Paph. philippinense

[John M]

This is a first bloom seedling of Paph. philippinense v. album ('Albino Beauty' AM/AOS x 'Jeanie's Delight' AM/AOS). Clearly, the breeder was expecting high quality album offspring. However, also clearly, at least one of the "albino" parents is not album. It must be an albescens, or an aureum and it still carries the genes for the regular colours. However, despite the fact it's not an album flower, I do love it and being a first bloom of high quality, I'm looking forward to future bloomings to see what this plant can really do.

An interesting thing of note so far is that the flowers are holding very well. I've found in the past with other clones, that Paph. philippinense has fairly short-lived flowers. Usually, if there are more than 3 on a stem (which is normally the case), the flower that was first to open is already dying off by the time the last flower opens. However, this is not the case with this clone. The first flower opened over a month ago and the last flower opened 10 days ago. All 4 flowers still look perfect and fresh. I like that! Paph. philippinense has always annoyed me by dropping the first flower too soon and not giving a full inflorescence of all-opened flowers.

This plant grew and came into bloom in a 4" tall, 2" wide, black plastic pot. I moved it to this 6" net pot without disturbing the roots and it continued to open the rest of the flowers without showing any sign of stress. I find that over-potting in a net pot seems to provide a good combination of moisture and air, keeping the plants very happy. The potting medium (1/2 fine grade CHC and 1/2 dust free horticultural grade perlite) drains perfectly and then stays moist for a number of days. When it appears dry on top and around the sides, I water thoroughly once again. I've got a Paph. haynaldianum that is doing GREAT since I put it into one of these 6" net pots and hung it up with the Vandas. It gets watered OFTEN (along with the Vandas) and since the move to this pot, it's doubled in size each year.

I've since moved a number of Paphs and Phrags into these 6" net pots with the seedling grade mix described above. All are doing very well, including a Paph. tigrinum (notorious for being prone to bud blast!), that was in low bud when it was repotted and now the bud is rapidly emerging from the leaf fan.

 

[troy]

Excellent blooming!! Thats a good phillie!!

 

[Denver]

very nice dorsal

 

[phraggy]

Lovely paph and you're using the same pots as I do with multis, I too have found that they will take much more water in these pots and they do seem to grow much faster. I also have mine on a heat bed so they need watering nearly every day. It seems the more water you can give them without overwetting they will do fine and show the better developement.

Ed

 

[eaborne]

Absolutely stunning!

 

[Rick]

That's a beauty John:clap:

Any dimensions to offer?

 

[John M]

Thanks all.

Phraggy.....on a heat bed, eh? That's a very interesting idea. I do complain that my heat loving Paphs grow so very slowly and often show signs of stress because (I think), the temps in my greenhouse are really too cool for their liking. I wonder what a heat pad costs? 'Must find out..... Thanks!

Rick, the petals are 13 cm's long. Total vertical, tip of dorsal to tip of petals is 17 cm's. Dorsal sepal and Synsepal are both 3.1 cm's wide. Whole plant from the top of the pot to the top of the highest flower is 35 cm's. It's actually quite compact, which I like very much. I've seen some philies that have HUGE leaf spans and very tall inflorescences which, in my mind, are no more desireable than this nice plant, which is sitting comfortably with room to spare, on my kitchen windowsill.

 

[Wendy]

That is very, very nice John......:drool::drool::drool:

 

[phraggy]

Thanks all.

Phraggy.....on a heat bed, eh? That's a very interesting idea. I do complain that my heat loving Paphs grow so very slowly and often show signs of stress because (I think), the temps in my greenhouse are really too cool for their liking. I wonder what a heat pad costs? 'Must find out..... Thanks!

Rick, the petals are 13 cm's long. Total vertical, tip of dorsal to tip of petals is 17 cm's. Dorsal sepal and Synsepal are both 3.1 cm's wide. Whole plant from the top of the pot to the top of the highest flower is 35 cm's. It's actually quite compact, which I like very much. I've seen some philies that have HUGE leaf spans and very tall inflorescences which, in my mind, are no more desireable than this nice plant, which is sitting comfortably with room to spare, on my kitchen windowsill.

John. I use the soil heating cables with a thermostat. I'll see if I can find the pic of my latest one.

 

[Ozpaph]

a superb flower but disappointing result. Have you emailed Sam to see if any of the others have flowered, yet?

 

[Justin]

Excellent quality

 

[John M]

John. I use the soil heating cables with a thermostat. I'll see if I can find the pic of my latest one.

Thanks for the photos. I think I'd prefer to use a heating pad. When I water, I water heavily. I could see all that sand/soil being washed out and all over. But, the basic idea of heat under the pots is something I haven't thought of for a long time. It'd be a perfect solution for my strap leafed Paphs in the greenhouse.

Nope, I haven't written to Sam. I didnt' recognise it as his cross. I think I got this plant from Wendy a number of years ago; but, it's got a Zephyrus tag in the pot; so, I guess, if that's Sam's breeding, I guess Zephyrus got a flask. Yeah, I'd like for it to have been album; but, I'm not about to make a claim against anyone.

