Petal Blight on Paph?

[NYCorchidman]

I do not cut spent spike on paphs. It is just my personal preference. I hate to see open "wounds" on any living thing, and I only cut something if there is rot or too many spots.

So back to paph flower stems, I basically don't do anything until they get so dry and crisp that I can just easily break them off and toss. This is usually many weeks after flowers drops.

I know some people do not like the look of spent stems standing there looking dead, but this is just me.

By the way, I picked up a beautiful paph (Hsinying Alien) at TJ while visiting California last month. I don't ever see paphs in NYC, so I thought it was very interesting. There were quite a few, although there were all either Hsinying Alien or Napa Valley&Makulii cross.
Anyway, I think it was only $8 as the pot was tiny, and the one I picked had the biggest flower of this hybrid I've ever seen, yet the plant was small. Not to mention the coloring was gorgeous.
It has a tiny new growths that is slowly recovering from all the stress it went through. I really hope it survives as I would love to see how the second blooming will turn out.

Go get some more paphs!
As is the case with most others, Hsinying Alien cross come out very different plant by plant. I had so many then tossed so many. I now have three, one of which is spiking for the second time. It is a small flower but very glossy and dark. Well, at least that's how the first bloom was.

How big is your plant? single growth?
I find that this cross is quite vigorous and has great potential to form a nice clump over time.

[RandomGemini]

The flower is big for the size of the plant. It's bigger than I would expect it to be for a plant of this size. The plant is a single growth. I think it may have a second growth starting, but I have no way of knowing for sure. It has a small little dot of growth at the base that is green, but that could be a new root for all I know. It's in a 3 inch pot. I would say the leaf span is about 5 inches.

The leaves seem so thin to me compared to phals! Almost delicate, but I love the mottled foliage. It's what really attracted me to the plant. Phals without blooms are kinda boring, but I saw this and thought that I would like looking at it when it wasn't in bloom.

This is a pic of the plant when the bloom wasn't as ugly.



And this is a pic of the paph I picked up at TJs the other night. It's a noid, but I loved the color. I couldn't pass it up.

[NYCorchidman]

As different as they might look, I'm almost certain that this one is also of the same cross.
It seems Hsinying Alien might have been "over produced" in recent years and circulate the market.

The nursery will get a lot of seedlings and then by the time the plants all spike or bloom, all are sent out to the retail stores.

While vast majority of this cross will be coloratum (as in your first photo), some do bloom out almost vini.

By the way, yours do have pretty big flowers.
The two I kept, not counting the third one I bought from TJ in Cali recently which is gigantic sized flower, have average leaves and small flowers, but I really like the shape and colors.

It's odd that all the ones I tossed for ugly flowers had wonderful leaves. well, maybe that is fair in a way. lol

New growths are whitish green and point and quite flat.
New roots will come out round and rather fleshy. It is usually white or whitish yellow that quickly turn light tan or brown as they get bigger.

Once they get going, they can grow really really well.

Oh, and are they in moss? I bet they are. Mine was.
and it was almost bone dry. Actually a few others at the same store in Cali were all about to die of thirst. lol
Keep it warm and moist.

[RandomGemini]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

As different as they might look, I'm almost certain that this one is also of the same cross.
It seems Hsinying Alien might have been "over produced" in recent years and circulate the market.

The nursery will get a lot of seedlings and then by the time the plants all spike or bloom, all are sent out to the retail stores.

While vast majority of this cross will be coloratum (as in your first photo), some do bloom out almost vini.

By the way, yours do have pretty big flowers.
The two I kept, not counting the third one I bought from TJ in Cali recently which is gigantic sized flower, have average leaves and small flowers, but I really like the shape and colors.

It's odd that all the ones I tossed for ugly flowers had wonderful leaves. well, maybe that is fair in a way. lol

New growths are whitish green and point and quite flat.
New roots will come out round and rather fleshy. It is usually white or whitish yellow that quickly turn light tan or brown as they get bigger.

Once they get going, they can grow really really well.

Oh, and are they in moss? I bet they are. Mine was.
and it was almost bone dry. Actually a few others at the same store in Cali were all about to die of thirst. lol
Keep it warm and moist.

Yes, my paphs are in moss. The humidity is so low here, over the summer and winter too, that I think I will keep them in moss. I am gonna have to order a bag. I'm considering switching my phals to a mix with some moss in it and am using some of the cheap moss I bought at lowe's for putting on top of the bark and they still dry out way too fast.

How do you feel about those carousel pots from repotme? I was considering getting a couple of the smaller ones, because I can find large orchid pots easily, but small ones are hard to come by.

[NYCorchidman]

I haven't used them, but thought about trying them.
I think they will have excellent aeration of course, but things might get too dry for paphs to live in there unless you are in the wet climate. lol

I'm happy with good ol clay or plastic pots.
I prefer the clear and rigid plastic pots with lots of circular drainage holes at the bottom, but some plants get top heavy or grow in certain way that they must be placed in clay pots. Otherwise, all my plants will be in plastic pots.

I do have two multi-growth paphs in tall paph pot sold by repotme.
I like them, but I wish the plastic was rigid, but oh, well.

[jeremyinsf]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

I do have two multi-growth paphs in tall paph pot sold by repotme.
I like them, but I wish the plastic was rigid, but oh, well.

Which ones specifically are you talking about?

[NYCorchidman]

Repotme sell tall plastic pots for paphs. The product name is basically that.
They are imported from Germany, where many wonderful pots are made!

The pots come in three diferent size I believe. 4, 6, and 7.5. I have two 6.
terracotta color was the only option when I got them, but now black is also available I think. haven't checked their website for a while now. about time.

Big & Tall Plastic Pots

Ok, just checked and they do carry two colors now but the size come in 5 and 6 only. I swear they had more sizes. hmmm I wanted to repot my paphs to a larger ones. dang it! now I have to search forever looking for suitable pots for them as I don't want to divide them.

[jeremyinsf]

Just saw your update..

Anyway.

I use these for several plants and really like them:

Slotted Clear Orchid Pot - 5"

[NYCorchidman]

Oh, wow~ thank you for that link I love those pots!
I am not a fan of slotted plastic pots because the roots (all but especially the fine roots like oncidium type orchids) either grow out through the slits or get stuck, and by the time I have to repot them, I feel terrible ripping all the roots.

The way the bottom is made on that design is amazing! I'm all about great drainage and I am so going to buy them for single growths for now.

Thanks again!

Oh, and by the way, the ones I mentioned, they also have big drainage holes at the bottom. drains like crazy and I love it!

[jeremyinsf]

I'm actually not a repotme fan (for my own reasons) but I do think that pot is great. It's worth ordering. I've put some of my best plants into them. Good air flow, strong enough as a pot, amazing drainage as you point out. Good luck with them! I actually wish I could find exactly the same pots in different sizes. If you see them anywhere, please think of me and let me know.