Paph Gloria Naugle Questions

[Alan Sailer]

I have a Paph GN coming my way from Paph Paradise and it is making me nervous. I want the best chance of success.

I am an intermediate experienced orchid grower, mostly Cattleya and dendrobiums. I have two mottled leaf paphs about six months old that are doing very well. Inside, diffused east facing window, they are very happy.

The thing that makes me nervous is the growers statement that they can be grown under cattleya conditions, but with more frequent watering. My cats are all outside under 50% shade (SoCal 10 miles from the ocean).

I can't get my mind around putting the Paph outside with the other Cattleyas but that seems to be what the grower is saying.

Any advice? Fertilizing, water, light etc. I'd love to see this new orchid do as well as my others...

Cheers.

[Roberta]

I would certainly defer to someone who is growing this (I don't do many Paphs) but looking at its parentage, I strongly suspect that you can, in fact, get away with growing this outside, at least for all but the coldest months (with more shade than Catts though) This is Paph. rothschildianum x Paph. micranthum. The roth is likely the most cold-tolerant of the multiflorals... it comes for Mt. Kinabalu in Borneo, elevation up to 1200 m. And Paph micranthum comes from a range of elevations in Vietnam (600-1500 m) so is quite cold-tolerant. You'd want to protect it from direct summer sun, of course but it should handle heat pretty well if kept wet, and mostly laugh at cold at least down to 40-45 deg F (4-6 deg C)

Don't be distracted by the "mottled leaf" definition... the ones you're likely thinking of are of the Maudae type... those definitely are warm growers. But the parvisepalum section also has mottled leaves, snd with the exception of Paph deletnatii (which tends to want some warmth) are very cold-tolerant. In this case, the mottled leaves come from the micranthum parent, a cool-grower.

For what it's worth , I HAVE had some success growing Paph. St. Swithin (Paph rothschildianum x philippinense) outside (southern California coastal). And philippinense is much less cold tolerant than micranthum, so any cold tolerance has to be coming from the roth. Gloria Naugle is getting cold-tolerance, then, from both parents. And the roth gives it more heat-tolerance than micranthum alone would have. So, this is a tough cookie!

[Ray]

Gloria Naugle is rothschildianum x micranthum.

The roth, in nature, typically sees pretty consistent lows of 60°F and highs in the low 80's, year round. Light levels tend to be what I'd call "lower cattleya light", but I've learned a lot from others that bright is needed to bloom them.

Micranthum, on the other hand, sees mid-70's to 80's in the summer, but winters between the mid-40's and 60. As far as light goes, in the wild, they seem to get fairly bright early-morning sun, and then a bright, open sky the rest of the day.

Take what you have learned about the Maudiae paphs, "average" that with what you know about catts, and use that as a starting point, with a mind to increasing the light gradually.

Dave knows his stuff. Trust him.

[Alan Sailer]

Great information.

Maybe I'm crazy, but in my location hot worries me more. We just went through a heat wave here (95F+)
and I brought inside a half dozen cattleyas in bud.

I think what I will do with the poor little thing is put it outside in a lower shelf with some oncidium that are doing OK. If the leaves look light green, I'll stay there, if dark I'll move up.

Cheers.

[Roberta]

Young plants need a bit of extra protection for sure... I just watered the heck out of everything, I haven't lost anything in my yard. When I get a new plant, especially this time of year and later, I protect it a bit more until spring and it can get a chance to acclimate. That is the other factor. But with shading, you'd be surprised what can tolerate 100 deg F (ambient) if shaded. It is direct sun (local heating on leaves) that is the main danger.

[estación seca]

It's a seedling that's been grown in a greenhouse in more shade than a Cattleya gets outside. Since it won't flower for a while, don't try to give it high light yet.

[Alan Sailer]

Thanks again. I'll take it slowly with the light.

One last question about water. I looked up the parents to this cross and both say to dry them out during winter. In practice what does this mean?

For the rest of my orchids I water ~twice a week during warmer weather and once a week during winter.

Cheers.

[Roberta]

I've never been one to water by the calendar. Paphs in general don't like to dry out. But a little drier in winter probably useful for blooming, particularly it's true of Paph rothschildianum. But...especially with a young plant, I'd go easy on the drying part (just as you are doing with light and temperature) A mature plant can manage a bit of stress. A young one, not so much. Think about the Asian habitats of the the parents... in winter, there is little rain, reduced cloud cover so more light, and lower temperatures. But even in the absence of rain, there is morning dew because the humidity is high. In southern California, not so much. Our "dry" is a lot drier than southeast Asian "dry". So if plants dry out more slowly because it's cool, then less frequent watering is order. But if they are really drying, don't take the advice too literaly... watering is in order. Also remember that in the winter, sometimes we get Santa Ana winds, the humidity drops to single digits. At such times, be generous with the water. For everything...most orchids don't like desert conditionss.

[Alan Sailer]

Roberta,

Thanks. I think that does it for my nervous questions.

And certainly all bets are off when Santa Anas strike.
I hate those winds more than words can express. And thus I empathize with poor orchids during those winds...

Wish me luck and skill...

Cheers.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Alan Sailer

And certainly all bets are off when Santa Anas strike.
I hate those winds more than words can express. And thus I empathize with poor orchids during those winds...

Orchids are tough... When those winds blow, I water in the morning, then water again in the early afternoon. If it's hot, maybe again in the evening. Even the mounted Pleurothallids seem to do fine... epiphytic orchids, after all, have evolved mechanisms to not desiccate... even when humidity is more normal, it rains and then the rain stops and the sun comes out. They close up those stomata and hunker down. And the cuticle on the tops of leaves also serves to prevent water loss (which is why foliar feeding and watering doesn't work, the leaves are pretty impermeable from the top.)