Paphs images 2006 from my collection-so far

[GuRu]

Hello everybody,

after beeing a newbe since a few weeks let me show you what was in bloom in my collection in this year so far.

and last but not least

I hope you will enjoy the images.
Just said the program to me the number of images is limited to 10. If you are interested I will send the missing 5 images in the next few days.

Best regards from Germany, GuRu

 

[Heather]

Very beautiful blooms and your photography is wonderful. The first two where you have the smaller image of the whole plant is ingenious.

Thank you! I'd love to see the others also.
P. helenae is such a cutie, no?

 

[Marco]

Hey Guru. Great photos and flowers the flowers are fantastic I especially love the armeniacum Please do keep posting pictures I would love to see them

 

[SlipperFan]

Sure -- bring them on!
I love your leuchochilum.

 

[Marco]

Guru - I see rocks of some sort in some of the photos. I'm just wondering what kind of medium you use for your plants. Thanks

 

[cdub]

I've wanted to ask about paph violascens on the forum since I hardly ever see anyone cultivating it. I like that one. All your species and photos are exquisite! Keep em coming!

 

[GuRu]

Guru - I see rocks of some sort in some of the photos. I'm just wondering what kind of medium you use for your plants. Thanks

Hello Marco,

I use an inorganic potting medium. It constists of a mixture of Seramis (trade name here in Europe for small pieces of burned clay I don't know whether it is in trade in US) and pieces of rubber-foam (size of a hazelnut). A drainage layer of cut styrofoam is on the bottom of the pot and a layer of pebbles ( they look better than the reddish Seramis) is on the top. Another benefit of the pebbles is - they prevent algae's growing on top of the potting medium (the moist potting medium is underneath the dry pebbles and light doesn't come through to the moist potting medium).
You can see the uncovered surface of Seramis shining trough on the images of Paph. callosum and Paph.xconco-bellatulum. That was before I put the pebbles on the Seramis.

Best regards from Germany, Guru

 

[Ayreon]

Great flowers, great photos. Love the armeniacum. I need to get myself one

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

Great photos! P. violascens used to more available- though never common- in the US in the pre-CITES years. If you can get it, its a slow grower, not easy to keep alive, but it does spike easily....unfortunately, I found when I had it, it loved to spike in the worst heat of the summer....so of course they tended to blast.... Take care, Eric

 

[Rick]

I've never seen a violacia in a collection. Give us some info on your experience Guru:clap:

 

[Mahon]

Very nice pics! I especially like that Paph. callosum var. wanerianum...

Great photos! P. violascens used to more available- though never common- in the US in the pre-CITES years. If you can get it, its a slow grower, not easy to keep alive, but it does spike easily....unfortunately, I found when I had it, it loved to spike in the worst heat of the summer....so of course they tended to blast.... Take care, Eric

Eric,

I find the opposite with my Paph violascens... it is very easy growing... they tend to be VERY stolonous. When in spike, I cut down on watering, but not allowing the medium to go dry. Growing in Sphagnum moss keeps them WAY too wet, and coarse medium does not retain enough moisture for the plant...

I had recent trouble with a pot of Paph. violascens, but I have a feeling it was due to being sprayed severely with insectecides (as I am also loosing another species Paph. near it)... how do you grow your's, Guru?

-Pat

 

[GuRu]

If you can get it, its a slow grower, not easy to keep alive, but it does spike easily....Eric

Hello Eric,

Let me ask you a question - do you know fast growing paphs????
I only know slow growing ones, slower growing ones and P. rothschildianum is one of the slowest growing ones.

I've never seen a violacia in a collection. Give us some info on your experience Guru

Hello Rick and Pat,

What shall I say, I don't do anything special to it.
I purchased it as P. papuanum from a Taiwanese breeder/vendor on an orchid show (exhibition - we call it in Germany) nearly one year ago. Now I know after its first flowering it is P. violascens. It's funny but I purchased another P. violascens from a German nursery at the same day. It is a much younger plant and I think it will take another 2 years to get in flowering size. The colour of its leaves is a more lighter green therefore I think the colour of the flower will be lighter, too.
I grow all my paphs in the same potting medium which I explained yesterday.
If you read my introduction to the forum you will know I'm an indoor grower. They have to get along with a normal house/flat climate. Ok, there a warmer or cooler places, bighter or darker ones and so on but in the end all paphs have to get along with temperatures and humidity in our house.
Most orchids are very adaptable until a certain point and so are paphs.
I don't spray them at all. Since I ceased to spray all my paphs grow much better. I got used to spray from my greenhouse era but there is much less air ciculation/movement in a house/flat than in a greenhouse.
At the moment a new sprout is emerging at my plant so I'm sure it feels fine.

Best regards from Germany, GuRu

 

[GuRu]

some more photos

Here are some more photos of my flowering Paphs so far in 2006.

and as an extra for Heather and Mahon two images with flower and the whole plant

Hope you will enjoy the images.

Best regards from Germany, GuRu

 

[Heather]

Oooh, those are great! I love the coccineum in particular. Your photography, again, is just wonderful! Thank you!!!

 

[SlipperFan]

Beautiful flowers, GuRu!

 

[Ross]

I, also like the coccineum! The red color in the dorsalis great.

 

[Mahon]

That Paph. coccineum is great!

That stinks about the Paph. papuanum...at least you got a really good species though!

Paph. papuanum will have more ovate, shorter, deeper green leaves than Paph. violascens. The leaves tend to be quite floppy also... vegetatively, Paph. violascens and Paph. papuanum are not even remotely similar... mottling patterns and colorations differ quite a bit too... hope this may help you in finding a P. papuanum!

-Pat

 

[GuRu]

......That stinks about the Paph. papuanum...at least you got a really good species though!........-Pat

Hello Mahon,

You are absolutely right I'm not disappointed with having got Paph. violascens instead of Paph. papuanum. Seen in a sober light it also was worth the money I paid for.
I had never seen Paph. papuanum alive before. You can't tell one species from the other when they are lying in a heap of plants with bare roots. Perhaps there was also Paph. papuanum but I picked out Paph. violascens.
In the end I think it's better to grow two Paph. violascens than none.

Best regards, GuRu.

 

[GuRu]

Paph purpuratum

My Paph. purpuratum is flowering with 2 blooms since a couple of days. It is always amazing to me how this small plant produces these beautiful flowers.
I hope you will enjoy the photos.

and here a two close ups of the centre of the flower with the staminode

Best regards from Germany, GuRu

 

[Mahon]

Very nice!

-Pat