Culture Paphs and Phrags

[kmccormic]

I'm missing some essential culture solution with raising these orchid types. I love them to pieces but I can't seem to get it right with them. I end up with white mold or fungus on the roots if I water as they seem to need (or even if I cut down to the same water schedule as my other plants) or if I put them into stone/rock/lecca then they get desiccated. I've never successfully dealt with the mold once it starts.

I'm down in Texas, and they seem to get heat stress if I leave them outside with my other orchids. It's my preference to do that since the humidity and wind is greater than when I bring them into the home. In the home it's cooler (about 75-77degrees F) and they are in an area with regular air flow and ceiling fans, but not as much light.

Suggestions? Thanks for any insight you can lend!

[silken]

How much light are they getting, both outside and in your home? For both, the inside temps sound fine. Paphs are fairly low light plants. I pot them in mostly fine bark and don't let them get dry. But they are not always soggy wet either. I water between every 3 days, out in the warm sunny greenhouse in summer and maybe every week in winter when it is a lot cooler and duller out there.

The Phrags can use a bit more sun, but usually not high light like Cattleyas for example. I would think they would prefer less heat as they grow by streams usually. Mine are in a chunky media such as medium bark, lava rock, large perlite. Usually a mix of these. Then I stand them in a dish with about an inch of water. They seem to do fairly well. They are sensitive to some water and prefer R/O or rain water. But I gave up on rain water and use tap water.

Both Paphs and Phrags need a fairly dilute fertilizer compared to some other orchids so I don't fertilize as much or as often as my other plants. They get leaf tip burn with too much fertilizer salts in the water. I always add a calcium/mag supplement to my fertilizer water as it seems to benefit all of my plants.

[kmccormic]

Thanks Silken!
When outside, they're under 50% shadecloth, and at that they're in a lower bench so less light. The eastern sun still seems to do them in (my apartment balcony faces east). Direct sun is hitting the shadecloth about 4-5 hours per day. Without the shadecloth I think it gets between 10,000-25,000fc on a sunny day.

At most they get watered 3-4 days even in high summer, as the bamboo stick feels dry.

Maybe I just need to find the right ratio of media?

[silken]

On both of these types, your bamboo skewer, if pushed into the media, should never come out dry. Paphs grow in leaf mould at the base of trees. So they are terrestrial plants, unlike many orchids which grow on tree trunks in tree tops with roots exposed to the air and sun (epiphytes). So Paphs do well with a finer media that retains some moisture. I am not an excellent Paph grower but I have some and know many who do well with them and its how they grow them. Maybe adding a bit of moss will help.

As for Phrags, they need more moisture than Paphs. Most Phrags are happy standing in water. It does need to be changed often to stay fresh and the media in the pot needs to remain wet. If a bamboo skewer is coming out dry, it is much,much too dry for a Phrag.

It may be the dryness more than the sun that is doing them in. Phrags can take a fair bit of light, especially if you are using shade cloth. Paphs are similar to Phals in their light requirements and temperature requirements. Both can withstand some hot days if they have enough water. Mottle leaf Paphs require less sun than the plain green leaf variety.

[bil]

Originally Posted by kmccormic

Thanks Silken!
When outside, they're under 50% shadecloth, and at that they're in a lower bench so less light. The eastern sun still seems to do them in (my apartment balcony faces east). Direct sun is hitting the shadecloth about 4-5 hours per day. Without the shadecloth I think it gets between 10,000-25,000fc on a sunny day.

At most they get watered 3-4 days even in high summer, as the bamboo stick feels dry.

Maybe I just need to find the right ratio of media?

Holy crap! 25,000? I thought it was 11 - 12 here!

My paphs and phrags are under bamboo slats and a 60% shade cloth.
They get watered every other day with about 25ppm KLite - that is about 1.4g in 6.5 litres of RO water.

Temps outside there hit 43C today, which is what, 116F more or less?
So, if they live thru that they can obviously take a bit of heat.

[kmccormic]

Thanks Bil! Thanks Silken!

So I can set them in water or water every other day, but what about the mold? It ALWAYS comes up - white mold all over the roots and media. I'm not sure how to deal with that or prevent it. I'm getting it even in the restricted watering schedule mentioned above.

[silken]

Phrags can be watered that often. The mold has me stumped. Mine never get mold and they sit in water all the time. What kind of water are you using and what do you put in it if anything.

[Rothrock42]

I'm not an ace paph/phrag grower either, I've got a few that I've had for almost a year and haven't rebloomed yet. But they do seem to be happy vegetatively.

I had one paph that had a moldy smell -- no white growth -- I ran some hydrogen peroxide (3%) through it and that seemed to take care of that.

I have three phrags which I keep in saucers with about 1/2 inch or so of water. Once or twice a week I take them to the sink and run a bunch of water, perhaps with a little weak fertilizer, let them drain, and then put fresh, plain water in the saucer. During the week I just top off the saucers. I live in a town with very soft pure water right out of the tap.

I also keep a fan going on them most of the day. I did have a problem with the leaves/fans rotting if I got some water on the leaves until I started doing that.

I am growing indoors so I don't have a much light as you, but I have found them to be happier when i give them (the phrags) as much as I can with a west facing window.

Not sure if any of this will help you. But in my experience paphs want to be moist, and phrags even more so. Maybe the white mold is a problem with your growing medium?

[Ray]

Full sun at noon is about 10,000 fc. I would put paphs and phrags in about 25-35% of that - peak, noontime level.

You really ought to try a few in semi-hydroponic culture. It really simplifies watering, as you cannot overdo it.

[estación seca]

White fuzzy mold would only be growing on roots already dead. I suspect you have underwatered to that point.

I echo what Ray wrote about S/H. My paph seedlings in S/H are the easiest-to-care-for of all my orchids. They grow steadily, and entirely without problems.