How do I care for a Phragmipedium Leslie Garay seedling?
Hi everyone!
I have never had a phrag before, but I do have other types of orchids such as phalaenopsis (Which I know the best) I also have some vandas, cattleyas, dendrobiums, and oncidiums which I am also new to. I have been watching OrchidGirl's videos on youtube, but there aren't many videos on the care of phrags. I am open to any and all information. Right now, I have my phrag mostly in sphagnum moss with a little bit of bark, perlite, and lecca mixed in for aeration. I heard they need a lot of water and humidity, so I was thinking about putting it in a self-watering pot like this one in the pic that I bought the other day. I also drilled holes in the sides of the black pots since they didn't have any. Thank you!
Can you help us a little more by explaining what your "general" culture conditions are? For the first step I'm primarily interested in light intensity, length of daily light, day/night diurnal range temps, indoors/outdoors, etc. We'l assume indoors as you're in Ohio and either under lights or windowsill but really need to understand those details before I'd worry about what potting mix is right.
As Ray said, Phrags are a primo candidate for S/H but that's a whole different approach that I would leave to him to coach you through if you wanted to go that way.
If I can throw out a bit more - my phrags grow in similar conditions to my phalaenopsis - maybe a shade brighter and tolerant of cooler conditions, but I usually don't allow that to happen.
They are all on my deck all summer here in NC - north side of house, no direct sun whatsoever, but a lot of back-scatter from a wide open sky. High humidity, frequent watering. In the winter they move into windows overlooking the deck - 3 feet from their summer location.
I have my orchid indoors since it can get pretty hot outside (over (90f). I have my phrag sitting on my window seal, where it's a southeast-facing window. I also have a southwest window, but it gets direct sunlight a lot, so I put it in my southeast window. The southeast window gets bright light but not direct sunlight except a little sometimes in the morning. I keep my room hotter than the rest of the house and do not have ac in here. So it gets around 72 to 75ish. Maybe slightly warmer because sometimes I feel hot without the fan on me. I need to get a temp gauge for my room. I have a fan that I keep on as well for air circulation. I have a grow light, but I haven't put it up yet because I am having a hard time finding studs in my ceiling to hang it.
In general, Phrags need higher light than Paphs - more like Cattleya.
However, they need LOTS of water. Most Phrags do well, if the pot is standing permanently in 1-2" of water. Longifolium is one of the few, which do not like having it's toes standing in water, so just water it heavily every 2-3 days (it should never dry out).
__________________ Kim (Fair Orchids)
Founder of SPCOP (Society to Prevention of Cruelty to Orchid People), with the goal of barring the taxonomists from tinkering with established genera!
I am neither a 'lumper' nor a 'splitter', but I refuse to re-write millions of labels.
Leslie Garay is a hybrid of Phrag. caudatum and Phrag. longifolium. They often live in shallow running water with their roots in "mud." If possible you would use small sized medium like seedling medium, and oxygenated water. They would like semi hydroponic with water flushed. This is a case where you would use rainwater or bottled water (RO) because they are sensitive about water.
Youtube, watch Ed's Orchids, Equagenera, and "Here but Not." Those have good phrag tips. There are most likely more. Anything from Chuck Acker is good too.
How do I care for a Phragmipedium Leslie Garay seedling?
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