Paphiopedilum rothschildianum growing advice worked!

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It could be a roth...will have to see the flower to be sure though. Most roths have more narrow leaves but here are a couple "chunky" roths that have flowered in my collection


 
Paph.%20rothschildianum_1.jpg


Hello, Anna,
this was the plant when I got it in November 2013.

In two and half years you grew this to flowering size. Very impressive growing.
 
Thank you! :eek:

I think that part of the success is documented by the roots.

roots.jpg


I remember that reading the text of Xavier was of great help, but I don't find that document any more. I alternate different sources of N and the substrate is very airy (in fact many roots are 'hanging' in air not surrounded by substrate), made from crushed shells and sepia chunks, a few pieces of volcanic rocks, a few pieces of bark. The pot has 12 cm, the transparent one is sitting in a black one of the same size and this one is sitting in a saucer filled with water. There is always enough moisture in the bottom - something I was afraid of in the beginning, but I ain't any more. It has been re-potted twice in this time and there was not a single dead root - something which never has happened to me with other Paphios! The airy substrate and the amount of calcareous parts - about 50% - prevent the substrate from getting stale and mushy. The pot is always shaded, so the roots stay cool while the leaves may be in the sun.

Thanks for all those pictures to compare with! It is of great help to roth-beginners like me!
 
Thank you! :eek:

I think that part of the success is documented by the roots.

roots.jpg


I remember that reading the text of Xavier was of great help, but I don't find that document any more. I alternate different sources of N and the substrate is very airy (in fact many roots are 'hanging' in air not surrounded by substrate), made from crushed shells and sepia chunks, a few pieces of volcanic rocks, a few pieces of bark. The pot has 12 cm, the transparent one is sitting in a black one of the same size and this one is sitting in a saucer filled with water. There is always enough moisture in the bottom - something I was afraid of in the beginning, but I ain't any more. It has been re-potted twice in this time and there was not a single dead root - something which never has happened to me with other Paphios! The airy substrate and the amount of calcareous parts - about 50% - prevent the substrate from getting stale and mushy. The pot is always shaded, so the roots stay cool while the leaves may be in the sun.

Thanks for all those pictures to compare with! It is of great help to roth-beginners like me!

Very interesting culture Secun. Now let me pick your brain a bit if you don't mind. I like to learn different angles. You did say "free fertilizing" on your previous post so I thought you don't fertilize at all except some Epsom. But now you provide N, so you must be fertilizing then, maybe not so strong? any rate you apply?

So the pot seats on a saucer filled with water and the only holes on the pot are at the bottom? Like a semi-hydro? What's the black pot for? to prevent algae?

Did you see any roots submerge in the water?

Thanks
 
I'll try, please bear in mind that english isn't my first language, it is my third and I'm still 'in progress' ...

I don't feed much in general, as my tap water already has a salt load of 1,5g/l. Therefore I must prepare different 'waters' for different plants. When I run out of rain water (June or July) I buy water with low salt content. This water I use first in my aquaria, and afterwards for my plants. As I cannot use tap water for flushing surplus of salts, I must prevent salts building up at any rate - until it rains.

Big and special plants get extra feeding. When I fertilize these special plants (professionals please stop reading now) I do it ad libitum ... er, freely, the liquid fertlizer I used these days is the cheapest, (5-5-5, 2,02% N - ammoniacal, 1,61% ureic, 1,43% nitric) and I pour a bit of it .... :eek: into a 4 l vase and from there I water the plants ... and as long as there is water in the vase, two, three, four days ... so I can't tell you ppm's. Two or three time a month I add a bit of algae extract to this watering-water ... and sometimes epsom-salts; this roth is the only one that gets half a tea-spoon of epsom salts directly on the surface of the substrate, twice a year ... .
So this is not scientific, nor :eek: is it horticulture, (I should know it better)...

Now is summer here, and humidity outside is very low, even if I spray four, five times a day, the substrate does not hold water very long, so I need to water every second or third day. In about a month this will change, and I will reduce watering to once a week. Accordingly there will be less fertilizing.

I can't tell if I feed every third or every fourth watering. It depends on the weather: during very hot and sunny spells I don't feed at all - I even try to use the cleanest water (least organic load), warm and cloudy weather encourages me to fertilize much more. Dry spells (air humidity less than 40%) - and I don't feed.

The pots are normal pots. Even if the saucer is completely full with water, there will be just a little water eventually touching the roots - not like semi-hydro, because of the (5 mm) rim the pots have to prevent them from sitting in water.

And yes, the black pot is to prevent algae.
 
Thank you Secun, you done good. Did you say you just sprinkle Epsom on top of the media? Well, it worked for you. Lots of stuff to learn from your experience.
Goodluck on the flower, I hope it will be as robust as the plant.
 
blade (blād)
n.
1. The flat cutting part of a sharpened weapon or tool.
.
.
.
9. Botany
a. The expanded part of a leaf or petal.
b. The leaf of grasses or similar plants.

Sometimes, both things are the same.

PA200432.jpg
 

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