Killed my phrag?! :(
 

It snapped off when I was trying to get rid if the brown spots! :( did I kill it? It took the top leaves.....

There is a little left inside. It snapped off above where the "growth things" are around the base of the crown.

I'm so upset and mad at myself. :(

There isn't a lot of mass of remaining tissue, but as that part of the plant is where the rhizome originates, you might get a new growth out of it. However, even if you do, it will be small, and will need to build stores to grow the next growth, and then the next, making it be a long time until blooming size is reached, so you might do better simply replacing it.

Jenn4a, it's the curse of Phrag. Fritz Schomburg***. It strikes again.

If there's a leaf and some living roots, it's not beyond all hope, but it will take awhile to recover. Just repot it like you were intending to do. Hope for the best, but expect the worst.

Phrag leaves are very tenacious, even seemingly dead and brown leaves will sometimes keep a death grip on the plant. It takes delicate, but forceful technique to remove them sometimes.

*** I've had Phrag. Fritz Schomburg on my wishlist for years. Several years back, I finally found a seedling that was in my price range. It did quite well for me and grew quickly. Then my roommate's cat discovered it. Apparently phrags are yummy. The next one I bought turned out to be mislabeled. It was actually Eumelia Arias. Then this year, I had hoped that the 3rd time was going to be the charm. I ordered the plant, but when the box arrived, the vendor had sent the wrong plant. So, this hybrid has given me lots of heartache.

Thanks MrHappyRotter and Ray.
I repotted the phrags in LECA, perlite, sphagnum moss, and charcoal. The roots are very thin and there wasn't very many so I used mainly perlite and sphagnum moss.
I emailed the nursery telling them I'll be by this week to pick up a new (and probably older fritz) and they told me to bring in the plant too. So I'll see if the Fritz makes it, but I'm getting another.

Yeah I definitely learned a couple things. Always repot when I get a new orchid, unless I know what it's potted in, and how recently it was repotted. Also... Sometimes leaving the leaves alone is better than trying to remove suspicious areas. :/

Btw, I'm joining SlipperTalk since I've taken such an interest in slippers :) I know a couple of you guys are on there too. The nursery near me has a lot of amazing paphs and phrags, so my collection is going to have many of those.

Btw these are the phrags I have:
Phrag. Fritz Schomburg (the one pictured)
Phrag. Caudatum 'Jon Sauer'
Phrag. Red Lightning 'Windy Hill' x Caudatum 'Windy Hill'

MrHappyRotter:
Well if it turns out I have two Fritz Schomburgs down the road, maybe you'd like one :lol: What size, first time blooming seedling?

Slippertalk is great, lots of friendly, knowledgeable folks over there, too. And lots of wonderful photos. I like the plants you've chosen so far. The long petaled phrags are really cool looking when in bloom.

The Fritz that the cat ate was not quite large enough to be blooming sized. He chewed the plant up so badly that the entire top part of the plant was basically gone, leaving only a tiny stump with some roots.

I've been researching the phrags, and the red lighting is confusing. The taxonomy on the Warscewiczianum, Popowii and Wallisii is very confusing!

Oh and for the cat problem, just keep catnip near, but not right next to your phrags. That should take care of that problem :lol: I'm sorry about your fritz though. I'm upset about mine... especially since it was putting new roots out. :( it looked like it was growing pretty fast.

I went to the nursery today to bring in the poor Fritz, and came back with 2 new phrags. The original Fritz might make it, but I did get a new bigger just in case. I did notice that the first Fritz I got said Kovachii x Besseae var. Flavum, and the new one does not. So it would look different if he makes it? This one looks like it has plenty of roots, but I want to unpot it to check the medium for pests. I don't think the medium needs to be replaced, but not sure.
Should I leave them alone for now?
Once I either repot them, or I know there isn't any pest, they'll go in my setup with the 2' T5 24W. Right now they're in a 29 Gal. with a 65W (200W-300W equivalent) CFL.

The other new one is: Phrag. Mem. Dick Cements 'Sandy's Gem' AM/AOS. It appears to have a new growth starting, and some roots you can see at the top as well. :)



Phrag. Fritz Schomburg the 2nd:rofl: It says Phal, but it's just a typo.
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/...psda4dfd9f.jpg

Phrag. Mem. Dick Clements 'Sandy's Gem' AM/AOS
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/...psf0e3ce7a.jpg

Both
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/...psfa78e09d.jpg http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/...ps78c61b57.jpg

Good luck, they look nice.

If you are patient enough, then keep the plant.
The main growth point might have been damaged but that will trigger the plant generate growth(s) from else where.
I see a few good roots.
Phrags usually make lots of new fans at the base of the plant anyways, so it's just a matter of time.
Keep it and see what it does.

I'm planning on keeping him, Fritz the first. :) I just hope that the Sphag it's potted in isn't too packed. I've never grown something in pure sphag so it makes me nervous. :nailbite:
I'm not sure if it's better to remove it from the sphag since it was originally in bark mix, or just leave him how he is. I don't want to unpot him if it will stress him out more.

here's some update photos :)
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/...pse45b17f4.jpg

http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8ac9ff6d.jpg

Fritz the 1st, Mem. Dick Clements, Fritz the 2nd, and Darwinara. The discolored water is due to Seaweed extract.
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0936dde9.jpg