Paph. concolor, Muriel Constance & Michael Koopowitz

[kavanaru]

ok, these are the other Paphies which are currently blooming in my greenhouse..


Paph. concolor... first time bloom... (flowers way too long for my taste, but ok, its a concolor...)

Paphiopedilum concolor by kavanaru, on Flickr

Paphiopedilum concolor by kavanaru, on Flickr


Paph MC, second bloom...

Paphiopedilum Muriel Constance by kavanaru, on Flickr

Paphiopedilum Muriel Constance by kavanaru, on Flickr


Paph MK, first time bloom... from OL (philippinense var. robelinii 'Crouching Tiger' x sanderianum 'Year of The Dragon')... only 2 flowers this time, I hope the flower vounts increases as plant matures...

Paphiopedilum Michael Koopowitz by kavanaru, on Flickr

Paphiopedilum Michael Koopowitz by kavanaru, on Flickr

Paphiopedilum Michael Koopowitz by kavanaru, on Flickr

Paphiopedilum Michael Koopowitz by kavanaru, on Flickr

[Jennyfleur]

Oo, some more lovely ones from you Congrats

Actually, I wonder if you could give me some quick growing info as you obviously have some great successes with yours - one of my aims for this year is to get a concolor and a bellatulum. I have some parvis but I wondered how different growing a brachy would be??

[kavanaru]

Jenny, where and how do you grow youtr plants?

For Brachys, I would suggest to use clay pots (unless you forget too often to water your plants or grow in a very dry environment).. add some calcareous stone to the growing mix, and water with rain water (pure, no fertilizer) at least twice between giving them some fertilizer (Brachys are very sensitive to salt building!)... and let them dry a bit between watering (but not after the one with fertilizer!)... some people put hand on fire for Brachys in semi-hydro... I have mixed results: none of the species and most hybrids dislike a lot (and I almost lost several plants!), while at least four hybrids in my collection (including Muriel Constance) love it!, but I add dolomite sand to teh S/H pot regularly!

[RosieC]

Wonderful Ramón!

I agree with you about the concolor being a little too long for my taste as well. Still a really nice flower but I would like a slightly rounder pouch.

The MK is just gorgeous. Always one of my favourites.

[Jennyfleur]

Hi, thanks for the reply with regards to humidity, I suspect it's not very high (as I've never had a monitor to give me readings) but I do keep little trays of water dotted around for evaporation purposes in the hopes that they'll help a bit! Luckily my current job lets me spend a lot of time working from home so I am able to mist when needed and watering/ monitoring moisture levels isn't a problem.

All my plants get rain water as a rule - they get weak fertilser for three waterings and then flushed with pure on the fourth. But, I'll keep in mind the salt sensitivity (that's very handy to know!)

Ummm, what else... all my orchids are grown in bark (but that's more of a failing on my part to not be more adventurous since everything seems to be growing nicely), and so I've never tried S/H. This time of year, I've moved all the Parvis to places with more light and slightly lower temps but the micranthum is in a brighter spot which a lot cooler.

I admit, compared to others, I'm relatively new to Paphs, so I'm learning as I'm going along, but they are definately becoming the favourites in my small (albeit) growing collection.

[billc]

That's a great MK Ramon. That's a fairly small plant, so I think as it matures your flower count will increase. I get 4 blooms on on mine usually, it has a leaf spread about 22 inches.
It looks like it flowered on a single growth, it must like your new greenhouse.

Bill

[CTB]

Beautiful flowers. Good Growing!

[Zoi2]

Ramon your MK is fantastic (as all of yours are). I am thinking of getting one and I grow in S/H. Are you saying they are not prime candidates for that method?
Joann

[kavanaru]

Thanks Joann!

I did not say they are not good candidates for S/H... actually a lot of people would not use anything else but S/H with their Paphies... I, on my side, have mixed results... especially with the Brachies... with the other Paphios, they were doing pretty well for me, then I changed the fertilizer (to a new batch of MSU for RO water - I had used it before, then changed to Peter's, and back to MSU when available again) and most of them started to become chlorotic, and some started getting rot... now they are in a greenhouse and things are cahnging again (however, some plants left S/H and will stay out of it for ever....) Based on those mixed results, I did not want to risk the latest batch of Paphies I received, because they were new plants, and were all quite expensive... if in the future they do a lot better and start growing like mad, I would probably try a division of them in S/H...

it's all about your general conditions, and see if the method works for you...

[Zoi2]

Ramon, thank you for the clarification. I don't have a brachy and am not sure I can grow one but they sure are fascinating and I want to give it try.
Joann