to 6" size was often not very successful.
 
I'm so glad I came here!!! The stuff I keep finding in the bowels of this forum are just short of a revelation.
Many thanks for these pictures.
 

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