Paphs in my absence...

[paphioboy]

My slipper babies have been growing very well without me around.. (is that a good thing? ). I'm so proud of them... None are in flower though... (lots of leaves for you to see, Eric oke...
P. Mem. Arthur Freed (chamberlainianum x lowii), a seedling I got last year..

P. LukLuk (niveum x stonei), grown for 2 years, yet to flower...

P. Herbert Bernhart (glanduliferum x liemianum), another seedling I got last year...

P. wenshanense..

And P. Wild Thing (godefroyae x stonei)..

It is interesting that P. LukLuk has longer leafspan than Wild Thing, although both are small brachys with stonei.. I sure hope that they bloom out well... (fingers crossed)...

 

[JeanLux]

very nice plants! Hope you can post pict. with the blooms soon!! Jean

 

[Faan]

Your plants do look very well. What medium do you use to grow them in?

 

[NYEric]

None are in flower though... (lots of leaves for you to see, Eric oke...

That's OK w/out leaves..no oxygen! You're going to owe your dad a lot for baby-sitting! oke:

 

[likespaphs]

That's OK w/out leaves..no oxygen!...

dude. do you mean no oxygen for us or no carbon dioxide for the plant?oke::viking:

 

[NYEric]

No corybas for you! oke:

 

[paphioboy]

Your plants do look very well. What medium do you use to grow them in?

Faan, unlike what most of you use in temperate countries (bark, spongerock, rockwool etc..), I use a medium which is very organic and soil-based. There is no definite 'recipe', I just use whatever I happen to have and grow the plants normally. They will adapt to the new medium pretty quickly. My medium consists of various proportions of fernroot, dried leaves, limestone, charcoal, perlite and soil... I used to add sphagnum but I now exclude it as it is way too wet..

That's OK w/out leaves..no oxygen! You're going to owe your dad a lot for baby-sitting!

I think you mean no O2 for us... Yup, I owe him big time, but there isn't much to do really. He is in charge of watering only. My plants go without fertiliser and repotting for the whole year...

No corybas for you!

Huh?!

 

[paphioboy]

More leaves...

I don't know why I'm posting so many pics of leaves without flowers... Please bear with me... I miss my paphs so much..:sob:
P. angthong:

P. esquirolei:

P. Transdoll, purchased 2 years ago as seedling..:

P. sukhakulii:

P. Ron Williamson:

 

[paphioboy]

Questions...

I have 2 paph exul, which are genetically the same, cos they're divisions, which never seem to want to flower. I've had them for over 5 years..! I grow them very bright. Many people have managed to bloom exul under shadier conditions.. I realise that exul is a species that needs to clump before it blooms, but the first plant has 10 growths of various sizes.. Any advice on this? Thanks...
Main plant:

Division:

P/s: If they still do not bloom, I'm going to put them in full sun with my mokara..!!:evil:

 

[Rick]

Do you have any limestone or bone meal in your potting mix with your exul? They look great, and with 10 growths its more than enough to expect regular blooming. I don't know how bright yours is, but mine is in Vanda level lighting.

This is another limestone loving paph. I'm starting to see a pattern that suggests that a lot of the blooming, blasting, and rot problems associated with calcareous species may be associated with phosphorus deficiency. Phosphorus is the "energy currency" of plants for everything from rooting, flowering, and disease resistance. I started looking into this when I read Sanderianum's post where he mentioned using that high phosphorus fertilizer.

It is also a touchy nutrient with regards to bioavailabilty in different pH ranges. The optimal range is about 6 - 8. In old or organic based mixes things tend to go lower than this pretty easy.

 

[paphioboy]

Do you have any limestone or bone meal in your potting mix with your exul?

Rick, I do have limestone... They are the white specks you can see on the top of the medium.. By vanda light levels, I take it you mean strap-leaved vanda, (which are grown shadier than arachnis and mokaras here)? I might just add more lime and grow it even brighter then.. Thanks...

I'm starting to see a pattern that suggests that a lot of the blooming, blasting, and rot problems associated with calcareous species may be associated with phosphorus deficiency.

I agree. There is this vendor who often brings flowering exuls for sale. I was always tempted to buy, because mine doesn't flower, but I notice that on most of his plants, the bottom leaf axils are suspiciously brown.. and he uses only pure charcoal as medium..! No limestone at all...

