Paph 'Hsinying Alien'

[farley101]

I picked up one of these at the St Paul Winter Carnival orchid show. After doing a search down the rabbit hole on this particular "tag", since it seems no one really knows the backstory on it for sure, I realized I hadn't really figured out care for this one.

Bought it in spike late January, feels like it took about 4 months to go from starting to open to fully open. Flower is on the way out, so trying to figure out the plan going forward.

It is in a tiny 2" pot, with the chunkiest bark I've seen for any of my plants. My newest cattleyas are planted in about the same size. It's only 1 fan, seems like there is more room for this to grow, even in such a small pot. I've been trying to increase watering but not sure I'm doing enough for this chunky-butt bark.

So... should I keep it in the tiny pot, or get a bigger one and a more moisture retentive medium? I only have 1 other paph from a different seller, that one is doing alright with small bark and sphag. The foliage on the "Alien" is great, I want lots more growth and want to get it in the best setup possible.

Pic attached, newly acquired at that point!

[aliceinwl]

I’ve had Paphs do great in both moss and bark. They also seem to respond positively to being repotted. If the roots are really bad or nonexistent, moss seems to work better. But, as long as they have a few good roots, bark works great. I’ve been using repotme.com’s imperial Paphiopedilum mix or 5 parts small grade orchiata, 1 part charcoal, and 1 part perlite for mine.

I have P. ‘Hsinying Alien’ and grow it in a bright north facing window. I have mine in a 3 inch pot but yours looks bigger. I have my Paphs that are closer in size to your in 4 inch pots. I try to water as soon as the substrate approaches dryness. They’ve all been very reliable re-bloomers for me.

If you do go with moss, they will probably need to be repotted annually. I almost lost one of my favorite plants when I waited too long to repot. This is a big factor in me favoring bark: it’s more forgiving if I’m lazy. In moss’s favor though, it’s really easy to gauge substrate moisture by feel and water when it approaches dryness.

[farley101]

Alice, thanks for your reply! I like your recommendation on medium, I have small bark and perlite, would have to source some charcoal and I'd be set.

The bloom on this one was great, dark red/purple. I'm a little concerned that I don't have any new growth starting. My other paph has a new growth just hanging out, waiting for the established fan to bloom or something? It hasn't changed in months!

Anyway, I'll figure out a pot and medium and make the move. I think something more proportional to the plant looks a lot better anyway!