Double Flowers? Is that Unusual?

[czygyny]

Am I right to be planting it in the small bark? It seems to be doing fine but I just want to make sure. It grows alongside my Phals and gets the same treatment.

Thank you all for your informative responses. I enjoy this flower quite a bit and want it to thrive.

[RosieC]

I think I've been told small bark in the past is best for them. However I have mine in large bark or leca. I think it will be fine in small bark.

[NYCorchidman]

That is very confusing. I think the term maudiae is quite loosely used, but using it to include sequential or multifloral is a bit of stretching. The "typical" maudiae crossed with roth or phillippinense does have some "maudiae" look, but the overall flower shape, flowering habit, plant appearance is not really maudiae in my opinion, maybe call them just novelty cross.

oh, well....all this terms and naming headache...

By the way, regarding potting mix for paphs, continue to use whatever it is potted in now since you have been successful growing this plant so far.

I think straight bark mix can be a bit too dry for California climate unless you plant to water them very often.

Paphs need to stay moist at all time. They will not die when bone dry, but they will tell you how they don't like to be dry in more than one way. lol

I have grown paphs in both moss and bark, with more watering on the ones planted in bark mix.
Now after trying four paphs in coconut husk, bark, perlite, charcoal, hydroton mix (which stays moist but very airy), I have decided to switch all of mine to this mix.

You can use any mix and be successful with paphs, but watering really matter when using straight bark mix. They dry out too fast and too much, especially when newly repotted.

For me, loosely packed moss or coconut husk chip based mix so far have yielded best results.

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

That is very confusing. I think the term maudiae is quite loosely used, but using it to include sequential or multifloral is a bit of stretching. The "typical" maudiae crossed with roth or phillippinense does have some "maudiae" look, but the overall flower shape, flowering habit, plant appearance is not really maudiae in my opinion, maybe call them just novelty cross.

Agreed. As I say, seeing this practice is the reason I'm dubious of the Maudiae label.

[czygyny]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

That is very confusing. I think the term maudiae is quite loosely used, but using it to include sequential or multifloral is a bit of stretching. The "typical" maudiae crossed with roth or phillippinense does have some "maudiae" look, but the overall flower shape, flowering habit, plant appearance is not really maudiae in my opinion, maybe call them just novelty cross.

oh, well....all this terms and naming headache...

By the way, regarding potting mix for paphs, continue to use whatever it is potted in now since you have been successful growing this plant so far.

I think straight bark mix can be a bit too dry for California climate unless you plant to water them very often.

Paphs need to stay moist at all time. They will not die when bone dry, but they will tell you how they don't like to be dry in more than one way. lol

I have grown paphs in both moss and bark, with more watering on the ones planted in bark mix.
Now after trying four paphs in coconut husk, bark, perlite, charcoal, hydroton mix (which stays moist but very airy), I have decided to switch all of mine to this mix.

You can use any mix and be successful with paphs, but watering really matter when using straight bark mix. They dry out too fast and too much, especially when newly repotted.

For me, loosely packed moss or coconut husk chip based mix so far have yielded best results.

I will keep this in consideration since our outside humidity is generally around 10-15% in the summer. Its usually 45 to 60% inside, but that can vary widely since I love having all doors and windows open when suitable.

I'll set the pot in a decorative over-pot and maybe cover the bark with some sphagnum. I love nice green unsterilized sphagnum (when you can find it). Fun stuff will sprout from it.

As for the taxonomy...I can see that orchids suffer from the whims of botanists and producers just like cacti, which I also collect. Confusion reigns!

[NYCorchidman]

Wow~ that humidity sounds really low!
Try and talk to people who grow paphs in your area, like local society and see how they do it.

The humidity definitely has to do with how fast things dry (dugh!) but that can be controlled with good watering. the real problem of very low humidity has to do with plant leaves. I never experience humidity that low, so I cannot really advise on that. but apparently, you've been growing and flowering this paphs thus far.

Summer humidity here is really good for orchids, not too good for me. lol
In the fall and winter, it tends to be quite dry but still over 35 or 40 percent most of the time.

[czygyny]

This paph's pot sits in a stainless steel tray filled with gravel and kept moist, the newly added moss will help keep it humid too. The room it is in has an AC unit, so the humidity gets only 40-60%, I wish I had an evaporative cooler in there like I have in the main house...70% would be easy to obtain, plus the house stays cooler.

Oh did I mention that our outside temps regularly get 110°F in summer? That, along with the super low humidity makes it fun to garden! Irrigation is an art, here. Wildfire is a way of life, too.

Fed up with it's lack of growth and bloom, my singular Miltionopsis plant spent the summer outside under the shade of a tree and sprinkled with the lawn sprinklers and seemed to do quite well, although it picked up colony of really tiny ants in those pseudopods so I had to unpot and soak it in a dish detergent solution. Knocks out ants immediately with no pesticide residue. (Believe it or not, no plant I've ever had to do that to has ever shown any ill effects)

Anyway, it weathered 114°F peak, weeks of well over 100° temps and produced the most growth I've had on it yet, although no flowers. <shrugs>

[kindrag23]

@czgyny O dear heavens I feel your pain on the temperatures outside. Ugh.. We have been getting light sprinkles here and there and about an hour later its 100 degrees and that creates the highest humidity I ever see around here. lol. O and love the colors of your paph!! I really liked the close up as well.

[NYCorchidman]

When the humidity is very low, temperature wings significantly in the sun and in the shade.
Otherwise your miltoniopsis would have been cooked to death! and maybe even you. lol
I spent a few years in Rocky area where humidity is very low. My nose bled often. lol

I loved (and miss) the summer there because it is warm (or even hot at times) but under the tree or anywhere away from direct sun, it is soooooo much cooler, which made summer endurable and great!

Now humidity level of 40-60 is perfectly fine for most common hobby orchids, although 40 is probably on the lower side.