Cultural differences - green vs. mottled leaf Paphs.

[Ross]

As long as the leaves are bright green (not dark) then light probably isn't the issue. I'd up the amount of feed. Also, do you use artificial lighting to supplement? If so, get it closer to the plants. If not, then consider it. The leaves on mine are really light green, like really... Mine get dappled sunlight (what's sun?) when it shines. In between times, the plants get what they can from multiple CF bulbs.

[kavanaru]

Shannan, I have my Paphs (mottled and not mottled) growing together in S/H next to a south/west indows, which is slightly open even in winter. They all are doing great, and curently have several of them in bloom or spike. The only one, which is like doing nothing, and I think I will have to bring it under T5 light, is Paphiopedilum Johanna Burkhard 'Dark Selction' (still a seedling, but it's just sitting there and doing NOTHING since a few months - hasn't lost leaves but hasn't produced new ones) I fertilize them every week, as I do with al my other plants.

Exception to the cultural indications above, are Paph. concolor, Paph. sukhakulii, Paph. fairrieanum, Paph. Wössner Zwerg and Paph. Wössner Goldsuk, which grow under T8 tubes (all but Paph. fairrianum - which is still quite young - in bloom or spike too)

[Bolero]

But there are differences within each type as well. Not all plain green will grow the same and not all mottled leaf types grow the same. There are also variances within each group eg not all Parvi's grow the same.

So it depends on your plants really. I don't think it's always good to compare mottled with plain and it's more a case of what species or hybrid do you have?

[Lagoon]

I agree with Darren. I don't think it's fair to lump them all together. It would be helpful to know they're names.

Some plain leaf paphs are very slow growers. I have a susan booth that is the slowest grower on land
Roths and they're crosses can also be very slow to put forth new leafs. So they certainly don't all grow at the same rate. Also multiflorals want more light, some want warm too hotter tempts. If they don't get these conditions, again they become even slower growing.

Fertilizering will help gain newer growth quicker, but (IMHO) is not the ticket too success with these orchids.

I know it's tricky Shan, but don't get discourage its all a learning process

[Bolero]

Absolutely, it has taken me a few years to finally get the culture right for the plants I have. I mainly specialise in Parvi's and have learnt the hard way that they all need slightly different conditions.

This year is the first year I haven't lost a seedling, it takes time and practice and you will lose plants along the way. We all do.

[shakkai]

Gloria and Darren, thanks very much! One of the ones that I see as stuggling is in fact a Susan Booth (I did list the ones in a previous post) the other is Moustache. However, my St. Swithin - which I got at the same time as the same sized seedling - is now twice the size of these two. The other green leafed one that seems to really be struggling is a Paph. barbigerum. The one green leafed one (apart from St. Swithin) that also seems to be doing okay is Paph. fairrieanum.

The mottled leaf ones that I grow are a mix, but mostly Brachy or Parvi hybrids. If you look at my plant list, you can see the entire list of the exact plants I have. Things like Iantha Stage, Venus Legend, Karl Ploberger and In Charm Handel are all doing exceptionally well. So is my species jackii.

PS. Gloria, thanks for your encouragement!! I just really wanted to try to understand what it is that these ones want that I'm not giving them!

[Bolero]

So you're saying basically that some are growing faster than others? If they aren't dying but only growing slowly then this can be indicative of the hybrid or species (I must admit some of the ones you mention I haven't grown). Some Paphs are painfully slow growing and some will grow quickly. Provided they are healthy and still in one piece maybe you could try different light levels to see if that works.

It's really hard for me to say for sure with the variety you have. They all grow in different conditions........for instance it would be hard I think to grow jackii and St Swithin in the same conditions as one another. But someone might prove me wrong. I think you could grow fairrieanum in the same conditions as jackii though.

It's all about experimentation and trying different things. Get a good paph book and look at the conditions that the plants in the hybrid background originally grew in. Or try one of many Paph websites that explain it in detail.

Am I helping?

[shakkai]

Hi Darren, Yes, this is all helping! Thank you! I guess part of the problem is that some aren't growing as fast as others, but unfortunately, it is not just that. I have killed one Paph in the past year - it was a Paphiopedilum hirsutissimum var. esquirolei - supposedly an easy to grow plant... But alas, not so for me.

Anyway, maybe it is the St. Swithin that is the fluke, and the other multi-florals are responding to not being in the right conditions. I can make some basic tweaks - like moving them to be in the same window as my Phrags which get more light. I can also make the medium more free draining so that I can water more often, and hence increase the amount of fertiliser they get. But I tend to agree with Gloria that that is not the long term ticket to success.

For the most part, the majority of the plants seem to be quite happy, either growing new leaves, lots of new roots, and/or flowering.

The point of this post really was that a couple were not looking and growing like I think they should, and having lost one already a few months ago, I wanted to see if there were some recommendations for what I could change to make them happy. I mentioned the information on the others that seem to be very happy, as I thought it might give an indication of what the conditions here are.

[shakkai]

PS. I will try to take some photos later this week to show the differences between them, if that will help at all.

[quiltergal]

Shannon, I think you may be trying to grow them too cool.

Paph. Susan Booth = rothschildianum X gladuliferum
Moustache = philippinese x St. Swithin
St. Swithin = philippinese x rothschildianum

Per Jay's site rothschildianum-hot to warm grower, philippinese - hot to warm grower, glanduliferum - hot to warm grower.

If you can warm those babies up you might have better results. Have you seen those electric seedling mats over there? They are designed for germinating seeds. They look kind of like a little heating pad. You put it under your seedlings and it keeps the root zone warm. Might be worth a try??