Paph Maudiae with two flowers

[RosieC]

I grow them in bark. But just can't get the balance of watering right. I try to let them dry out just like I do with Phals, but with the ones that died when I took them out the pot I found the bark had not been drying as much as I thought.

I have two vini-colours in tiny tiny pots of bark. I'm pretty sure they are doing well as I can see the roots through the side. I think they need bigger pots now, one of them is straining the sides, but I'm worried to pot up because I don't want to end up with the same problem. I think this one might go in a smaller pot at some point so I can feel more confident about it.

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by RosieC

I grow them in bark. But just can't get the balance of watering right. I try to let them dry out just like I do with Phals, but with the ones that died when I took them out the pot I found the bark had not been drying as much as I thought.

I have two vini-colours in tiny tiny pots of bark. I'm pretty sure they are doing well as I can see the roots through the side. I think they need bigger pots now, one of them is straining the sides, but I'm worried to pot up because I don't want to end up with the same problem. I think this one might go in a smaller pot at some point so I can feel more confident about it.

Most of paphs that I bought came in straight bark mix and some came in straight sphagnum moss.
As bark gets old, the top surface on the pot may look dry but the toward the bottom where we don't see is usually pretty wet.
Lifting the pots and judging by the weight greatly help me decide when to water. Between watering, I do mist the top surface heavily if I see the some roots exposed.
Or I put some moss on top of the bark and mist daily. It seems to help drying out less severe.

Whatever mix they come in, I eventually repot them into a mix of coconut husk chips, perlite, hydroton, small charcoal. This mix keeps moist for quite long time while being very open and airy. My paphs seem to do well in it.

[The Mutant]

Originally Posted by RosieC

I grow them in bark. But just can't get the balance of watering right. I try to let them dry out just like I do with Phals, but with the ones that died when I took them out the pot I found the bark had not been drying as much as I thought.

I have two vini-colours in tiny tiny pots of bark. I'm pretty sure they are doing well as I can see the roots through the side. I think they need bigger pots now, one of them is straining the sides, but I'm worried to pot up because I don't want to end up with the same problem. I think this one might go in a smaller pot at some point so I can feel more confident about it.

Since I'm so new to the Paph genus and thus unable to tell when to water just by lifting the pots, I followed the great advice I got about using skewers in the pots. Now I've skewered (sounds, bad, doesn't it? ) my entire Paph collection and so far it seems to work.