Paph Culture

[orchidsarefun]

a member of my local orchid society mentioned that ALL paph growing mix should have crushed oyster shell incorporated. Also they should be kept wetter than usual - specifically standing in a shallow dish of water.
What's the view on this ?

[Leafmite]

Here is a good site, AnTech. Somewhere, they have a list of which need extra calcium. Quick Start - Buying and Growing Your First Paph.
My society is the same. Every January, it is time to add calcium and the paphs should never dry out. Paphs seem to be the favorite orchid and they bring in fantastic, impressive specimens.
I have Paph. Petula's Ghost x (callosum x maudiae) and Paph Lynnleigh Koopowitz and I keep them in plastic net pots/lava rock/aircone-in-the-middle. I water every other day (winter--summer will probably require twice-a-day) with distilled or dehumidifier water. My fertilizer doesn't have calcium. I put oyster shell on in December (didn't know January was the scheduled time). They seem very healthy. Mine are both hybrids, though, and easy...beginner orchids...foolproof.

[orchidsarefun]

mine are growing really well. I have a bulldog noid and a paph Nitassinan. However they haven't reflowered so I think I am going to go with they oyster shell and water advice.
The seller at the time said that they would reflower from each new fan growth. If only

[The Mutant]

Here are some good advice and things to keep in mind I've gotten from members of this forum:

First quotes are from Ray:

Originally Posted by Ray

Many paph species originate from areas with moderately-high humidity and warm temperatures, so that means a high dew point, so there's lots of condensation into the leaf litter into which they grow, and it doesn't evaporate quickly, so they tend to stay moist.

Moist, not wet with the medium saturated and holding a lot of bridging water in between the particles.

Originally Posted by Ray

[...]

I think that the key to most orchid culture is the proper management of the air flow to the root zone, while simultaneously keeping an adequate supply of moisture.

If someone needs to let the medium dry between waterings, that tells me they have not chosen a medium that is right for their growing conditions. and the air flow is insufficient.

Consider the fact that there are three things that can happen to the water when you irrigate:

1) Most pours right through the pot.
2) Some is absorbed by the plant and the medium immediately.
3) Some is held by surface tension in between the particles of medium. That is known as "bridging" water.

It is that last one that's the problem: if enough of the spaces are filled, they cut off the air flow, stifling the natural gas exchange processes of the plant, eventually suffocating the roots, killing them, and they rot.

That happens in media that are too fine, whether due to poor choices of materials and their sizes, or as it decomposes, breaks down, and compresses, and it happens if we compress sphagnum too much.

I am convinced that the lore that "orchids have to dry out between waterings" has absolutely nothing to do with the plants - many of them originate in areas that stay saturated. Instead, it is a poor choice of medium that requires the drying: given time, that bridging water is absorbed or evaporates, opening up the airflow pathways, allowing the plants to "breathe" again.

Second is from Camille:

Originally Posted by camille1585

I would put a wooden sweker in the pot for the time being to judge watering, until you get a feel for it. That's what I've been doing for mine. If it's still soggy I wait, and once it's only damp and feels cool when I touch my cheek with it, then I water.

I noticed that it also seems to be dependent on the Paph cross bit. My roth hybrid visible suffers (as i described) when it gets a bit dry, but my big strap leaf Paph (Noid, but very likely Paph Honey) seems fine when it a bit dry.

Third is from Discus:

Originally Posted by Discus

The reason paph medium typically breaks down faster is because we tend to water them more (they like it, assuming a fairly well drained medium); most people report seeing a burst of growth after repotting paphs, and most people recommend repotting most paphs yearly (some even advocate twice a year for small ones). Like phals, most paphs will take being repotted when in flower.

They also seem to enjoy being extremely pot-bound, in the sense that the pot seems way too small for them - struggle to fit all the roots back in, and they're happy. The mature paph in the smallest pot I have seems the happiest, I'm expecting two spikes from it; another of the same clone is in a bigger pot, but looks a little less thriving (although it already has a blooming spike). Most of the time, your paph can go right back into the pot it came from.

With most orchids, it's a good idea to keep a consistent direction with regards to uni-directional light sources (windows, artificial lights) once buds/spikes have started showing, otherwise you can end up with some interesting corkscrew effects!

You're more likely to damage the flower through not enough water than too much with paphs.

I think Ray speaks a lot of sense with regards to air/water in potting media (and particularly "bridging water"); hardly any of our orchids naturally grow with "suffocated roots", so they enjoy having access to both moisture and air, one reason his S/H method seems so effective for many orchids. Assuming you can provide the humidity and frequent watering required, growing them mounted also seems to keep them very happy (for the epiphytes); of course this more closely replicates what they've spent millions of years adapting to, so you'd expect them to cope with it!

Paphs are techincally mostly terrestrial (they live on the ground), but they live essentially in leaf litter (pretty airy, quite damp) not soil (as do most cymbidiums); this tends toward "keep these guys damp-ish, but make sure there is adequate air". The "fuzz" on paph roots has been hypothesized to act a bit like a snorkel along their roots, making sure there is a nice pocket of air around them; I don't think (I'm open to correction) they're vascularised and are thus not really of any use in nutrient uptake, unlike similar structures on many plants.

I'm very sorry for one heck of a long post of which nothing were my words, but I think they had so many good points that I wanted to share them.

[The Mutant]

And now to some words of my own...

I'm a complete Paph newbie, but one thing I have learned though is that not all Paph species are calcicolous. My suggestion is to check whether your Paphs (or the parents of your hybrids) are calcicolous before adding any oyster shells, the information is available on the website that Leafmite linked to.

I've ordered several Paphs and so far none of the are calcicolous, which is all pure accident but I feel a bit relived not having to deal with adding Ca to some of them (yes, I'm lazy! Bad me!).

[Leafmite]

There are some paphs that grow on trees! I had to endure a program that showed various paphs in situ (the month before, we had a guy that hybridizes paphs for his floral business). Anyway, most of the members of my society believe that adding calcium in January insures spiking. They all use pure water, though, not tap, and all plants need a little calcium. I don't really know how they fertilize regularly, nor do I know the names/families of all these paphs. Sadly, though I love my fuzzy-rooted orchid pair, I am always much more interested in the other orchids on our display table. But, I think I will follow the society rule and add the oyster shell each year. My lynnleigh koopowitz is popping a spike!

[The Mutant]

One of the parents to your Paph. Lynleigh Koopowitz is calcicolous while the other is not, so I think it should do fine with some oyster shell.

I always use tap water, but it's a bit low in the Ca department which is why I'll add some as soon as it's available in the stores.

[keithrs]

I definitely will not hurt that add dolomite or another for of Ca.

[Vanda lover]

I have mine in s/h in lava rock. You have me wondering if I should add a little lime to the water when I fertilize. They were in bark last year and bloomed fine.

[silken]

I read somewhere that one group of Paphs does not like that added oyster shell etc. and it can set them back. But of course I'm not sure where I found that info now.