Paph repotting and media
 

Hello all,

I just picked up a mottled leaf Paph. It's grown in pure sphag and I'm thinking about cutting off the flower and repotting. The leaves look a little faded with burnt brown edges and they seem a little floppy to me (but I can't really be sure) but that could be from too much light I understand.

I want to repot it into a clear plastic pot (a cut up tupperwear container that should work) using WillGrow Orchid Media General Mix. It's not supposed to be for Paph but I've sifted out the larger chunks of bark and plan to add a bit more shredded sphag and some charcoal. Does that sound about right?

I grow all of my phals in sphag mixed with perlite and charcoal so I could always do the same to the paph. Do you think that that would work?

Never grown a paph before and don't wanna kill it lol ^_~.

Thanks all.

Ryan

What kind of Paph is it?

It's a noid. I'll post some pics of it, the proposed new pot and the medium as it's soaking.

Yfrog Image : yfrog.com/j9p1010166ej

Yfrog Image : yfrog.com/0yp1010168lxj
the leaves with the brown/yellow edges

Yfrog Image : yfrog.com/7gp1010169zj
Proposed new pot

Yfrog Image : yfrog.com/49p1010170zj
New medium soaking in water

Thanks :)

-Ryan

Don't forget to put your drain holes in your pot ;)

That looks like a Maudiae type crossed with a complex.

Your medium seems fine. Do ensure you have drainage holes in the pot though!

You don't need to cut off the flower.

oh hell, I cut off that amazing flower for nothing :(? Oh well, good to know for the future and at least the cut flower is lasting a long time. I wonder though, the flower had an extra pouch forming, do these types of paphs flower sequentially?

Also, I painstakingly sawed and cracked holes in the pot to provide drainage :).

Thanks for all the help!

Ryan

The only time you need to cut off a spike (or wait) when repotting is when a bud is forming. Once the flower is open all that can really happen is the flower doesn't last as long if you repot. Paphs take repotting a lot better than many orchids.

So do you mean the spike had another bud forming? This type of Paph is not really a "sequential" (like the Cochlopetalums), and rarely do they have more than one flower on a spike, but they can occasionally. When they do, the second flower is usually smaller than the first and opens a little later.