paphiopedilum in s/h

[tmoney]

hello orchidboard,

i just wanted to post up a captured moment (if nothing else as a visual reference for ourselves!), of a couple paphs that were recently put into s/h. we had decided to expand with a few paphs, and then ray also backed up the suggestion so, of course, i went a little overboard with a little early christmas money!

the one on the far left, lowii, was one of the first orchids we bought back in february and struggled to near death for the first 3 months we had it. then, decided to put it in leca semi hydro and it really came alive and seems to be a real strong grower now. so then, when we decided to add another genera besides phals, we bought several species and a couple of paph hybrids from different growers. the goal is to eventually transfer most of them to s/h. i did the first 3 about 3 weeks ago when we got them, and have a few more that will wait till spring or finish flowering before going. the 2 in the middle are in thick walled, 1 liter coke bottles. they make very easy and convenient s/h pots, btw!

for phals, personally im not too happy with their progress since changing over. there were new roots going when they were repotted, followed all the guidelines, but they have both struggled. i have since moved one of our deliciosas back into normal bark/leca media because it was basically gonna die, and the taenialis shown in the pic reaaalllyy lagged with the move into s/h, but it’s roots look healthy and it’s now recovered and grown the biggest leaf it’s had. but, as i posted about in another thread, it does crystallize salts very weirdly, and i still don’t have a suitable hypothesis on why, nor a solution to this problem. ive tried various things, but to no avail. but, it’s still growing and not dead, so we r just letting it ride for now.....

anyways, hope we can show progress on this paph group in the future (and the phal)!

[tmoney]

hey all,

a little update on s/h culture for paphs experiments. things are progressing well, and we have transitioned over a couple more species over the last couple months (also included the project leptotes just repotted for fun!).

one direct comparison is the vinicolor black madonna that has an identical sibling in coconut husk right next to it. since switching the one to s/h under 2 months ago, it has for sure grown faster than the other. but...its our only plant with coconut husk medium, so probbly not giving the other its best care.

tho its quite obvious that if timed right paphs respond very well when put into s/h culture.

edit to update on the phal in s/h side of things...well, its progressing poorly to say the least. the single phal in the original post pic has since died. so that makes aout 4 phals killed or nearly killed in s/h...pretty much every one. i put a seedling phal in s/h as a trial a couple months ago, and actually its doing ok right now...still havent figured out how to make phals happy in s/h, but paphs are great

[The Mutant]

Originally Posted by tmoney

hey all,

a little update on s/h culture for paphs experiments. things are progressing well, and we have transitioned over a couple more species over the last couple months (also included the project leptotes just repotted for fun!).

one direct comparison is the vinicolor black madonna that has an identical sibling in coconut husk right next to it. since switching the one to s/h under 2 months ago, it has for sure grown faster than the other. but...its our only plant with coconut husk medium, so probbly not giving the other its best care.

tho its quite obvious that if timed right paphs respond very well when put into s/h culture.

edit to update on the phal in s/h side of things...well, its progressing poorly to say the least. the single phal in the original post pic has since died. so that makes aout 4 phals killed or nearly killed in s/h...pretty much every one. i put a seedling phal in s/h as a trial a couple months ago, and actually its doing ok right now...still havent figured out how to make phals happy in s/h, but paphs are great

That's some happy looking Paphs. I'm jealous since I can't get some of my own yet.

A shame the Phals don't seem too happy about it.

[Ray]

I would guess that the issue with the phals is root zone temperature.

Low humidity + low temps = roots cold and wet due to evaporative cooling.

[WaterWitchin]

I'm with Ray on that assessment.

[tmoney]

hmmm, well thats not a great assessment as we had our phals in s/h in the warmest spot in the house over the winter and they shriveled away one after the other....

oh well, regular stuff works fine for our phals it seems, so if it aint broke, don't fix it, eh?! looks like we'll stick to paphs for now then, they are so easy in s/h

[estación seca]

How warm is your warmest winter spot? How often did you fill the containers with water then let them drain? Did they have shallow root systems when you moved them to S/H?

[tmoney]

Originally Posted by estación seca

How warm is your warmest winter spot? How often did you fill the containers with water then let them drain? Did they have shallow root systems when you moved them to S/H?

hey es. our warmest spot stayed around 17C at night to about 23 C in day over the winter. probly also got colder and warmer at times.

when watering, on saturdays i drain the resevoir before filling wither fertilizer solution. then, usually on tuesdays i would drain the resevoirs again and fill/flush 2 times per pot. make sure the res is topped up and back on the shelf. saturdays is fertalizer/kelp, and tuesday is plain water flush.

[estación seca]

Phal. deliciosa is a warm to hot growing species. 15C / 60F is too low. Phal. taenialis expects to be very during the cool winter. I stongly suspect your problem is a cold and damp winter, not S/H.

I wouldn't subject any Phals to 15C at night on a regular basis, unless the next day is a lot warmer than 23C. There are a few deciduous ones from cool and dry winter areas. They won't be happy with cool and moist. Not many people grow those.

I especially would not subject Phals to these temperatures in S/H due to the evaporative cooling. I would guess most winter nights also have low humidity so the roots mass might get even colder. A heat mat or terrarium might help.

I'm not clear on how you water. After draining your reservoir, each time you water, do you completely fill the container to the rim, displacing all the air with water?

Weekly kelp is unnecessary and possibly harmful. Ray recommends monthly.

Unless you can find a way to make a warmer space in winter with a heat mat or enclosure, I would not try to grow Phals.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Weekly kelp is unnecessary and possibly harmful. Ray recommends monthly.

That depends upon the kelp extract used.