Paph Insigne with no roots rescue

[Ale_V]

Hello and thank you all for the helpful replies!

Yes, I will try this method for this orchid as soon as the kelpak arrives.

Some more questions I’ve matured in the meantime…
- after this first cycle with Kelpak shall I go back to the usual MSU N 100/120 ppm formula?
- I’ve found only two suitable pots without holes: one is larger but shorter, one is thinner but higher (but at the same time it has a higher inner base). Any advice?
- which other types of orchids are suitable to grow with this method?

Thank you very much!


Ale

[Ray]

Any plant can be grown that way, but that does not mean every grower can.

If you want to be a successful orchid grower, stop thinking in terms of “what’s the best” and “what plants will like it”.

Orchids are the “Goldilocks” of the plant world, and each one has its own set of “just right” growing requirements. Focus on “what this plant needs”, analyze your growing conditions and your willingness and ability to water them, and figure out which containers and potting media are going to work well to achieve what the plant needs.

For example, in my nice warm greenhouse back in Pennsylvania, all my phalaenopsis were in semi-hydro culture. When I moved to North Carolina, with no greenhouse, they absolutely thrived out on my deck in the heat and humidity. When I brought them in for the winter however, evaporative cooling from the moist, open and airy LECA in the relatively dry interior air, coupled with turning down the thermostat to save energy, led to the root being too cold and dying. I switched to more traditional culture with a different potting mix and they are fine.

As to fertilizer use, wait. The plant cannot take up nutrients until it has a root system.

Please describe your feeding regimen in detail. What formula? What mixing ratio? How often?

[Ale_V]

Thank you very much!

So far for my orchids I've been using the same fertilizer for all of them, Rainmix.
This is the formula: 11,8N+2,7P2O5+13,7K20+11,8CaO+3,5MgO+4,8SO3
I have a RO system which provide 6.4 pH water (which raises to 6.8 pH after a day in a container) 7 ppm.
Using 1Gr. of Rainmix I get a solution which my instruments reads to be 5.6/5.7 pH, 577 ppm.

So far, I’ve been watering about once a week. When I see the roots of my Phals turning silver through the transparent pots, I wait one or two more days before watering. My Psychopsis, Miltoniopsis, and Vanda are in self-watering pots, so I just add water with the same fertilizer whenever the reservoir runs dry.

Any additional advices?

Thank you so much!

[SADE2020]

[Ray]

For once a week feeding, I recommend applying between 75-125 ppm N. For an 11.8% N fertilizer, that would require 0.85g/L for the middle of that range. At 1 g/L, you're applying ~118 ppm N, which is well within that range.

Using the same concentration and just refilling the reservoirs of the self-watering pots is a sure way to the long-term execution of your plants.

Not everything in the reservoir is absorbed; some of the water is lost to evaporation. As that happens, the nutrient concentration of the water gets higher and higher, and some precipitates. Then, if you add more, you're redissolving some of that, making the solution more concentrated, and it gets even more concentrated as that water is lost. Eventually, you'll poison the plant.

My recommendation is that you NOT wait until your plants are dry before watering. If the potting media you use are open and airy, root suffocation is not a risk, so they can stay moist. Flood the living hell out of them at each watering (again, before they completely dry out) so that you flush and water in one step.

[Ale_V]

Thank you very much for the insight!
That's actually something I've been wondering on my own for quite sometime!

I guess the problem relies with the self watering pots as to water the other one I soak the whole vase in a bigger container so I am already doing what you suggest, if I understood correctly.

I didn't really understand what I should do with the self watering ones. As medium, in those, I use sphagnum moss and bark (bark size accordingly to the type of plant).
For the Psychopsis I use fine bark (6-9mm) while for the Vanda (I know that probably in the self watering pots is absolutely not the best) with small amounts of sphagnum moss and big chunck (5-8 cm) of bark (the mix ir really super ventilated and the roots seems to be fine and growing). Unfortunately for me it would be impossible to keep it without medium watering it once-twice a day...
The Miltoniopsis is the one which is probably doing best: second time it flowers and growing really well. In this case I used more sphagnum in the mix and a small-medium bark.
So far they all seems to be fine, roots are growing in all cases, and so does the plant.

What would you suggest?

Therefore, also in the S/H with leca, what shall I water them with?

Thank you so much!

PS: Kelpak arrived today (surprisingly), I've bought the leca and tomorrow I'll go forward with the procedure you suggested.
Many thanks again!

[Ray]

Nobody can tell what is best, because we don't know your specific conditions. If what you're doing works, keep doing it!

In my book, plants in LECA do best when the reservoir is maintained with 25 ppm N solution. Flood the pot with that at every watering. That rewets the LECA, flushes it, and refreshes the reservoir all in one step.

[Ale_V]

Hello,

sorry for my late reply but yesterday has been a busy day!
I've finally got all the material and today I'll do as you suggested, I'll let you know how it goes...!

Yesterday I've been to a plant fair and I've come home with a new Paph, on the vase is written "A Donkerrod" but I've found it as "Vincolor", anyone knows what exactly is?
It is going to flower, can I put it now in S/H or shall I wait for it to loose its flower first?

Many thanks,


Ale

[Ale_V]

Hello!

Today I’ve bathed the Paph in the Kelpak solution and repotted it in S/H.
I did not put in the plastic bag because I’ve opted for the green house where, at the moment, I have 99% humidity and 25C, I hope that’s fine.
I’ve put it on the ground, in the shade, under some Philodendrons

I attach some pictures, please let me know if you see any mistakes!

Thanks a lot!


Ale

[Ray]

The new Paph is a “Maudiae type”, which is a general descriptor of many many hybrids. Vinicolor indicates that a wine red color dominates and the donkerood indicates dark red.

Paphs tend to be good about switching into S/H, but I’d not do so at this time.

The best time to repot any plant is just as new roots are emerging from the base of the plant.

Your rescue plants looks like you’ve done what you can, for now.