loose and wiggley rothschild

[mrphilips]

i have a wee rothschildianum. it grows very slowly and as i'm still new (1 year experience), i have made some mistakes with it.
a) i think i over-watered it as it tends to lose it's bottom leaves - i lose a leaf for every new one that i get. also it had three little new planst growing off it at the base, but this spring 2.5 of them went purple then brown then died... i still have a tiny leaf down there, but i don't hold much hope. so now i will be more cautious with the water
b) it's wiggley. the thing has very few roots as i saw when i repotted it - like two - and it's very loose in the chunky bark mix.
it has been suggested i use a bark mix so that is what i have used, but i tried to keep a lot of perlite and small lava rocks in the mix (about 20%) as i feel that would help with a firm rooting in the mix.
a nearby orchid dealer (who has lead me astray more than once) suggested a coat-hanger wire support that grips the outter edge of the pot and supplies support to the plant, but i could never get it to hold right without seeming to potentially disturn this delicate guy.

any suggestions?
is the loose plant problematic?
should my mix be different?
any suggestion on securing it a bit more firmly?

[katrina]

_?_ rothschildianum.....Eurychone, Bulbo, or Paph? Or, could be Ancistrochilus but given your leaf description that's not a likely match.

I'm guessing prob Paph but best to make sure everyone is on the same page before giving culture advice.

[mrphilips]

a'ight, hadn't realized there were so many genera with the same species name.

it's a paphiopedilum rothschildianum.

apologies for the lack of clarity.

[RosieC]

I'm not sure on this. I have a paph that seems to struggle because it is loose in the pot. Every time I water it moves against the medium and I think that they like to be firm. Not sure the best way to achive that though.

I sometimes have tried a stake which I use a loose grip to attach the plant to it. It's worked sometimes (in my problem one the stake keeps moving too). Might be worth a shot though.

On a Catt that was loose I used thin wire to fix it into the pot, tied down over the rhizome, through the hole in the bottom of the pot, then back up the sides and tied at the top again (then put in the medium). That is working for that but not sure it would work so well on a Paph, as there isn't such a fat strong rhizome to tie down (and none at all if it's only one fan).

I have a tiny Paph Roth I need to repot soon. Not quite worked out what I'm going to do with it yet.

Hope someone else has some suggestions.

[billc]

If you take 2 6-8in. lengths of coat hanger and bend them into a close V shape then push them into the media as close as you can on either side of the fan you will be able to secure the plant from wobbleing. It will not grow any decent roots until it's secure. You may also want to give it some rooting hormone or seaweed extract to promote some root growth.

Bill

[mrphilips]

Bill, do you mean to create a sort of four-legged stand from the crown spreading out and down into the media, with the crown sort of wedged between the two pieces?

I appreciate the suggestion, but I just want to make sure I'm doing it close to how you intended and I'm not sure I'm visualizing it right...

[mrphilips]

...sort of like this?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Paphiopedilum rothschildiana naturally comes from limestone cliffs and hills.

Your mix was probably too acidic. Lava rocks are acidic. So is bark. Perlite is neutral in pH.

The mix should be neutral to alkaline.

If you can buy limestone, and mix it with some bark, that would be a better potting mix.

The potting mix also should be very airy.

It is also preferable to post pics of the problem plant to help possibly figure out what's going on.

[billc]

Originally Posted by mrphilips

...sort of like this?

Exactly like that. If the plant isn't secure in the mix you'll never get good roots. If your plant is real small you can use one of those twisty things that come with garbage bags and make a fake root or two. Gently and not too tightly secure one end to the plant just above where the roots come out of the fan and then let the rest of the twisty(I'm sure there's a better word for them) go down into the mix and act as a root. If you bend the bottom end(1/2in.) at a 90% angle it will act as an anchor until the plant can get it's own root system going.

Bill

[mrphilips]

Philip - i will ask about the limestone at the garden centre. i live along the canadian shield, so i know that there's tons of it around but i am no geologist and wouldn't know where to look. or how to crush it for use. but thanks for the suggestion, i will look into it.
also by airy... do you mean "loose"? like large chunks of bark and stone?

Bill - your twisty (i'm fine with that term) seems like an easy idea, but when i think about the sturdiness of the potting mix i can't see the twisty holding it any more securely than it is already. i mean it's potted, and there's a root down in there, it's not falling out, but the twisty is not going to stop it from rocking about above the potting mix where the fan is because it's so top heavy - tiny 2" root, 6" fan almost entirely above the mix.
i think the coat-hanger sounds like a better solution to prevent it from jostling. that or using a twisty to secure it to a post much the way a phalenopsis inflorescence is secured?

any way, i'll fiddle with all these ideas and report back.
i will also supply pictures, i agree that is always wisest, i've just been very busy as my wife is "budding" and we're expecting a baby in about 3 weeks