Cypripedium

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I know that there are a few bloggers/plant hobbyists on the web who have posted some information about Cypripediums along with some photos. This post will not be terribly unique in this sense.

I just felt that it would be to the benefit of OB members to have easier access to photos of what Cypripediums really look like. If you want to look at pretty pictures of Cypripedium in bloom, this is not the place.

If you want to know the anatomy of Cypripediums when they are not in bloom, this is it.

For the purposes of time, this initial post will be brief and not terribly comprehensive.

If anyone has comments or questions go ahead and post them or ask. I will do my best to answer your questions or respond to your comments.

The following photos are of Cypripediums growing in Ziplock bags. I ultimately decided to grow them this way for maximum control over their growing environment, to prevent as many cultivation technique mistakes as possible, and to see what the underground rhizomes are really doing. They were shipped to me this way, and when I decided to take them out of the fridge to break their dormancy, initially, it was a case where I ended up not having the time to pot them up and having gotten lazy, never got around to pot them. Since they were growing just fine and were not showing any signs of distress, I finally just decided to keep them growing in such a manner until I feel the need to actually do something about it. Plus, I was curious. I wanted to clearly see what was going on with the entire plant during growing season.

Just the fact that the Cypripediums I will be showing you all are growing in Ziplock bags demonstrate that they can be pretty sturdy if they were collected or handled properly for sale. It also demonstrates that they are not mycorrhizal dependent, and that their demise in cultivation is due to mistakes in cultivation techniques, poor collection/handling/shipping practices, a gross misunderstanding of their ecological nature/habits, and an equally poor understanding of their anatomy/biology.

My regret was that I did not take photos of them earlier when I took them out of the fridge to break their dormancy, but it is still early enough in the growing season, (growing season is mid-spring though early fall, by the way), to see what happens during the course of a growing season.

The Cypripediums in this thread were removed from the refrigerator some time in mid-April. Unfortunately, I didn't think to record the date.