Paphiopedilum sugiyamanum

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mrhappyrotter, I can't even say the name once with any accuracy! A southern accent sort of distorts some words, don't ya think? Actually, I'm
a hillbilly rather than a real southerner, but the rule still applies.

I really like this bloom and I notice the second bloom is beginning to have
recurved petals.
 
I have a couple of these in my collection, but each year they get smaller. I am too scared to try and pot them in a different mix, I need to move them around in the hope that a change in microclimate will improve their chances. Do you grow them with other mottle leafs? Light, dark?
 
that is something.
Do you grow many paphs in terracotta?

Yes, I do. I've noticed that under my conditions some paphs do better in clay with a 50/50 mix of supersphag and perlite. I usually put the mottled leaf types and the "northern" paphs like henryanum and the brachys in this mix. Multiflorals tend to prefer a more epiphytic mix.
 
I have a couple of these in my collection, but each year they get smaller. I am too scared to try and pot them in a different mix, I need to move them around in the hope that a change in microclimate will improve their chances. Do you grow them with other mottle leafs? Light, dark?

I grow it relatively warm right next to praestans and other multiflorals. The difference is that I pot it in clay with a 50/50 mix of supersphag and perlite.
 
If you grow it with your multiflorals, does that mean you grow it relatively bright? For us in South Africa, especially on the plateau, we need to be carefully of light intensity. Growers in Europe and Northern USA talk of 'bright light', but our light intensity is in a different league, we need to add another good few percentage points of shade to compare. I would imagine growers in the interior of Australia (are there any?) would need to do the same.
 
If you grow it with your multiflorals, does that mean you grow it relatively bright? For us in South Africa, especially on the plateau, we need to be carefully of light intensity. Growers in Europe and Northern USA talk of 'bright light', but our light intensity is in a different league, we need to add another good few percentage points of shade to compare. I would imagine growers in the interior of Australia (are there any?) would need to do the same.

I grow under LED plant tights (about 3 feet from a 100 watt fixture).

This is bright enough to cause some leaves on the multiflorals to turn yellow from too much light. I'm not sure that I should disclose the brand on this forum, but it is one of the makers that uses a spectrum that matches the absorption of chlorophyll almost exactly (e.g. 760nm, 740nm, 720nm, 660nm, 630nm, 615nm-480nm, 460nm, 440nm, 415nm, 380nm). It uses single chip 3 W LED's in the fixture.
 
nice flowers and photo. living in upstate ny, I can say that 'bright' to a lake-effect snowbelt northerner likes us is nothing compared to the 'bright' that i've seen while in miami, florida and likely is in southern africa.

having sphag and a clay pot, and being under lights, i'd say that the roots/plant doesn't get overly truly warm like it might in a southern area that has any amount of truly bright or sunny light, because of the wicking of the pot and moist media (if that helps), so keeping it cooler/shadier might help a declining plant do better?
 
nice flowers and photo. living in upstate ny, I can say that 'bright' to a lake-effect snowbelt northerner likes us is nothing compared to the 'bright' that i've seen while in miami, florida and likely is in southern africa.

having sphag and a clay pot, and being under lights, i'd say that the roots/plant doesn't get overly truly warm like it might in a southern area that has any amount of truly bright or sunny light, because of the wicking of the pot and moist media (if that helps), so keeping it cooler/shadier might help a declining plant do better?

Thanks, JPMC's reply went right over my head (Not growing under lights, I have never considered wavewlengths etc) I will move both plants to shadier positions and hope they improve.:(
 
Thanks, JPMC's reply went right over my head (Not growing under lights, I have never considered wavewlengths etc) I will move both plants to shadier positions and hope they improve.:(

I'm sorry if I was not clear in my response to you. I meant to say that my set-up has a pretty high amount of artificial light that can cause leaf damage to some plants. When I follow the dictum that one should give a plant (paph, phrag, etc.) as much light as it will take without leaf damage the results are usually good. If the plant still does not perform, I look to other components of culture. In this plant's case, that component seemed to be the potting medium. A more open "epiphytic" medium like bark-based mix did not work well. The current arrangement with 50/50 supersphag and perlite in a clay pot seems to have made the difference for me. I have not found one mix that works on all paphs.
 
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Thanks, it was not meant to be a criticism of your respone, only an observation of my inability to understand it correctly and meaningfully. Thank you for taking the time to give me advice and information, it is very appreciated, I have a great deal to learn.:eek:
 

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