Phrag Inca Embers...time to DIMP?

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Cinderella

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I have had this Phrag seedling for about a year and have actually posted about it before. It continues to have leaf dieback no matter what I do....I don't have an RO system but I started to water it with only rainwater/distilled water and that didn't even help. It gets those brown spots on the leaves, which grow down. I have cut every single leaf and cinnamoned them.

I even contacted the vendor (Windy Hill) to ask for suggestions. She was baffled. I soaked the whole pot (s/h) in distilled water in case there was salt in the pellets. No help. Do I just dump the thing? None of my other paphs or phrags brown like this.
 
Listen to Lance, he's a smart cookie:> Have you tried sitting it in some R.O. water and not letting it dry out?
 
I ran into a similar problem (now corrected) when I started watering with R/O water. Chuck Acker correctly diagnosed that my plants were not getting enough nutrition and the R/O only routine could hurt my plants. I since added a little fert to routine waterings and fert heavier weekly to monthly depending on the time of year. And I do keep them moist to wet at all times.
 
If there is a fungal problem-treat w/ Dragon's Blood. Add some organic media, coconut chips, sphagnum, etc to hold more moisture. It's hard to diagnose w/out a photo.
 
I only sat it in the distilled water for a couple of hours. I do fertilize it regularly but I will try growing it much more wet.
 
Cinderella said:
I only sat it in the distilled water for a couple of hours. I do fertilize it regularly but I will try growing it much more wet.

There in lies your problem.
You fertilize regularly which means you add "salt" regularly. Without adequate (a lot) of water the salts build up and will damage the leaves. Your plants need the regular fertilizer and so it becomes even more important to water more frequently.

Remember as the water in the media dries out the salt concentration of the remaining water becomes higher. This is the reason to keep the media moist.
 
Wouldn't that be effecting all of my other paphs and phrags then? I treat them all the same.

Candace....was Ray's recommendation for using MSU in s/h to fertilize weakly with every watering? I still like to flush my pots, however.
 
Cinderella said:
Wouldn't that be effecting all of my other paphs and phrags then? I treat them all the same.


Basically the answer is no. Each individual plant has it's own genetic make up. One individual may be more sensitive than all the others. Just like one person can't tolerate the sun while others can be in it all day.

On the other hand your other plants may be border line with the same problem but not presenting the symptoms.
 
I've upped my fertilizer dosage quite a bit since Lance convinced me I was under fertilizing. I've not noticed any leaf tip burn. I wouldn't mess with too many variables at once, though, if your other phrags are o.k. If you want to experiment with watering this one plant a little more and maybe sitting it in R.O water to see how it does, great. But, once you start changing too many things at once, say both upping the fertilizer and watering more, you don't know which one made any changes(positive or negative) in your plants.

Maybe your plants do need more fertilizer, but it's hard to say without knowing what you're using and at what dosage.
 
I have to say, I just couldn't grow my Phrags in S/H. Either I am not an attentive enough mother (likely) or I wasn't watering enough (2x a week, once with fert. once without) or I wasn't flushing fully enough. I don't know, but 4 moves and a huge amount of changes in my life last year and a terrible bout with thrips last summer, coupled with the fact that I just got sick of the fact that besseae hybrids sort of all look the same (sorry Eric), I got burnt out.

So, I currently am down to one besseae (the peach one) and my 4N Don Wimber (which may be up for sale soon too....) and you know, I'm really happy! I'm less annoyed with my collection and I'm starting to get excited about something new that I might be able to grow a little better than the Phrags.

FWIW, I got rid of all my seedlings this week too, they also hated S/H and grew no roots.

My multiflorals that are mature or nearly so seem to be doing better in S/H but I'm starting to think (much to my disgust) of potting them back into a more traditional mix. I really love the idea of S/H though, and the mess is so much less than dealing with bark/etc.

Just my experience. YMMV!
 
Heather said:
I have to say, I just couldn't grow my Phrags in S/H. Either I am not an attentive enough mother (likely) or I wasn't watering enough (2x a week, once with fert. once without) or I wasn't flushing fully enough. I don't know, but 4 moves and a huge amount of changes in my life last year and a terrible bout with thrips last summer, coupled with the fact that I just got sick of the fact that besseae hybrids sort of all look the same (sorry Eric), I got burnt out.

So, I currently am down to one besseae (the peach one) and my 4N Don Wimber (which may be up for sale soon too....) and you know, I'm really happy! I'm less annoyed with my collection and I'm starting to get excited about something new that I might be able to grow a little better than the Phrags.

FWIW, I got rid of all my seedlings this week too, they also hated S/H and grew no roots.

My multiflorals that are mature or nearly so seem to be doing better in S/H but I'm starting to think (much to my disgust) of potting them back into a more traditional mix. I really love the idea of S/H though, and the mess is so much less than dealing with bark/etc.

Just my experience. YMMV!

I am at this point myself. I love the idea of s/h but I can't keep up with flushing out the pots etc. I just bought a bag of bark... argh.
 
I think I've posted this before, but I've not have good long-term results with most slippers in S/H. I still have a few, both Phrags and Paphs, in it, but most of my slippers are in a diatomite/CHC/sponge rock mix. So far, so good.

A few of my other orchids have been doing very well in S/H, some I'd not have thought would: Psychopsis, Epi. ilense, and a couple of moisture-loving Dendrobiums.
 
Cinderella,
What type of media are you growing your plants in now?
How often to you water?
How often can you water?
Do you have time to water more often?
Do you enjoy spending time with your plants and watering them or do you just want them to bloom and be pretty with as little effort as possible?
 
Candace - thanks for your nice note. Care to post it publicly? ;)

Jury's still out on the mature paphs but suffice it to say the roots have not filled the pots in the last year. Based on the Phrags and seedlings I should, perhaps, revert.

Back to the days of drilling holes in aircones?
What is people's preferred Paph medium at this date?
Sigh....(argh!)
 

Yeeess?:evil: Actually, Heather can you copy and paste the P.M. I sent you? I don't remember exactly what I said, but I stand by it...unless I was tired. Or drunk. Or mad. And I don't think I was any of those.
 
Heather said:
..coupled with the fact that I just got sick of the fact that besseae hybrids sort of all look the same (sorry Eric)
You just said that to make my head catch on fire, didn't you?

Heather said:
So, I currently am down to one besseae (the peach one)
Where's the flavum!?!

Heather said:
and you know, I'm really happy! I'm less annoyed with my collection and I'm starting to get excited about something new that I might be able to grow a little better than the Phrags.
Something new? I never would have guessed! :poke:

Heather said:
..I'm starting to think (much to my disgust) of potting them back into a more traditional mix. I really love the idea of S/H though, and the mess is so much less than dealing with bark/etc.
When's the last time someone dealing w/ orchids in their natural habitat didn't come back dirty w/ soil and bark? :confused:
 

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