Yes, the flower was good sized(don't remember exactly how much, though i did measure it), especially considering this was its first after a long recovery! This species makes quite spectacular flowers, probably my favourite of this genus. I gifted one to my mother 4 years ago and it has been flowering annually at her office under very limited care, with increasing rosette count and flowers. Last spring it put out 3 flowers and held them on for 2 full months.
Yes, managing to save a plant that arrived with a serious infection is always nice, even if it takes its sweet time(years) to recover.
Its growing in a totally inorganic mix of zeolite, pumice and lava(Lechuza Pon with extra lava mixed in as the package that came with the pot didn't have enough to fill it and i needed to increase the volume with what i had laying around) in a self watering pot. Once i saw the aggressive infection(it was Erwinia like and very fast spreading), i removed it from its previous, CHC medium and put it in this inorganic medium to offer perfect drainage and avoid wet medium coming into contact with any leaf tissues or the base. I have found the Pon to be an excellent medium for P. callosum and i like to use it in combination with self watering pots. My mother's is growing this way as well and it always amazes me how well its growing in this bare medium(which i wish was darker coloured and more eager to grow moss like the Paphiopedilum photos i see on this forum!). The good thing is that there is nothing to rot and the plant can get all the nutrients it needs from the water supplied. And in practice they love it, don't get rot problems from it and care time is minimized. My mother's is watered every 1-1,5months. In the pot i use, with a large water compartment, my P. callosum was last watered by rain water accumulating in the container last winter(i was keeping it outside at the time) and a small quantity of dilute Rain-Mix afterwards. The container is still half-full, so it will probably be watered again with rainwater the coming winter.... Crazy huh?
I want to repot it at some point in a smaller self-watering pot as its current one is too tall to put on a desk and somewhat out of balance with its size. But i do love the fact that i truly never water it in this pot. I will miss that if i repot and need to water every 1-2months... haha
(Most of my other potted plants need watering daily or every other day which is not easy to automate indoors(outdoors i have everything in auto-irrigation except some epiphytes and special plants), so any tropical plant i grow that allows me to actually have more free time for myself, i cherish it! Pretty much all the plants i like are rainforest inhabitants and thus have large water needs, which makes for pretty much everyday watering... At least this Paphiopedilum does not add to the daily ''to water'' list the least bit. I love it! Its just growing on its own.....)
I love the foliage too, i am contemplating getting a second and trying flasking as well.
