What is your Phrag. Culture?

[Tim P.]

Good Evening everyone!
I just purchased a Phrag. Jason Fischer (quite nice form I might add as it is a division). I have heard mixed things on how to care for phrags. I understand there are some that like it more moist and some that like it more dry. I have heard about saucer culture... etc. I am not at all new to orchids, but this is my first phrag, and I want to do right by her! I have been considering getting a phrag for some time now and decided this was my opportunity. Purchased from a very good seller on ebay. This phrag has besssae in the background.

My question to you is what works the best for your situation and what would you reccomend? Currently growing in loosely packed sphag.

[MrHappyRotter]

My favorite topic! I've got a little info in my profile, click and take a look. The thing is, as a whole, phrags are really adaptable to a variety of conditions and care, so don't assume that the way I grow them or the way someone else grows them is exactly how you have to grow them. For the water loving types (which your JF is), the basic requirements are: lots of high quality water, soilless potting mix, bright light, and intermediate to warm temps (and that may even be negotiable).

For my water lovers, I address the watering issue by keeping my plants sitting with water in their saucer at all times. I water twice a week, but top off periodically throughout the week. I mostly stick to RO, deionized, and rain water. I'll mix in some tap water to reintroduce a little bit of nutrition and minerals that can help buffer the pH. I feed lightly, but essentially at every watering. I switch up ferts to hedge my bets, and periodically use supplements like seaweed extract and superthrive. Once a month, sometimes more, I flush the pots with lots of clean, fresh water to help remove excess salts or nutrient build up.

My soilless potting mix of choice is rockwool based, and is primarily composed of inorganic materials. I LOVE rockwool, my plants LOVE rockwool. However, it's not easy to acquire for everyone, and truthfully, not everyone has luck with it. It does however hold lots of air and lots of water simultaneously, and it doesn't break down since it's of a mineral origin. I mix in medium grade charcoal, sponge rock, and LECA. This gives me a nice chunky mix. Then I fill in with smaller amounts of things like chopped sphagnum moss, sand, eggshells, crushed oyster shell, kitchen sink, etc. For the phrags, I add more sphag than I do for some other orchids. The sphag is there for some acidic balance to the mix, but I'm also of the mind set that as it breaks down over time, it provides a small, supplemental amount of "food" for the phrags.

For light, my current solution is T8 fluorescents. I buy the inexpensive 2 bulb 4 foot shop lights, and hang two fixtures per shelf. Plants are anywhere from several inches (or less) to a foot or more away, depending on light needs. Most of the phrags are on the closer end of that scale. I primarily stick to the 6500k bulbs. I'm not married to the idea of T8s, but in practice, despite being classified as low light by some growers, I find that they actually put out quite a bit of light, and in fact, over the years I've had to move plants further from the bulbs because they were showing signs of too much light.

My temps are a little variable through the year. For instance, in the winter I let the temps drop into the low 60s at night when it's cold outside, and they'll perhaps warm up into the mid to upper 60s (F) during the day. In the summer, by contrast, night temps drop to the low-to-mid 70s (F), an daytime temps can sometimes reach the low 80s.

Now on to you and your plant. The sphag alone should be fine, but you'll probably want to look at other options down the road. If the sphag works for you, great, stick with it. But what you may see is that it works really well at first, and then goes into decline much more quickly than other mixes. If you happen to have the plant in a transparent pot, you'll be able to monitor the mix and the roots a lot more easily. Be sure to flush heavily and often, much like rockwool, sphag has a reputation for absorbing minerals which can build up quickly.

Your Jason Fischer is indeed a water lover. I usually recommend keeping water in the saucers, just don't over do it. Not everybody is fond of the idea. If you don't keep the plant sitting in water, just be sure to water frequently enough that the mix doesn't really dry out. It's completely the wrong advice for virtually any other orchid, but for phrags, if you're in doubt as to whether to water, go ahead and water. Don't be afraid.

For light, that's much more subjective and hard to gauge for others' conditions. The good news is, your plant has a healthy dose of besseae, so it's more tolerant and more likely to bloom in shadier growing conditions. It'll still do better with more light if you have it, though. Set it in a bright (but protected) east or west window, or put it under lights where you grow and flower a typical oncidium, and it'll do fine.

[Tim P.]

Thank you for such a well thought detailed answer! I learned a lot. I always am afraid to overwater my orchids so this put me at ease to try the saucer culture... And down the road maybe switch to rock wool from sphag. Thank you so much!

[silken]

I have my 4 Phrags always in about an inch of water. My potting mix is usually a mix of leca, some chunky bark or Orchiata bark, lava rock if I have some. I have used small rockwool cubes and like them but don't have access to them usually. I don't like to use sphagnum too much as it seems to get old too fast when kept that wet but I have added small amounts of it. I feed these quite lightly as it seems they are sensitive to too much fertilizer and possibly get brown leaf tips from it. Mine get cooler temps in the winter as I have no other choice really in the greenhouse. They seem fine with it and I still keep them sitting in a bit of water thru winter.

[Zabeta]

I just acquired a Phrag. Grande, and it seems happy sitting in a saucer of water by a window where it gets moderate amounts of light, getting watered from the top once per week with light fertilizer. I have mine potted in coconut husk, bark, perlite, and sphag.

Like you, I'm still learning about how to care for this one, so hopefully we'll both have luck! I looked yours up, and wow, it's gorgeous. I love the red. Mine has those super long petals that hang down. I hope hope hope it blooms at some point. Good luck to you! :-)

[My Green Pets]

I just got my first phrag (also a Grande) last fall. I kept it moist and cool with lots of light over the winter and it didn't do anything at all. Now it's warm outside, I've put it out under 50% shade and it has started a new growth. Now that it's outside I try to water it every day.

[Tim P.]

Here is my phrag. You guys deserve pictures. My one concern is that the second growth is about an inch above the sphag? I was in the understanding the roots won't grow unless they are under the media line. But if they are that line the first fan will be waaaaay too deep. Thoughts? Does it look like I'm doing things right? http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/17/0152faf443bd823e4a44a340a538c29c.jpg[/IMG][/IMG]

[silken]

Your Jason Fischer has a lot of besseae in it and that species tends to climb like that. I have seen people grow them in tall cylinders where they just keep topping it up as the growths move upward. I don't think it will hurt the lower growth to have it partly submerged.

[cbuchman]

I have several Phrags that I grow in a very chunky bark mixture with some chopped sphag in it. I sit the pots in saucers with about 1/2" of water in them. They get good light (brighter than I had originally thought).

Because they are sensitive to salts I use plastic pots and change the medium every 2 years.

I also recently learned that phrags need calcium, especially if you are using rain water as I am. If they develop yellowing and/or split leaves, this can indicate a calcium deficiency. So I recently added a top dressing of crushed oyster shells to my pots.

Good luck!

[Tim P.]

Looked at the phrag tonight to find mold growing on the mix... Any thoughts?