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

The first exul I tried to grow (many years ago) bloomed without a problem, but died. The exul I have now grows well, but hasn't bloomed...even though its several growths. Its outdoors now, next to my multiflorals and druryi, getting some direct sun, but but shade after noon. Take care, Eric

 

[Elena]

Do you have any limestone or bone meal in your potting mix with your exul? They look great, and with 10 growths its more than enough to expect regular blooming. I don't know how bright yours is, but mine is in Vanda level lighting.

This is another limestone loving paph. I'm starting to see a pattern that suggests that a lot of the blooming, blasting, and rot problems associated with calcareous species may be associated with phosphorus deficiency. Phosphorus is the "energy currency" of plants for everything from rooting, flowering, and disease resistance. I started looking into this when I read Sanderianum's post where he mentioned using that high phosphorus fertilizer.

It is also a touchy nutrient with regards to bioavailabilty in different pH ranges. The optimal range is about 6 - 8. In old or organic based mixes things tend to go lower than this pretty easy.

Quick (and probably dumb) question - what's the best way to find out if certain species are calcareous? Up until now I'd just have a quick read through Cribb's book and if he mentions limestone in the habitat description then I chuck a bit of oyster shell on top Also I'm never quite sure what to do about the primaries in which a calcareous and non-calcareous species are crossed

 

[Rick]

Quick (and probably dumb) question - what's the best way to find out if certain species are calcareous? Up until now I'd just have a quick read through Cribb's book and if he mentions limestone in the habitat description then I chuck a bit of oyster shell on top Also I'm never quite sure what to do about the primaries in which a calcareous and non-calcareous species are crossed

There is an article in the Antec reading room that is a good first read. But I have pieced things together from a number of texts. I also like Lance Birk's book.

Regardless of whether they come from calcareous substrates though, I've been finding that many good growers are using bone meal on a regular basis. Bone meal doesn't buffer the pH as high, but supplies a lot more phosphorus than oyster shell. I also found that oyster shell has a huge capacity for adsorbing phosphates, so initially it will actually pull phosphorus away from the plants like a sponge, and it may take a little time before the plants and microbes start breaking down the oyster shell. All most like adding a slow release fertilizer.

 

[SlipperFan]

Another excellent resource:
http://www.slipperorchids.info/paphdatasheets/index.html
Then click on each species. Stephen's site has loads of good information.

 

[Elena]

Thank you guys! Funnily enough I look at slipperorchids site regularly but for some inexplicable reason I never paid attention to the bit about the medium. Doh!

 

[NYEric]

I don't know why I'm posting so many pics of leaves without flowers... Please bear with me...

No; flowers now!
Just kidding oke:
You post the pics because the leaves look nice too.

 

[paphioboy]

You post the pics because the leaves look nice too.

Agreed... Even if (hope not!!) my Lukluk or Wild Thing bloom out to be not-so-nice, I will keep it cos the leaves are really nice...

 

[paphioboy]

More nice leaves...

Again, no pics.. But, just want to 'show-off' some leaves..
P. Chaipricha (niveum x victoria-regina) - beautiful leaves, it would be interesting to see how the flower looks like. I hope it blooms on a small plant, not the size of victoria-regina... Anyone have a pic of it?

P. concolor (Yunnan variety) - one from China. My most faithful concolor from Thailand has gone to paph heaven.. :sob::sob:

P. niveum - This one had very round (but a bit cupped) flowers when it bloomed. It grew into quite a large plant (about 7 growths) but sulked after repotting and succumbed to leaf rot.. This is all I have left now... Hope to regrow it nicely...

 

[paphioboy]

Seedling paphs

Its amazing how resilient paphs are.. I never thought that these seedlings will survive and grow so nicely in my absence, especially in my conditions, which may fluctuate a bit cos they're exposed to rain and sun..
P. Jolly Holiday (liemianum x philippinense) seedling - This one even has a double growth..

P. rothschildianum seedling - was just 1 year out of flask when I purchased it. Now leaf span about 4 inches. I know, I know, it needs some more medium...

P. Prim-n-proper (primulinum x glanduliferum) - This one was from my latest batch of seedlings. The leafspan has doubled and there is even a new growth emerging..

Well..not a paph, but.. the mature seed pod of Phaius tankervilliae. I'll just let the seeds disperse naturally and see if any manage to germinate...