Paphiopedilum Rosy Dawn

[BikerDoc5968]

Steve, I trust you won't be upset but after looking in the greenhouse, I found that I, in fact, have one of these also and it just opened. I grow the green leaf Paphs a bit cooler than the mottled leaf variety. I do give them lots of light... even more than my Phals. They like moist but not soaking wet like a Phrag. As I said above, yours is a real beauty with 3 spikes.... way nicer than mine and your pictures are superior!

[smweaver]

Thanks, Howard, for posting the picture of your plant for comparison. And I appreciate the comment regarding your plant's preference for higher light than phals. I've been struggling to find a decent spot for this one, since my sunroom faces south-southwest and gets blasted by sunlight for most of the day. It's great for the cattleyas, dendrobiums, cymbidiums and other light-demanding plants, but not so good for low-light plants. I've been moving this one lone paphiopedilum behind a variety of taller plants over the last couple of days in an effort to give it what I (perhaps mistakenly) believed a paph would prefer, and finally settled on sticking it beneath an orange tree. Now I won't be so paranoid about cooking it.

Steve

[BikerDoc5968]

I don't want to mislead you, Steve. From mid September until mid March I remove the shade cloth from the greenhouse because we get few sun days here and the sun hits at a lower angle. In March I use 60% shade cloth and by mid June I'm at 70% until late in August. So I don't bake my paphs the way I bake my Cymbidiums out on the driveway in full sun all summer. But I have found they can handle a little more light than I had been giving them and for me the rewards are flowers and lighter green leaves but not as light yellow/green as the Cymbidiums get.

[smweaver]

Thank you for the clarification, Howard. I'll keep a close watch on the paph to make sure it remains in good shape. In the spring everything goes outdoors, so this one will stay on the front porch with the lycastes. I won't put it anywhere near the cymbidiums. :-)

[Vanda lover]

In the summer, I like to move my plants ourdoors. The one thing that I worry about, since moving to Vancouver Island, are the night temperatures. The days can be vey hot and sunny, but the nights quite cool, between 7 to 16 c [42f to 61f]

[smweaver]

Originally Posted by BikerDoc5968

I'm with Kim.... I do have some whites but yours is great... any chance you recall where you purchased it?

Howard, he said that he bought it from someone on EBay.

[smartie2000]

you are one lucky grower! I am super jealous if I can find one of this old cross....

[smweaver]

Thanks, Fren! I didn't even realize how old this hybrid was until I did some research on it yesterday. I'm glad that it's got a lot of history to it, which makes it more appealing.

To everyone else, can you guys share with me how often you repot your paphiopedilums, please? I've read everything from "at least once per year" to "wait until the potting mix has broken down" (which implies quite a lot longer stretch of time). Thank you!

[Bolero]

Great hybrid, I want some of these. Thanks for sharing.