Phrag. Cardinale

[NYCorchidman]

With the name cardinale, I thought red flowers, but this is pretty!
Does it have schlemii in it?? I like the soft pink tone on it.

How big is the plant?

Mine Eumelia Arias I got back in February has thrown many shoots but all are small. Some new growths suffered leaf rot, but all is well at the moment.
No signs of blooming ever! lol

How much water do you give to yours?
I think I dried it too much at first as I potted it up (it came as bare root plant) in really fine, almost granular mix, and I was afraid of rotting roots. but boy, was I wrong!
Since I started putting the pot in a saucer full of water (over 3 cm deep at all times), the thing really took off.

[silken]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

With the name cardinale, I thought red flowers, but this is pretty!
Does it have schlemii in it?? I like the soft pink tone on it.

How big is the plant?

Mine Eumelia Arias I got back in February has thrown many shoots but all are small. Some new growths suffered leaf rot, but all is well at the moment.
No signs of blooming ever! lol

How much water do you give to yours?
I think I dried it too much at first as I potted it up (it came as bare root plant) in really fine, almost granular mix, and I was afraid of rotting roots. but boy, was I wrong!
Since I started putting the pot in a saucer full of water (over 3 cm deep at all times), the thing really took off.

Thanks. It is 3/4 schlimii and 1/4 longiflium. The plant has leaves about 8 inches long (I'm just guessing as it is out in the dark greenhouse). But they flop a bit so the footprint on the shelf isn't huge. I have it in a fairly tall pot which is actually one of those takeout containers. It is in a type of chunky rock media that it came in. My other Phrags are all in a mix of medium bark, charcoal, leca pellets and course perlite. The spike is about 9 or 10 inches tall and it continues to produce buds and 1 or 2 blooms at a time. I keep this and my other Phrags in about an inch of water and flush the pot thoroughly on a weekly basis.

[quiltergal]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

Mine Eumelia Arias I got back in February has thrown many shoots but all are small. Some new growths suffered leaf rot, but all is well at the moment.
No signs of blooming ever! lol

How much water do you give to yours?
I think I dried it too much at first as I potted it up (it came as bare root plant) in really fine, almost granular mix, and I was afraid of rotting roots. but boy, was I wrong!
Since I started putting the pot in a saucer full of water (over 3 cm deep at all times), the thing really took off.

OrchidWiz advises that both schlimii and kovachii need bright light and coolish temps. Your hybrid should never be allowed to dry between waterings. Hope you see blooms soon!

[NYCorchidman]

Thank you both for info.

Terri- I thought schlimii was a warm grower while kovachii is a cool grower??

I do grow mine at cattleya light. I really damaged the plant by drying. not anymore though! lol

The thing now is that I need to fertilize it as I have done only once this year. The plant throws new shoots really well but everyone is very small.

I would love to see flowers on mine. It is supposed to be a twice a year bloomer I think.

[quiltergal]

OrchidWiz has schlimii categorized as cool-warm growing. I think with kovachii as the other half of the cross I would err more on the cool side than warm. It also could be that it just isn't mature enough to bloom yet. I have a Don Wimber that took 3 years before it reached blooming size.

I have been bad about fertilizing mine this year. I used to do it once a month and that worked very well. I've just been lazy. I only have 4 Phrags left now so maybe I'll be more motivated to take better care of them.

What are you guys fertilizing them with?
I got two first phrags (besseae and Eric Young) and thinking to use K-lite, but not sure how often.
I am really getting into phrags, just preordered three more hybrids from Ecuagenera, one of them Eumelia Arias .

[quiltergal]

I'm using MSU formulated for pure water. I recently bought some K-Lite but haven't tried it yet.

[silken]

Originally Posted by orchideya

What are you guys fertilizing them with?
I got two first phrags (besseae and Eric Young) and thinking to use K-lite, but not sure how often.
I am really getting into phrags, just preordered three more hybrids from Ecuagenera, one of them Eumelia Arias .

I use MSU and sometimes just a cheaper brand such as Schultz.

[RosieC]

Beautiful!

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by quiltergal

OrchidWiz has schlimii categorized as cool-warm growing. I think with kovachii as the other half of the cross I would err more on the cool side than warm. It also could be that it just isn't mature enough to bloom yet. I have a Don Wimber that took 3 years before it reached blooming size.

I have been bad about fertilizing mine this year. I used to do it once a month and that worked very well. I've just been lazy. I only have 4 Phrags left now so maybe I'll be more motivated to take better care of them.

No, it is a miniature but blooming size.
I bought it with a pike bearing a few buds, which all blasted. It was bare root and came all the way from South America in the cold winter in the US. must have suffered quite a bit. lol

The main issue is that some of the leaves keep getting this annoying brown rotting that keeps coming back each time I trim them off.