Paph. sanderianum x sib ('Dr. John Doherty' AM/AOS x 'Sam Tsui' AM/AOS)

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NEslipper

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First bloom seedling, purchased from Orchid Inn in June 2019 as NBS. The parents are the two best from the AQ group awarded to John Doherty of Zephyrus Orchids in March 2011. The parents of the AQ group were 'Dragon Dance' and 'Dark Spider'. If anyone knows anything else about those clones, I would love to learn about them. I can't remember seeing any photos of sandies from Sam posted on here, which seems strange, he always seemed to have a few grexes for sale, and he had NBS and even in spike plants for sale for a while. Hopefully, we'll see more from this cross soon. My sandie is not as nicely grown or flowered as Justin's recent entry for this species, but it still counts! I grow this plant on a south facing window, along with the rest of my multis. It grows behind my mature roths so that they provide some shade, and take the brunt of the cold winter drafts from my old windows. This plant is tough as nails though, it has had large roths dropped on it, some leaves have been broken off, but it still managed to put out a flower. I was quite surprised how quickly the spike moved once it decided to bloom. The petals are only ~40cm, but since it's quite cold here and my heat has kicked on, I'm struggling to maintain 40-45% humidity. I would never expect to get super long petals in my conditions. In his article for Orchid magazine, John Doherty notes that cooler nights result in better color, but shorter petals. So while there's a genetic component to long petals, it's significantly influenced by culture, particularly humidity. John Doherty also noted that his awarded clone 'Rapunzel' AM/AOS first bloomed with 40cm petals, before re-blooming with 100+cm petals. I don't think achieving 100cm petals is realistic for me, but I would really like to get more flowers on the next blooming. There's already a nice new start coming, so hopefully it will only be a few years until the next bloom.

One more thing about blooming this species is that it represents a significant personal achievement for me as a grower. This species is the reason I feel in love with orchids, particularly the multifloral paphiopedilums. I still remember thumbing through Orchids magazine as a kid in the mid 90s and stumbling upon a photo of Paph. sanderianum 'Jacob's Ladder' AM/AOS. I was completely transfixed, and that photo started a lifelong obsession. Quickly after discovering sanderianum I discovered rothschildianum, stonei, and philippinense and promised myself I would one day grow and flower these magnificent plants. With the blooming of this sanderianum, I have now accomplished this goal of blooming those 4 species on my windowsill - really a testament to the work hybridizers and breeders have put in over the past few decades to select for vigorous, free flowering plants more adapted to pot culture. Sorry for the novel, but I'm so excited about this plant. It was quite difficult to photograph well, and I found the black background distorted the colors, so my apologies for the distracting background but it presents the colors most accurately.

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Nice flower! I think I bloomed my first one just a few years ago and I felt like same way. Just made me happy, something I had been working on for what seems like decades.

It will bloom better next year, although it is quite nice this year. Petal length is quite respectable. I have heard that they stop elongating when they touch 'ground'. Hanging baskets seem to work well for some of my friends (not for me). Should get three or four flowers per inflorescence eventually.
 
Although the petal length is not there yet, everything else including the leaves looks good for sanderianum. Congrats!
 
Yours is one of the first I've seen of this cross, so that might speak of good vigor.

I would suggest collecting and storing the pollen after you are done admiring it.

Well grown and congrats!
 
I absolutely love it!!! I have the same cross so I am excited for mine to bloom. Mine seems quite large but do you know the leaf length? Also, another growth that is amazing.
LS is ~80 cm or ~31 inches. I also really love how ruffled the petals are, I keep walking over to stare at it.
 
Congratulations! Your plant is just fantastic. I have wanted one of these for so long. And in fact have ordered one which waiting on. Those petals are so enticing. But I do have to concede to emydura a bit on the Sanderianum. She may be the Queen, but minus the petals, that flower is just a bit scary.
 
First bloom seedling, purchased from Orchid Inn in June 2019 as NBS. The parents are the two best from the AQ group awarded to John Doherty of Zephyrus Orchids in March 2011. The parents of the AQ group were 'Dragon Dance' and 'Dark Spider'. If anyone knows anything else about those clones, I would love to learn about them. I can't remember seeing any photos of sandies from Sam posted on here, which seems strange, he always seemed to have a few grexes for sale, and he had NBS and even in spike plants for sale for a while. Hopefully, we'll see more from this cross soon. My sandie is not as nicely grown or flowered as Justin's recent entry for this species, but it still counts! I grow this plant on a south facing window, along with the rest of my multis. It grows behind my mature roths so that they provide some shade, and take the brunt of the cold winter drafts from my old windows. This plant is tough as nails though, it has had large roths dropped on it, some leaves have been broken off, but it still managed to put out a flower. I was quite surprised how quickly the spike moved once it decided to bloom. The petals are only ~40cm, but since it's quite cold here and my heat has kicked on, I'm struggling to maintain 40-45% humidity. I would never expect to get super long petals in my conditions. In his article for Orchid magazine, John Doherty notes that cooler nights result in better color, but shorter petals. So while there's a genetic component to long petals, it's significantly influenced by culture, particularly humidity. John Doherty also noted that his awarded clone 'Rapunzel' AM/AOS first bloomed with 40cm petals, before re-blooming with 100+cm petals. I don't think achieving 100cm petals is realistic for me, but I would really like to get more flowers on the next blooming. There's already a nice new start coming, so hopefully it will only be a few years until the next bloom.

One more thing about blooming this species is that it represents a significant personal achievement for me as a grower. This species is the reason I feel in love with orchids, particularly the multifloral paphiopedilums. I still remember thumbing through Orchids magazine as a kid in the mid 90s and stumbling upon a photo of Paph. sanderianum 'Jacob's Ladder' AM/AOS. I was completely transfixed, and that photo started a lifelong obsession. Quickly after discovering sanderianum I discovered rothschildianum, stonei, and philippinense and promised myself I would one day grow and flower these magnificent plants. With the blooming of this sanderianum, I have now accomplished this goal of blooming those 4 species on my windowsill - really a testament to the work hybridizers and breeders have put in over the past few decades to select for vigorous, free flowering plants more adapted to pot culture. Sorry for the novel, but I'm so excited about this plant. It was quite difficult to photograph well, and I found the black background distorted the colors, so my apologies for the distracting background but it presents the colors most accurately.

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Absolutely gorgeous
 
What a beauty! I gave up on growing sanderianum some years back. It would sulk and not grow while in the middle of other closely related Paphs that were thriving. Maybe in some years I will try again to see if new crosses are easier to grow.
 
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