Is there a guide to Paphs for beginners?

[NYCorchidman]

It is registered as "Hsinying Alien".
I have a few of them, and the newest of them is from Trader Joe's in Northen Californial last month.
I was surprised to find paphs there as my TJ never ever carries paphs.
I would have bought all six of them (for $8 each), but most were dried up unfortunately.
The one I got is quite nice and I am looking forward to the next season's bloom.

[jeremyinsf]

The TJ's here get paph's pretty regularly. My first Paph came from there. And my oldest currently held orchid is also a TJ's paph and I love it.

Good luck finding one with a tag though. And I too find they are often damaged (probably due to mishandling).

[RandomGemini]

Thank you! I will write that down on the back of the tag! My hubby thinks it looks like an alien life form, so the name really fits!

What's your culture like for this paph? I've got it sitting in my dining room (my quarantine spot) and I'm enjoying the bloom there for now, but was planning to move it in with my phals after I repotted it. I have a grow light in there, so I thought it would do better in there over the winter.

This was the only one they had at TJs when I was there, if they'd had another paph, I might have gotten it instead of the oncidium.

Edited to add: Both of my orchids from TJs this time came with tags this time, though I do not normally see tags in the pots there. I might have passed on this paph if I hadn't known for sure that it was the one that I wanted. I've gotten to the place where I'm trying to choose plants that are on my wish list, and not purchase anything on impulse. Wish me luck with that!

[NYCorchidman]

The ones I saw in Cali were all tagged.
Five Supersuk & Raisin Pie cross, and one Napa Valley something (the white/green one).

---------- Post added at 12:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:48 AM ----------

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

Thank you! I will write that down on the back of the tag! My hubby thinks it looks like an alien life form, so the name really fits!

What's your culture like for this paph? I've got it sitting in my dining room (my quarantine spot) and I'm enjoying the bloom there for now, but was planning to move it in with my phals after I repotted it. I have a grow light in there, so I thought it would do better in there over the winter.

This was the only one they had at TJs when I was there, if they'd had another paph, I might have gotten it instead of the oncidium.

Edited to add: Both of my orchids from TJs this time came with tags this time, though I do not normally see tags in the pots there. I might have passed on this paph if I hadn't known for sure that it was the one that I wanted. I've gotten to the place where I'm trying to choose plants that are on my wish list, and not purchase anything on impulse. Wish me luck with that!

You can grow your paph along with your phal.
They need good light, but not super strong light like cattleyas.
Water them before going bone dry as they do not want to dry.
Keep them warm or intermediate. See, basically the phal care.

How many growths do you see on yours?
I find this cross rather a slow grower in the beginning, but once it forms a small clump, they tend to speed up a little. Individual plants may also have their own "personality".

Most of this hybrid come out coloratum, but occasionally, there are some vinis.
I had tons, but only kept two dark ones, not quite vini, but dark and interesting.

The one I recently bought is coloratum, but very pretty and the flower was very large for the type.
Thing is it seems a bit stressed during the trip with me. It is not doing anything. lol

Enjoy and Good luck!

[jeremyinsf]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

The ones I saw in Cali were all tagged.
Five Supersuk & Raisin Pie cross, and one Napa Valley something (the white/green one).

Maybe there is a new supplier - I haven't been back there for quite a while. There was a few years where they would come in and they would NEVER have a tag. These were all in San Francisco proper stores, however. I -do- understand the different areas have different suppliers!

[No-Pro-mwa]

Nice find love it.

[RandomGemini]

I think there might be one new growth on it, if so, it's very tiny. There's a bunch of green moss on the top of the pot near the base of the plant. I'm really looking forward to getting that out of there so I can see what's going on, but I do want to keep the bloom around for a bit, so I'm leaving it alone until the bloom drops, then I'll repot and know more about what I've got to work with.

[Troythediver]

http://eurobodalla.org.au/fileadmin/...ropagation.pdf

I read the first couple pages of this and it made me really sad about the loss of paph species in culture. Have things changed?

[jeremyinsf]

I've read this too. I also found that part... dreary.

But then I considered how many orchids in general don't survive in culture. Reality is that most do not.

I asked a long term grower about this and he made the point that while many of us are hobbyists and stuff, quite a few paphs (espc the multi-florals) are triggered to be ready for mother's day where people buy as gifts, enjoy them for what they are but then end up either throwing them out or killing them shortly thereafter anyway. I thought it was a really good point.

My thought here - yes, it's tough to hear, but I think he's somewhat on par, but it doesn't apply just to paphs.

[RandomGemini]

Originally Posted by Troythediver

I read the first couple pages of this and it made me really sad about the loss of paph species in culture. Have things changed?

I can't speak much to the science of why this is, but since the first few pages I read did not speak much on the science issue, I don't think I need to touch on that.

I think that this author is probably correct. That doesn't shock me. I think that it is probably similar to the sort of loss that I saw in the reef aquarium hobby. I lost more corals than I saved. Out of 20 or so corals that I purchased, I had 5 left when I figured out what was wrong with my system and that it was a fundamental flaw. The shape of my tank was such that I could not provide sufficient flow over the corals to keep them healthy.

This sort of loss happens in every hobby. In the process of learning how to care for complex species, so that we can save them for future generations, we will lose more than we save, until we get it right.

I guess we don't have it right yet and certainly, we're never going to be as correct about our culture as mother nature is about hers.