Can't find anything about this Paph Kerchoveanum (curtisii x barbatum 'Wide spread')

[Surrealle]

Hi all! New here and newly interested in orchids. I went to a sale at our local botanical garden in Omaha last weekend and picked up a phal (which I do have a few of already) and another one that I later learned is a paph. Cue a flurry of online searches to try to figure out how not to kill it, since evidently there's different kinds with wildly different ideal care.

I'm guessing this is a mottled leaf type which appears to do better with hard alkaline water (we have well water) but we also have an RO system which I could use & add ferts to. Any suggestion which way I should go?

Photo

I'm normally a bit of a brown thumb but I'm trying to get better at it and didn't realize I was jumping into the deep end with this one, but I just really liked the leaf pattern.

TIA for any advice & tips!

[Roberta]

First, Welcome!

Your well water is likely fine (and even preferable) for this Paph (and most others). That was the conclusion that was reached by Brandon Tam of the Huntington Botanical Garden in southern California. The Paphs of their world-class collection did better with well water (200-800 ppm TDS) than with RO. Now, the well water (and tap water) in southern California hardness is due to a high level of calcium carbonate, which also results in a pH of around 7.8 to 8.2. If your hardness is due to something else other than calcium, then the answer might be different. I know that in places where the water is more pure, people use a top dressing of dolomite lime, oyster shell, or other source of calcium. With southern Californai "liquid rocks" that's unnecessary and quite useless.

Looking at the photo, the medium looks pretty coarse for Paphs. It's going to need very frequent watering, since Paphs hate to dry out. If it were my plant, I would use smaller bark.

[Surrealle]

Awesome, thank you! I was leaning toward the well water since I was worried about PH with the RO option, but wasn't 100% sure it would work for this particular strain.

I'm okay with watering it more often for now; the medium looks fresh (to my inexperienced eye, heh) and I suspect it was repotted recently for the sake of the sale, so I don't want to switch it out just yet. I also don't want to make too many changes too quickly in case something goes wrong, I'll have an easier time troubleshooting.

[Ray]

In nature, such Paph species tend to live on the forest floor, with their roots spread widely in the interface between the soil and the leaf littler that accumulates on top, so they stay pretty much constantly moist and never soppy.

Living on a barrier island in southeastern NC, I grow them out on my deck in summer (= hot and humid, with no direct sunlight), so water very heavily, very frequently, but I use inorganic media that are very airy, giving them a root environment similar to your fresh bark.

[Surrealle]

Sounds good, thank you! And yeah, about the only consistent recommendation I've seen is to keep them damp, so I've got reminders set up so I don't forget to water them Everything else I suspect will be a bit of trial and error, but hopefully if I at least get that part right I'll have some wiggle room to figure out the rest.

[WaterWitchin]

I also grow in a non-organic medium (semi-hydro, LECA). Just got a mottled leaf paph a few months ago, similar parentage. It's currently in a similar size bark to yours, which I wouldn't want to deal with watering as often as it needs. Won't be transferring it over to my preferred medium until it starts a new growth. Meanwhile, I leave it in a saucer with about a half inch of water in the saucer to provide the extra moisture it likes. When I water it, I water very thoroughly then put fresh water in the saucer. You could try that if you think it would help to keep the proper moisture level until you repot later down the line.

[Surrealle]

Excellent, thank you for the tip!