Phragmipedium Sorcerer's Apprentice & Phragmipedium Caudatum

[Orquiadicto]

Saturday I went with a few fellow members of our orchid society to the greenhouse of Alfa Orchidées in South France. Among other genera, I bought these two Phragmipediums. I don't know a lot about Phragmipediums, so any help will be appreciated, especially regarding the watering regime. Do these two need to have 'wet feet', or should they just don't dry out between watering? Thank you for your input.

[WhiteRabbit]

[Dan796]

Nice, healthy looking plants!
Actually, I have a Phragmipedium Sorcerer's Apprentice in spike right now.
And I hope to see it bloom in the next few weeks.
Phrags. love water! They naturally grow on stream banks, and near a waterfall spray.
They love humidity, and moving air.
Never let them dry out completely.
I never leave mine sitting in a shallow tray of water as some people do. But, I do water them well every 3-4 days in warm weather. And maybe wait an extra day or 2 longer to water during the winter months when the air is cooler, and they aren't putting out much growth, if any.
You can feed them weakly, weekly.
(Which I'm bad at remembering to do)
So, I've tried a very small amount of a time released Fertilizer (1/4 the recommended amount) to each pot, This works for me, and they love it!
I see lots of new growth, and spiking too!

I hope that helps!
I'm sure others will have more advise to add for you.
Good luck with your new "Babies"!
If these are your first, you'll soon have many more!

[cbuchman]

I agree completely with Dan796. I will also add that they need more light than you might think. Since they grow along rivers, you can image that there isn't much tree canopy. So grow them in Catt light.

I have 3 Phrags (none of them the same as yours) and grow all in bark/plastic pots sitting in about 1/2" of water. I water and mist on a regular schedule. I feed with an MSU formula. Once I moved them into better light, I have rebloomed them

Good luck and be sure to post pictures when they bloom!

[Orquiadicto]

Thank you very much for your input. I'll keep your advice in mind and will surely post pictures when (if) they bloom. One of them is in spike/bud, so I hope it doesn't blast.

[Orquiadicto]

The Phragmipedium caudatum has opened both flowers now. I absolutely love them. I hope the blooms will last at least until first week of June. We have the first of our two annual shows and I'd love to show it there. I can't stop watching them. Those long twisting petals. They grow longer by the hour. I don't know how long they'll get before they stop growing.

The Scorcerer's Apprentice has grown also quite a lot, but it's not in bloom yet. I'll post pictures of it when it blooms. It also has two buds forming.

[No-Pro-mwa]

So cool, I love it.