Phrag kovachii 'Laura' X Phrag. Living Fire Culture?

[orchids3]

Can anyone give me tips on culture for Phrag kovachii 'Laura' X Phrag. Living Fire . New plant for me and I sure would hate to loose it. I have it in Coconut Husk Chips and it is growing ok but its a new thing to me.

[Oscarman]

Nice! How large is your plant?

The grower that I have some kovachii seedlings coming from recommends the following for kovachii:

**Pk in sphagnum moss, USE RO or Rain water only

1. The moss must be as loose as you can get it; do not compact it in the pot or around the roots

2. The moss must always (24/7) be moist

3. The moss must never be cork dry

4. The moss should not be soaking wet, except just after your heavy watering (varies from home to home, usually every five to seven days)

5. Pk loves water on leaves, mist several times a day with RO or Rain water

6. Make certain the crowns and also the leaves are totally dry, not even a drop of water on them before dark

7. Keep the Pk seedlings under a dome with some water in the tray to have close to 100% Rel. Humidity, for that is the RH they come form in flask.

8. Do not spray young seedlings with fungicides. particularly Pk. many have died from too heavy dose of Physan 20 at regular strength or when sprayed too often with weak spray. My seedlings, some of them in pot for 12 months are not sprayed with fungicides.

9. If you detect fungal problems on your seedlings, because you did not observe the above point concerning clean environment, and you feel you must use a fungicide,use a very weak solution, with several days or weeks intervals

10. Fertilize immediately following watering when leafs and roots are wet. Use 250 PPM of MSU fert. for Rain Water that is approximately 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of rainwater. I fertilize every other day.

11. Keep temperatures in the 70's if you can, They can take the 80's but grow faster at low temps.

12. Never direct sunlight and 300 to 500ftcandles is fine for seedlings.

13. Cross ventilate the seedlings with a muffin fan, other fan, but don't blow them out of pot!! :-) Low air speed

[smartie2000]

Dave has covered it all...

you don't have to keep it under a dome (#7) if the seedling is already hardened off, once hardened off they can take 30% humidity but recomended humidity levels for phrags is 60%. All my phrags are closest to my humidfier

I am expecting kovachii seedlings to arrive in 2 hours.....woohoo!

[Phantasm]

I would simply grow it like you would any phrag seedling with good water and pretty much wet at the roots. My phrag kovachii seedlings are in medium bark to give the mix some space with charcoal, perlite and moss. They are keep evenly moist almost wet.

They seem to appreciate cool temperatures and lower light levels when young. One thing I've noticed is that the night temperature influences the rate of growth, and keeping temps 55-60 seems to help especially in the summer.

[orchids3]

It was a 6 lnch plant when I bough it at Redlands - about 10 inches now so I am doing pretty well. Will heed the advise about not letting the plant dry out. Grow a few Phrags and a lot of cymbidiums so understand plants that like to stay damp but not soggy. Really looking forward to this one blooming.

[L I Jane]

Did you ever bloom your phrag? I have the same one .