 

[John M]

That is very, very nice John......:drool::drool::drool:

Thanks Wendy. Your name is in the pot!

 

[Kawarthapine]

John:

Great looking plant.

Thanks for the cultural info...

...I'm going to try a few plants I need to repot using your technique.

If I may be so bold, can you tell your fert preferances, ppm frequency,...

Thanks for posting.

 

[Wendy]

Thanks Wendy. Your name is in the pot!

Thanks John! :clap:

 

[emydura]

That is a cracking clone. Great colour and a lovely shaped dorsal. A really striking flower. Great news about the flower life too. I share your frustration with the flower life in this species. I can't get more than 4 flowers open at a time. I might have to try the basket technique with my haynaldianum. They seem to really struggle.

 

[John M]

John:
Great looking plant.
Thanks for the cultural info...
...I'm going to try a few plants I need to repot using your technique.
If I may be so bold, can you tell your fert preferances, ppm frequency,...
Thanks for posting.

I use a few different fertilizers. I switch them around on a whim. I use 7-11-27 Tomato feed with Calcium Nitrate when I'm using R.O. water. I use the C.N. at 1/3 of the dry volume of the 7-11-27....and make a concentrated solution, which is then injected into the water line at a ratio of 50 to 1 (water to concentrate). For example; when I use 3 scoops (~210 ml, dry volume), of the 7-11-27, I use 1 scoop (~70 ml, dry volume), of the C.N. When I'm using stream water, I skip the Calcium Nitrate. Other timse I use Plant Prod Orchid Food 24-14-14. Same deal with the C.N. Occasionally, I'll sneak in a feeding of Plant Prod 10-52-10...again, same deal with the C.N. I feed at every other watering with a coarse foliar spray only. I do not ever deliberately feed the roots; although, aerial roots get fed and plenty of the fert solution drips into the pots, I'm sure, anyway. I don't know the PPM. I just watch the plants and vary the amount I use.

That is a cracking clone. Great colour and a lovely shaped dorsal. A really striking flower. Great news about the flower life too. I share your frustration with the flower life in this species. I can't get more than 4 flowers open at a time. I might have to try the basket technique with my haynaldianum. They seem to really struggle.

My haynaldianum strugged for me. It almost died at one point and Wendy brought it back to life in her grow room which was bright and warm. This helped her plants to dry out faster than mine in the greenhouse. The plant did great for Wendy and eventually, I got it back. It was in good health; but again, it grew slowly for me. It had grown fast for Wendy. Then, about 2 years ago, I put it into this 6" net pot and hung it up where it would get LOTS of air and light. It's done GREAT since then, even though my greenhouse has been quite cold at night over these past few winters. I think that haynaldianum is not as senstive to cold as it is to being too damp for too long. I water it often; but, it's always going dry with all that drainage, air movement and light/daytime warmth. IMO, haynaldianum absolutely HATES to have continuously wet/damp roots. I'm sure that being dry for too long is harmfull, too; but, that wasn't my problem. My issue was that it was not drying out fast enough, or thoroughly enough, inbetween each watering. Once I put it into a 6" net pot, it began drying out quickly (requiring more frequent watering to keep up with it's needs); but, it began growing fast, too and it's been steadily increasing in size. Another year or two and it'll be a specimen plant.

 

[Camellkc]

If it was an originally philippinese, it's in striking quality. However, in light with the expectation of aureum or semi-album clone, it scores zero marks.

 

[emydura]

I
My haynaldianum strugged for me. It almost died at one point and Wendy brought it back to life in her grow room which was bright and warm. This helped her plants to dry out faster than mine in the greenhouse. The plant did great for Wendy and eventually, I got it back. It was in good health; but again, it grew slowly for me. It had grown fast for Wendy. Then, about 2 years ago, I put it into this 6" net pot and hung it up where it would get LOTS of air and light. It's done GREAT since then, even though my greenhouse has been quite cold at night over these past few winters. I think that haynaldianum is not as senstive to cold as it is to being too damp for too long. I water it often; but, it's always going dry with all that drainage, air movement and light/daytime warmth. IMO, haynaldianum absolutely HATES to have continuously wet/damp roots. I'm sure that being dry for too long is harmfull, too; but, that wasn't my problem. My issue was that it was not drying out fast enough, or thoroughly enough, inbetween each watering. Once I put it into a 6" net pot, it began drying out quickly (requiring more frequent watering to keep up with it's needs); but, it began growing fast, too and it's been steadily increasing in size. Another year or two and it'll be a specimen plant.

Thanks John. One problem I have had with my two haynaldianums, is the sheaths keep rotting. It has happened on both plants over the last few years. On a stronger plant I expect this wouldn't happen.

 

[John M]

Thanks John. One problem I have had with my two haynaldianums, is the sheaths keep rotting. It has happened on both plants over the last few years. On a stronger plant I expect this wouldn't happen.

I agree. Because I believe that rot-causing pathogens are everywhere, all the time, with that in mind, I belive that rot occures when a plant is stressed and therefore unable to fight off pathogens effectively. If you can create the conditions to grow a strong, happy root system, you may find that the sheath rotting doesn't happen any longer. Good luck!