Phrag. Paul Eugene Conroy - A primary hybrid and my first ever Phrag

[Duane McDowell]

Originally Posted by Rosiefuture

Hi Rosie, I don't know if you've seen my thread about mistakenly buying two Phrags? Well one is in spike and I'm scared to death of doing anything to make it blast.

It's called Phrag caudatum x self, will it look anything like your one? That is just so lovely and amazing looking.

I know nothing about Phrags so I don't know whether I'm likely to get one bloom to a spike or more? Does the fan die after the bloom is finished? I was told on the other thread that it will probably be about 6 weeks until the spike blooms.


Phrag caudatum x self

Phrag. caudatum is very similar to Phrag. wallisii. Yours will probably have longer petals overall.

Keep the plant well watered (VERY frequent watering, never allowing the plant to dry out entirely) with low-salt water (rain, RO, distilled, fish tank, etc...) and you should be just fine. Caudatum likes more light than most Phrags - about the same as a Cattleya. It resents overpotting.

[Rosiefuture]

What is RO? I've been watering it weakly/weekly like my other indoor orchids and it's been thriving, should I increase the watering? It's coming into Spring here in Oz.

Marion

[RosieC]

Hi Marion,

I still don't know what I'm doing with these guys either so can't really help. I did see you thread but didn't know what to advise. No idea if it will look like mine.

I think I love them though... I've not killed it in the last month so hopefully that's a good sign

[Duane McDowell]

Originally Posted by Rosiefuture

What is RO? I've been watering it weakly/weekly like my other indoor orchids and it's been thriving, should I increase the watering? It's coming into Spring here in Oz.

Marion

Sorry about that! RO is Reverse Osmosis. I don't know how moist the potting mix is staying, so the exact number of days between waterings is hard to say. I would water it before it starts to get a lot lighter weight. My guess is that this would be every 2-3 days. The leaves on your plant look a little wrinkly (just a little, though!). More water would almost certainly be a boon to your plant.
The "weakly/weekly" advice pertains to fertilizing, not watering. When you water - WATER. Soak the medium thoroughly every time. This is true for all orchids, not just phrags. It gets the mix wet enough to retain some moisture between waterings and it flushes out any salts, which can be very harmful to root growth.