Petal Blight on Paph?

[NYCorchidman]

I disagree.

I think you might have read wrong information somewhere on the net.

Botrytis that attacks orchid flowers do not thrive under warm condition. It strikes when it is too cool and the air is very humid, and of course, poor ventilation.

cinnamon or anything else helps once the damage is done. It is not fatal usually, but ugly spots will not go away. It is best to remove affect flowers as those spots continue to release spores in the air. Cinnamon (or anything else) has no effect on the spores. They are not active.

Again, I am not sure at all that your paph flower is attacked by Botrytis.

[RandomGemini]

It sounds like, either way I go here, the best thing to do is remove the flower. I went to TJ's today, found a great paph that is a dead ringer for paph macabre contrasts, but no Paph Hsinying Alien. If this is something that is just threatening the bloom, but the plant is otherwise healthy, then I would rather sacrifice this flower to save the plant. I don't see paphs often, and contrary to what I said earlier, I've realized that I'm attached to it now. LOL!

[NYCorchidman]

You've developed a new taste.
Watch out! hahaha

[dounoharm]

I HAVE had flowers that naturally age, and different parts of it collapse and turn brown....most commonly, the pouch will go first....others flowers fade, then drop off...and still others will looks fine and suddenly they are on the floor....all sorts of things happen when they age....some flowers last for months, others only a month or so....its just the nature of paphs to be different! wonderful plants tho...I would cut that blossom, and care for the plant as normal...I don't think you have any fungus or whatnot, so put it with the others and the humidifier...good luck!

[RandomGemini]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

Any chance that one side of the plant got too hot, too cold, or too much light?

I don't know why, but Tapatalk didn't show me your post! I didn't see it until just now, I'm sorry.

As far as too hot or too cold, no. It's nowhere near the window or a vent. Light, maybe, but it would have damaged the other side of the bloom, given how I've kept my paph placed on the table.

I'll cut the spike today. Anyone have any guidance for me on where to cut? This is my first paph, so I have no idea where to cut the spike on it.

[jeremyinsf]

An inch or so from the base. It won't re-grow anything from it. But you can cut it there and the rest will dry up.

Don't lose hope... sounds like you aren't... paphs can be a lot of fun! And perhaps you are learning from the experience of course.

[RandomGemini]

I'm not losing hope, that's for sure! I was just going to get another paph and try again. I'm trying to keep in mind that this one came from Trader Joe's, which is, for all intents and purposes, a grocery store. I bought it because I had never seen a paph there before, and hey, for 8$ to find out if I can grow paphs? Honestly, how can you beat that for an experiment?

Paphs seem like they might be about my speed. I like fussing with my plants a bit, so watering more frequently would be good for me, but not so much that I have to mist daily just to keep a plant alive. I've got one bulbo and I've decided that I don't like the plant. I'll keep it until it blooms, if it blooms, and hopefully it will redeem itself, but for now, I just feel kind of bored with it. I love my dracula, but I do have to mist it daily, several times, to keep it moist enough and am gonna have to build a terrarium of some kind for it, because a humidifier in the grow space isn't enough in the winter, and this summer, I don't even want to imagine what the poor little thing is gonna go through. I just haven't had time to sit down and design my terrarium yet.

So, I'm thinking I think I might become a paph fanatic.

I definitely want to add two more to my collection (I did buy that purple one that I found at TJs. I couldn't leave it there to die. LOL!). There's a similar one to this, but with pink instead of purple and then a green maudiae type, to complete the set.

[jeremyinsf]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

to complete the set.

That's what I said... a couple hundred plants ago!

Seriously though my oldest paph I have came from Trader Joes and it has a special place in my collection. I'm guessing yours came in Sphag, so just take that into consideration with your watering.

[RandomGemini]

I do. I finally figured out what you meant when you say to judge when it needs watered by the weight of the pot. Even in spagh, with the heat running constantly, I've been watering it twice a week. The humidity in my house is low. I can feel when the humidity in my office is just right and I had to turn the humidifier up last week and have been filling it twice a day, instead of just once.

Thankfully, this pot has some styrofoam peanuts in the bottom of it, and I think up in the center of the pot as well, so that's helping things dry out in the middle. I let it dry out until the moss is just at that not quite crispy stage, then I water it.

I'm tempted to leave it in spagh when I repot.

[jeremyinsf]

It's a great medium when used correctly! It's awesome you are having fun with it and learning along the way.

I think the pot weight 'trick' is one of the most important in the book. I'm happy it helped you.