Is there a guide to Paphs for beginners?

[RandomGemini]

I was hoping to find a thread similar to the phal abuse thread, but about paphs.

Trader Joe's is going to be the death of me. I should not be allowed to walk into that store when I am having a bad day.
I swore off orchid purchases until next year, but I was planning to get a couple of paphs if some of my phals spiked and bloomed for me, and of course, I went to Trader Joe's for coconut oil and they had the exact paph I wanted, for 8$. It jumped into my basket and followed me home.

It's Paphiopedilum Supersuk 'Eureka' AM/AOS x Paphiopedilum Raisin Pie 'Hsinying' x Sib It has one spike, one bloom, which looks like it could be a little happier and it appears to be growing a new leaf.






Thanks for looking!

[naoki]

I got started with Bob and Lynn Wellenstein's web site about 10 years ago. They are not in Paph business (Antec lab, which was very influential in Paph breeding) any more, but their web site is still there, and lots of good info:

Quick Start - Buying and Growing Your First Paph.
Slipper Articles

Lance Bark's book, The Paphiopedilum Grower's Manual 2nd ed. is well worth getting it. THE PAPHIOPEDILUM GROWER'S MANUAL -- Revised-Second Edition
From this page (see the links on the top right), you can actually read most of the chapters related to the Paph culture for free.

Then there is Xavier Garreau de Loubresse's guide with lots of interesting tips here:
http://eurobodalla.org.au/fileadmin/...ropagation.pdf

[RandomGemini]

Perfect! Thank you naoki! This is just what I was hoping for to get me started!

[Optimist]

My goodness, this is gorgeous. I have only seen Phals and Dendrobiums at Trader Joes. Wow! for eight dollars that is wonderful!

[RandomGemini]

Thank you! I've never seen a paph there before either! They had a huge variety when I was there today though, there were oncidiums and cymbidiums and a couple of dens, lots of phals. I was tempted by the cymbidiums but they aren't on my wish list yet, and they were gigantic and I just don't have the space.

[Paphluvr]

Looks like a nice flower for that price. The plant, however, is sitting too high in the potting mix. After blooming is done it should be re-potted so the new growth can puts its roots into the mix.

[RandomGemini]

Originally Posted by Paphluvr

Looks like a nice flower for that price. The plant, however, is sitting too high in the potting mix. After blooming is done it should be re-potted so the new growth can puts its roots into the mix.

Thanks! It's potted in moss and there are a couple of packing peanuts in the middle that you can see when you look at the bottom of the pot. It is in a clear pot and I got a look at the roots and they look pretty good to me. I'm going to read a little more about them before I attempt repotting it, but I was thinking I would pot it in bark after the bloom drops, like I do with the phals I get that come home in moss.

[SlipperGirl]

Cute paph! I have one in CHC and it is doing really well, so you could try that, just an idea and just a little warning with these guys when you buy one it usually invites all of its friends

[RandomGemini]

LOL! That seems to be the case for most orchids, doesn't it?

I have a couple more paphs I want, I like paph macabre contrasts a lot, and paph petula in pink. I think that would give me a good color variety among my paphs, and they would look really cute sitting in my window together, those are usually out of stock when I see them available, and a bit more expensive than I wanted to spend for my first paph. I figure, for my first one, you can't beat 8$. I won't be heartbroken if I kill it, but it sounds like I can grow it really well in my conditions here and the local OS members seem to grow gigantic paphs and bulbos, so odds are good that I can keep it alive, in theory.

[SlipperGirl]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

LOL! That seems to be the case for most orchids, doesn't it?

Yes it is but I think its even worse with the slippers

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

I have a couple more paphs I want, I like paph macabre contrasts a lot, and paph petula in pink. I think that would give me a good color variety among my paphs, and they would look really cute sitting in my window together, those are usually out of stock when I see them available, and a bit more expensive than I wanted to spend for my first paph. I figure, for my first one, you can't beat 8$. I won't be heartbroken if I kill it, but it sounds like I can grow it really well in my conditions here and the local OS members seem to grow gigantic paphs and bulbos.

I grow my paphs right by my phals, so I think you will do just fine with it