Please contact me for the future generation of your roths.
But there's something I don't understand... The last time you talked to me about rockwool, you told me it was the worst mix to grow the genus paphiopedilum, because very difficult to master it. You told me also the deficencies (yellow leaves for example) were very common and the majority of paphiopedilum plants died in some months or years in rockwool.
So, when I read your last post, it's contradictory, no?
Maybe is it because you change your mind when you see the good results of a common friend (irony)...?
Email comiiiing....
For the rockwool, in fact the old type, Greenmix, could be managed, it was very technical, but that type was not so difficult. Though the Eric Young could grow roth, Lady Isabel, but not the others multis, and no other paph species or maudiae/complex hybrids in it ( they used even then bark). Greenmix was a wool, water repellent, water absorbent, plus lignin and another clay type added, and was made of very high quality materials. Paphsmokeajoint used Greenmix very well, but when it came to the growcubes, he had to go back to bark...
The Growcube are industrial, there are a lot of problems associated with them, not only with orchids. Some growers using it in France clealy have some other tricks ( like some fungicides, etc...) to keep the things working, and it is a very high risk thing. This said, rockwool can be used like a dopant to see the maximum potential of a plant for a specific purpose, but not for general care. The risks far outperform the benefits of using it, and a bark/orchiata based mix can anyway perform the same, if not better than rockwool for that purpose. Growcubes apparently decompose too, something the Greenmix did not do, and according to one of their sales rep, they are made of new rock + a percentage of recycling, which could explain the unstability of some batches.
Thanks for your very informative post Borat.
What is meikakke? I don't believe it is possible for a roth to grow to 40-cm NS, let alone 45-cm, unless meikakke is something that is highly radioactive
40cm NS exists, I got two plants, there has been one awarded in England as well a decade ago with 38.5, went to 40. There is (sorry, since I went there WAS ) another roth in Malaysia with a 40cm+ NS. Those are naturally grown roths. The RHS has a record of a ca.43cm roth, awarded in the 20's as well.
Now, Meikkake consists of the removal of some growths, and some flower stems, to optimize fewer flower spikes. There are added things to do ( specific fertilizer schedule, high temperature to force the spike to stay in the crown and get bigger, before a cold drop to push the flowering, etc...). It is very complicated, and art like bonsai making. The plant usually does not like it too much
I have seen a roth in Taiwan with a dorsal over 8cm. It was a clump, all flower spikes removed, the second new growth of the blooming growth cut above the ground ( still leaving the stump and its roots), and the flower bud removed when the spike was young... except 1. The dorsal was in exceed of 8cm width. I think it can be possible, by perfect culture, to get such a plant to naturally bloom to this size, but in this case, it was really not natural ( and it was a Rex x MM clump).
