Paphs I received from Hawaii.

[denisewh]

I received five hybrid multi-floral paphs from Hawaii. When they arrived here in Florida there was some bacterial infection which I sprayed immediately and cut the infected leaves as well as isolated. However, when looking at all the roots they were extremely root bound in old media that had broken down with roots so hard they had to be soaked for hours to handle unlike what I have read about keeping them in moist media. They had been shipped so they were very dry which I expected, but when I asked about their method of care I was told they had been kept outside and that was their way of caring for them. The orchids seemed to be thriving. Is this a different way of growing paphs that I am not aware of? It seems to go against "keeping the soil moist all the time." The roots were literally hard as rocks and had grown stuck together and yet the plants looked fine from the top. I have many paphs here that were shipped so this is something new I am dealing with. I soaked and repotted into my small bark mix I use for growing my paphs and after two weeks they seem to be doing fine but I am still trying to figure out the culture they were grown in.

 

[NYEric]

Paphs don't do well in moist all the time. I speak from much experience.

 

[likespaphs]

I've heard that some places in Hawaii were it rains everyday or they water everyday, the growers use a very porous mix so they dry quickly
Of course, I have no idea if this was the case with the plants you received

 

[denisewh]

Thanks. I am open to all thoughts on this so I can understand it better for my culture program in Florida

 

[eds]

Having walked through the rainforests in Borneo that was definitely wet and humid all the time I was there! The few plants I saw were growing straight on the rocks though so lots of air to the roots.

 

[denisewh]

Well, I definitely have found out they do not like to be too wet.

 

[jokerpass]

I grow all my paph in medium bark mix (bark, charcoal, and perlite) in Toronto, Canada. All the paphs I have are bs or ls. The only time I will use small bark mix for paphs if they are ms or ss. I heard that it's difficult t grow Paphs in general in Florida except the Maudiae type Paphs, perhaps it's weather pattern. Depending on what types of paphs you have, the Parvi type (delenatii, vietnamense) for example, don't like to be dried out completely. The Brachy type (concolor, niveum), they can dry out no problem. In the winter time when it's cooler (15C), for the Brachy type, it's alway bone dry before I water, the dryness combined with a cooler temp seems to induce budding in the spring and also produce more vigorous growths in the spring as well. For the multiflurous type with green leaves (philippinense, rothschialdianum), I also let it dry out but not bone dry before I water . They want to be grown on the dryer side in general.

 

[denisewh]

Thanks, will keep this info and seperate accordingly. Does not answer my question why paphs came to me from Hawaii totally root bound and very hard stuck to each other. Medium was little to non and broken down. When I questioned this I was told that is how they are grown out there -- outside and completely rootbound but yet seemed to be thriving. It was mixture of multi-colored plants.

 

[Ray]

I don’t buy the “they don’t like to be wet” business. All of my paphs are in semi-hydro culture and thriving.

As long as the roots stay airy and the temperatures are not too low, I see no problems.

 

[denisewh]

Do you keep them sitting on tray with water and pebbles? I am going to start doing that today as they are under lights and seem to like the extra moisture.