Phragmipedium Eumelia Arias

[mrhappyrotter]

Phrag. schlimii x kovachii

This is one of the darlings of my collection. The flower quality is not all that great. Yes, I know it looks amazing in the pics, now that it's freshly opened, but in a couple of days the color will fade quite a bit, the petals will reflex, and the dorsal sepal will slouch over. Still, it will maintain some of its attractive qualities.

But, this plant does have some things going for it. The flowers are fragrant, taking after schlimii's rose perfume scent. I love fragrant slippers. The plant itself is vigorous. I think I've had to repot it 3 times in the past 1.5 - 2 years, it simply outgrows anything I put it in. So far, it's been trouble free. No pests. No rot. And best of all, it loves to bloom. The plant spikes up every 6 - 8 months. In fact, this time around, it started to produce 2 flower spikes. I opted to pluck one of them, I'm trying to encourage more growths because I'm going to divide it next time I repot.

Enough words, MrHappyRotter. Enough words. Give us the pictures, you say?

 

[Parryaw]

Very nice ! Love the detail on the opening of the pouch!


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[17andgrowing]

Awesome!

 

[Lmpgs]

Gorgeous!!

Please, what kind of substate do you use? And the temperatures range?

Thank you

 

[phrag guy]

very nice and sounds like it is very happy

 

[troy]

Petals reflex back? How bad? I'm asking because I like it so much that cross might be my first phrag. Is the plant large? Have you tried facing the flower towards the light? Generally like bellatulums tend to have cupped petals if you face the flower away from the light the petals will grow towards the light reducing the cuppiness

 

[mrhappyrotter]

Gorgeous!!

Please, what kind of substate do you use? And the temperatures range?

Thank you

I use a rockwool based mix, with medium charcoal, sponge rock (large grade perlite), LECA, a bit of sphag, sand, and oyster shell. This plant and most of my other phrags sit in water at all times.

I'd say temps are warm most of the year. In the summer, night temps are in the low 70s. Daytime temps tend to be upper 70s to low 80s. In the coldest parts of the winter, night temps dip into the low 60s, daytime maxes out in the low 70s, generally. But around here, winter can be cold one day, hot the next, so the indoor temps are influenced by whether or not I need to run the heater or not.

 

[troy]

I guess that answer would be awesome if it had anything to do with the the reply I wrote

 

[troy]

Lol.. sorry, you were answering somebody else

 

[troy]

I like yur phrag I want one

 

[mrhappyrotter]

Petals reflex back? How bad? I'm asking because I like it so much that cross might be my first phrag. Is the plant large? Have you tried facing the flower towards the light? Generally like bellatulums tend to have cupped petals if you face the flower away from the light the petals will grow towards the light reducing the cuppiness

I haven't noticed the light influencing the petal orientation, but I know that the blooms on most phrags will orient themselves so as to open towards the brightest light. Initially, when the flower opens, the petals are fairly flat, but that changes over the course of a few days.

It is one of my larger phrags. It's not exactly a monster, but I wouldn't call it small either. The leaves are narrow, but they are around 20 - 24 inches long, so it does take up quite a bit of space. Granted, it's tall enough that I can fit some of the smaller, lower light plants under it.

I think this hybrid would be a good first phrag. They like to stay warm and wet, and you should make sure to use good, clean water. Kovachii hybrids are a bit pricey compared to other phrags, but EA is probably the least expensive of the bunch. Keep in mind, the individual flowers don't last long, so a plant like mine that typically only produces 2 - 3 blooms per spike may only stay in flower for a few weeks.

The flower quality on these guys is highly variable, and some are pretty crappy. I'd classify my other (presumed to be) Eumelia Arias as poor quality. Also, from what I've gathered on this forum and others, there's also a fair amount of variation in terms of floriferousness and vigor. Some, like the plant in this picture, grow quickly and without issue, others (like my other EA mentioned earlier) are nothing but trouble.

You may want to start with a blooming sized plant, or even if possible, select a plant that's currently in bloom so that you know whether the flowers are good quality and that the plant is willing to bloom.

 

[troy]

Thank you for the insight

 

[NYEric]

Cool, can you post a photo of the plant please.

 

[bullsie]

That is such a beautiful Eumela Arias!! I have several EAs and am so excited to see how they bloom out. The plants themselves are growing quite well for me. FS hates me, so for a kovachii cross I'm counting on EA blooms.

 

[eaborne]

Love it!

 

[Clark]

Attractive flower.

 

[eteson]

Nice flower.
I do have several EA plants from Peruflora and this cross seems to me a reluctant bloomer. The plants are vigorous and pest free but do not like to bloom, some of my plants are clumps of 8-12 fans with amazing root system, but I´ve not seen a single flower. I grow them the same way than FS. What I am doing wrong?

 

[trdyl]

Lovely!

 

[monocotman]

Growing Eumelia Arias

Growing this hybrid in the UK I find it to be easy and trouble free.
I bought my plant as a seedling and as usual it took 2-3 years and a couple of cycles of growth to get to FS but now is pretty straight forward and a fast grower.
The two main growths flowered last spring and there are two more new growths from these that are already maturing and showing buds.
Now that the plant is large the growths seem to mature in about 9 months.
I sit my phrags in rain water year round and feed with Akerne's rain mix.
I don't flush through the pots and repot into a bark mix about every two years.
The plants go outside in the summer in a shady area next to the cyps and come into the house about now and sit in the kitchen.
Easy and trouble free compared to most paphs!
David

 

[mrhappyrotter]

Cool, can you post a photo of the plant please.

Nothing too special, but here goes ...