Phrag. Pink Fire in bloom

[silken]

I thought I would post an update of this Phrag. Pink Fire now that the 2nd bloom has opened. It still has a few jagged edges on the petals, which I don't mind and kind of like. No growth on the pouch this time tho and they open up very nice and flat. Here is the new one and the back of the first bloom. The backs have a nice rich dark pink colour.

[camille1585]

I really don't know how I missed the original post, it really is a stunning color! A shame about the wart on the pouch. 4N related or not, you should give it another blooming to see if it's sort itself out, before considering selling it.

I think I would keep it regardless, the color is just too nice!

[silken]

Thanks Camille. It grows on me and the 2nd bud is fine, as will likely be the 3rd and 4th. Last year was the first bloom and it did the same thing, so I don't know if it will change now or not. But the blooms are somewhat larger and more substantial than last year so maybe there is still room for improvement on a 3rd bloom cycle!

[camille1585]

That each time it's only 1 bloom affected gives hope that it may eventually not happen again.
I've finally plucked up the courage to try a Phrag, for some reason the thought of growing them scares me. Once the cold snap is over I want to go visit a local grower, he has a nice selection of them.

[silken]

Originally Posted by camille1585

That each time it's only 1 bloom affected gives hope that it may eventually not happen again.
I've finally plucked up the courage to try a Phrag, for some reason the thought of growing them scares me. Once the cold snap is over I want to go visit a local grower, he has a nice selection of them.

I found that they do much better with rain water than tap water (at least our tap water). This one seems more robust and reliable than the few Paphs that I have.

[camille1585]

I have no idea what the tap water is like here, and not speaking dutch I'm not quite sure how to go about finding out. When I still lived at my parents in France the water was perfect for orchids. The village's tapwater comes from a local spring, which is nearly pure water.

[silken]

Our water here is very clean and safe to drink and no taste to it but the pH is around 8.5 and my Phrag. improved significantly when I started using rain water. No more leaf tip burn and it seems to grow better. I WISH I could use tap water for them all! Over winter I feel like I am doling out the rain water very stingily

[camille1585]

8.5???? That's really high! I can imagine that there are issues with nutrition, a lot of elements are no longer optimally assimilated at that pH, or become nearly unavailable to the plant.

[silken]

Yup 8.5 to 8.9 actually and that is info obtained directly from the city water treatment department. House plants etc. don't seem to mind it and I have raised thousands of bedding plants over the years that did great. But I saw an almost overnight (well maybe month) improvement in my Phrag and assume it has helped Paphs and others to use rain water.

Our city has very clean air and our roof is a kind that is great for collecting rainwater as there are no asphalt shingles so I am lucky in that way.

[bballr4567]

It looks amazing still! I really like the pouch in a pouch effect.