I just got my first Paph.

[jayman8117]

Paph mauadiae "Napa Valley" I bought last night at Trader Joe's for 7.99.
It is in bloom, 1 flower, leaves look great, mottled leaves look cool, potted in sphagnum moss, 3" plastic pot with 4 slits on the side. It looks like there is a diamond shaped plastic thing inside the pot.

All tips on light, temp, water, fertilizer, and general care will be appreciated.
King, where are you?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I'll be honest with you, while I do know about certain orchids, Paphs aren't my field of expertise.

I just recently have been quite successful with Paph niveum. If the Paph is from the section Brachypetalum or Parvisepalum, I will know something about them.

All other sections of Paphs are not plants that I grow.

Although...

One thing I do know is:

Take the Paph out of the moss. To my knowledge there are no such things as Paphs that grow in bogs.

Moss as a top dressing is fine. Full moss for Paphs is ill advised.

I will look up "Paph mauadiae" and see what I can gather.

In the meantime, others with more Paph experience can help you out.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Okay...

I found out that "Paph mauadiae" does not exist.

It is not even a species. It's a hybrid.

So it should be spelled as such:

Paph Maudiae 'Napa Valley'

This is a complex hybrid and it'd difficult to pinpoint which section(s) it has in it's bloodline.

I can't tell if it's a calcareous Paph or not.

The roots are hairy and grow pretty slow. Provide a well draining and airy mix. What that would be is not my field of expertise.

Others should chime in with their responses. Just be patient.

[RosieC]

King is right Paph Maudiae is a complex hybrid, which is quite popular. So much so that you also get Maudiae 'type' hybrids. Actually I've just found info which indicates the original was a primary hybrid, but I had previously read that the original was a more complex hybrid. Either way, these days the name is used for a whole range of hybrids of similar type to each other.

I've not had mine long that long, so I can't be sure I'm growing it right, but I grow it between about 60F and 80F, in brighter light than my Phals (it's in a west facing window but in the UK it won't be as bright as in california).

I water about the same as my Phals (when it dries out about once a week) but I get the impression a bit more often would be good. I fertilise with standard orchid fertiliser once a week (flush every fourth week, when I remember).

Mine is growing in medium grade CHC with some perlite mixed in. When I bought it it was in similar grade bark.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I kinda wanted to make a note about why I'm a stickler for capitalization/non-capitalization of scientific names while the subject is about.

This is a perfect example of how it would drive me nuts trying to figure out what somebody has if the name was not written in the correct format.

Maudiae is actually a complex of complex hybrids not a species.

But...

Maudiae can be easily confused for a species name. Especially if I didn't observe the proper format for scientific names.

I'd throw someone completely off if I wrote:

Paph maudiae 'Napa Valley'

versus:

Paph Maudiae 'Napa Valley'

......

This was what I meant by breeders throwing in their plant humor. It's funny at first (and only to the breeder). After a while it just plain sucks. Talk about not taking others into consideration. Boo! Bad form.

In my opinion, this is how not to come up with a name for a hybrid.

[RosieC]

I agree King. It's a subtlety that is actually very important, but is not necessarily realised by beginners. I know that until I realised the significance I would copy a name and change the case, simply because I did not realise it mattered.

Maudiae is one that confused me for a long time, as I thought the name looked like a species name. It's only once I realised the significance of capitalisation that I realised it is a hybrid.

[RosieC]

One thing I have noticed is that the olders hybrids have a tendency to have similar names to the species. It seems to be partly the style of name that was in use at the time (a tendency to make it look like Latin).

Paph Maudiae was first registered in 1900 from what I have read, and I think that's one reason for a name like it has.

[OrchidSue]

Paph. Maudiae is a primary hybrid between the 2 species Paph. callosum and Paph. lawrenceanum. Maudiae is considered one of the easier types of Paphs to grow. It is not calcareous. Small or medium bark, or any good "Paph mix" is appropriate for medium. Sphagnum moss is generally not recommended.

Susan

[toynutz]

I have several Paphs from TJs and my first piece of advice is repot it right away… even if it’s in bloom. All of mine were potted in extremely hard-packed sphag moss along with various pieces of plastic, wooden stakes, twist-ties, flower clamps, etc. They all kept their blooms (very forgiving of rough handling) and were much happier being potted in a good orchid mix. I guess that’s the price you pay for getting “cheap” orchids… I recently picked up a wonderful Supersuk x Raisin Pie with 6 growths and 2 flowers for $8!!!

I’ve only been growing orchids for a few months, so I might not be able to give the best advice, but my Paphs seem to be doing great so far. I usually water once a week and once a month I water with a weak fertilizer solution. Temps are about 65-70+ during the day and 60-65 at night. The light is from a west window that does not get any direct sunlight so I supplement it with a grow light. I’ve heard they benefit from good air circulation, so I run a fan in the room during the day (but don’t aim it at them).

BTW, that “diamond shaped plastic thing” is probably a plastic container… my local TJs orchids usually come in a plastic pot inside of a clay pot.

[jayman8117]

RosieC and the King,
thanks so much for your expertise.