Phragmipedium Calurum

[Susie11]

A beautiful phrag. I have seven phrags (two more have been ordered and on their way to me), and they are so easy to look after. I have most of mine in rockwool as it is a really good medium for them. Three are about to flower for the first time and so I have lots to look forward to. Beware, they are very addictive! Good luck.

[ginnibug]

Susie I would really like it if you could enlighten me on the rockwool media. I have my five phrags (soon to be 6) in moss and diatomite, but have been strongly considering a switch to rockwool. Can you share some experience with this stuff??? I really and truly am always intimidated by switching but love to investigate.


I have one of these guys and he's pretty big. If they are happy, one spike will bloom for over a year for you. They just really are nice plants.ginnibug

[greenbean]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing. Looks like you've got quite a few other blooms there, too!

[euplusia]

A healthy plant with a beautiful flower. Congrats. Nice post.
Phragmipedium Calurum is an old hybrid of longifolium x Sedenii ( Sedenii is longifolium x schlimii). It has proven its qualities over the years.
Phrags like to grow with their head in the sun and their feet always in contact with a little water (which is running, not standing in nature). They are doing ok in common bark mix for me. The local botanical garden prefers a mix of sand and peat, that I will try out when I repot.

[quiltergal]

It's lovely! Looks like a relatively large flower too.

[Susie11]

Originally Posted by ginnibug

Susie I would really like it if you could enlighten me on the rockwool media. I have my five phrags (soon to be 6) in moss and diatomite, but have been strongly considering a switch to rockwool. Can you share some experience with this stuff??? I really and truly am always intimidated by switching but love to investigate.


I have one of these guys and he's pretty big. If they are happy, one spike will bloom for over a year for you. They just really are nice plants.ginnibug

Hi Ginnibug,

Rockwool is a great medium to use for phrags as it stays wet for a long time. I use it exclusively on my phrags apart from on one which is in moss- it has caudatum in it which likes it fairly drier.

In my experience it is a great medium. I prefer the spun rockwool to the cubes but I am now having some success with the cubes -my first attempt at them left me with a teal coloured mould on the roots! Always make extra holes in the pot that you are planting in to allow for air movement -very important- and always make sure that it is approaching dryness before you water again. You still need to flush regularly, about every fourth watering normally.

Add perlite into your rockwool mix this helps with air movement and some people also add cubes of foam as well. Hope this helps.

[phragguy]

very nice

[ginnibug]

Thanks so much Susie!
So you said more holes in the pots. Now do you let the plants stand in just a little bit of water or just flush very regularly? Just from my experience with my Inca Embers, I leave a little water in the saucer because it goes through SO much water. This plant only has three fans and is in a 5 inch clear pot with moss & diatomite mixed; it will go through a good sized coffee cup of water everyday. I do still like to flush but I use the water in the bottom as an insurance policy. Also how often are you changing the rockwool or would you need to change it?
Thanks so much Ginnibug

[Susie11]

Originally Posted by ginnibug

Thanks so much Susie!
So you said more holes in the pots. Now do you let the plants stand in just a little bit of water or just flush very regularly? Just from my experience with my Inca Embers, I leave a little water in the saucer because it goes through SO much water. This plant only has three fans and is in a 5 inch clear pot with moss & diatomite mixed; it will go through a good sized coffee cup of water everyday. I do still like to flush but I use the water in the bottom as an insurance policy. Also how often are you changing the rockwool or would you need to change it?
Thanks so much Ginnibug

Hi Ginnibug, rockwool doesn't need to be changed that regularly, maybe once every year to eighteen months. I do not stand mine in water as the rockwool stays too wet for that -the roots would root otherwise. I make holes in the side of the pots to allow the roots to breath. Just get a skewer or something thicker and pierce the side of the pots a few times around the circumfrence and that should be o.k. Good luck.

[ginnibug]

Wow I didn't think that you would have to change the rockwool that often. I change my moss just a wee bit more frequently than that, and I get all the extra added benefits. You said it holds so much water; I wonder how well it would work with a Restrapia. I have so much trouble keeping them alive. I wonder how that rockwool would do in a net pot? Ginnibug