Quote:
Originally Posted by NYCorchidman
What kind of paphs other than strap leaf (is it multi-flowering type or complex?) I don't grow species and large multi-flowering ones.
So other than this, I can probably help with the culture because I do quite good with paphs and have quite a few of them.
What do you grow yours in? What kind of care do you give to them?
What do they look like when you say they are on the decline?
I have paph. Armeni White, which is a hybrid so probably a lot easier than either of its parent, but I haven't tried species so cannot really say for sure.
I did hear that armeniacum can be pretty tough.
Delenatii...one thing I know is that they need extra water while growing and cool&slightly drier weather while resting.
Strap leafed ones- If they are multi-flowering, they need a lot of light and they are epiphytes, so use different mix other than conventional paph mix.
That's about all I know.
If your strap leafed ones are complex paphs, then you can grow them as other hybrids but green/yellow colors need cooling to flower well.
These can be quite slow growing, but once they form multiple fans, they can bloom every year I think. I have one that blooms every other year.
almost threw it away when it skipped flowering. now I know better! 
Again, let me know what your paphs look like and how you care for them, so I can better help. |
Thank you for offering to help me!
the strap leaf is a multi-floral - it's Paph Oto (fairrieanum x Winston Churchill), should be a vini-color - the first three years, maybe, that I had this, it was just the one fan that continued to grow - last year or so, it started a couple of new fans. The original fan has now died, but the two new ones are growing well, but probably not yet mature. I do grow it fairly bright, but I may see about growing it brighter. Roots looked alrigh at last repot (last spring) - this one is in a clear pot and I can see a few roots growing in there)
My declining one (mottled leaf hybrid - niveum x Pinnocchio) has had the two most recent, and previously slow growing fans losing foliage (drying up) - it's been sitting looking mostly the same for awhile, but I think those fans are drying further, but slowly, and are actually toast
I think this may have been over-watered last winter, and it's just been slow to die
Yeah - I've heard that delanatti isn't the easiest to bloom
I had been reading about them wanting to be brighter and drier in winter, so moved mine to a brighter window in a cooler room (tho my house in general is on the cool side in winter), and trying to keep it drier. I don't know if any of the currently growing fans are big enough to bloom. I'm not sure how much drier to keep it. It's been growing well - it currently has 4 growing fans - varying sizes, and roots looked great when I repotted last spring.
All get repotted yearly in spring. I use the same mix I make for Cyms - medium and fine fir bark (but remove the big chips for the Paphs), some perlite.
I try to water when they are just lightly moist, tho this winter I have been letting the delanatii get nearly dry, then just spray some water into it, to avoid drenching it.
I had been fertilizing the same as most of my orchids (1/2 tsp per gallon of the fert I use, once a week, except for the monthly flushing) - the year before last, I had reduced fert (reading in some posts that Paphs wanted less fert) - went back to my previous fertilizing schedule this year. Tho, I have reduced the fert this winter, just giving them a small amount a couple times a month (honestly - I'm just trying different things to try to get them to bloom!- seemed if the delanatii wanted to be bright, drier, coolish, reduced fertilizer seemed logical - to me, anyway)
The strap leaf has been growing in either a very sunny east or west facing window. (My now probably dead one that did bloom for me once was also growing in the sunny west facing window) The delanatii had been in different shady windows - one a shady east facing window, which the sun might be ok there in summer (gets some very early morning sun), but in winter, that window is pretty dark, so this winter it's been in a fairly bright west facing window.
I've been thinking of trying these outside maybe from mid-late spring thru late summer or early fall ... My porch faces east, has an over-hang, so can give them anywhere from a little to a lot of sun in the morning.
Hybrid Mode
