Brandon Tam
Well-Known Member
We use YaraLiva Calcium Nitrate 15.5-0-0. We fertilize every time we water so we use a low concentration output through our Dosatron machine.
Repotting Paph. stonei specimen
- Thread starter Brandon Tam
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AdamD
Catasetinae Crazed
Keep that thing together! What a beauty! How's the flower quality?
Lance Birk
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This plant of P. stonei is a division of one purchased by S. Robert Weltz, the man whose collection The Huntington received in May, 2010 and he grew it well until he died in March of that year. In September 2010 I repotted this plant into a potting mix I first constructed in 1964 which I've named "Birk's Mix." The mix consists of small fir bark, chopped Green moss and washed river sand; the recipe is published in my Grower's Manual and is the best mix ever! This mix precludes the popular use of organic fertilizers since they cause/hasten decay. With most water supplies I seldom find it necessary to fertilize considering the mineral (and some organic, too) content of both the sand and water. Because of the very high light conditions now I found it useful to fertilize 1-2 times per month with water-soluble calcium nitrate, especially from March through October, the mix and irrigation water provide other necessary nutrients,
Since 2010 this plant has flourished in the greenhouse set aside to house the thousands of orchids in Bob's entire collection of fabulous, mostly awarded and/or outstanding clones of the world's finest orchids. Conditions inside were set to: High incidence of bright sunlight, very large volumes of moving air 24 hours per day, including a wet pad-and-fan system which remains open and exchanges the entire volume of inside air in minutes when operating; and lots of water. Under normal year-round conditions the collection is watered two times per week, and often a third time to thoroughly rinse/leach the potting medium. This retards the incidence of rots and salt build-up. (The Green moss being the other critical decay-inhibiting element.)
For a plant of this mass (it was half this size 5 years ago) I incorporated approximately one-third large-size fir bark to the regular mix and packed it firmly. ( As a note - Do not be tempted to pot paphiopedilums according to size of the leaf mass only. Put large plants with small root mass into a pot to fit the roots! In this case, the roots are massive.) As testament to the mix and growing conditions, it has remained in superb condition nearly 5 years before repotting. This is not unusual under these conditions.
Since 2010 this plant has flourished in the greenhouse set aside to house the thousands of orchids in Bob's entire collection of fabulous, mostly awarded and/or outstanding clones of the world's finest orchids. Conditions inside were set to: High incidence of bright sunlight, very large volumes of moving air 24 hours per day, including a wet pad-and-fan system which remains open and exchanges the entire volume of inside air in minutes when operating; and lots of water. Under normal year-round conditions the collection is watered two times per week, and often a third time to thoroughly rinse/leach the potting medium. This retards the incidence of rots and salt build-up. (The Green moss being the other critical decay-inhibiting element.)
For a plant of this mass (it was half this size 5 years ago) I incorporated approximately one-third large-size fir bark to the regular mix and packed it firmly. ( As a note - Do not be tempted to pot paphiopedilums according to size of the leaf mass only. Put large plants with small root mass into a pot to fit the roots! In this case, the roots are massive.) As testament to the mix and growing conditions, it has remained in superb condition nearly 5 years before repotting. This is not unusual under these conditions.
Brandon Tam
Well-Known Member
I have to give credit to my two fantastic volunteers, Gayle and Phil!
Justin
Well-Known Member
Brandon good thing you didn't have me as a volunteer--a few side growths would have found their way home with me 
C
Cat
Guest
:rollhappy:Brandon good thing you didn't have me as a volunteer--a few side growths would have found their way home with me
SlipperFan
Addicted
A few of us might have had the same thought...
Brandon Tam
Well-Known Member
Brandon good thing you didn't have me as a volunteer--a few side growths would have found their way home with me
If you guys could remove a single growth! Specimen was a tight bundle! Just trying to get the old mix out was a challenge!
Paphman910
Well-Known Member
Big stonei! I repotted my stonei earlier in the year into a 13 inch pot and it was huge. Only had it for about 7 years from a 15cm seedling.
Brandon Tam
Well-Known Member
WOW! That is impressive! Does it bloom reliably for you? What was the most amount of spikes did you have on it?
Paphman910
Well-Known Member
Yes, every two years but last year the plant flowered 3 times because all the growth matures at different time. This plant is always putting out new growths and lost count of how many growths it has 2 years ago.
It grows non stop year round and seems like this plant only makes a spike every 2 years. I wish it would flower all at the same.
BTW You got an impressive stonei specimen.
Brandon Tam
Well-Known Member
This year, we have a lot of Paphiopedilums that have different growths that bloom at different times! Very weird year! We would have a Paph. specimen that would shoot out 3 spikes now and 2 spikes a few months later! Not normal for us....
