Start a Phragmapedium Forum Anyone???

[Valhill]

Originally Posted by quiltergal

Check out the Cypripedium Alliance - Other forum listed just below this one. That's where all the Phrag threads are.

Thanks for that piece of information.
Phrags and Cyprips!!!!

[Valhill]

Nice in site to my beginner thought! How true! Phals are everywhere and so are dead phals. My first $50 Phrag I bought 3 yrs ago is still going strong and it is huge. I can't seem to hurt it. Key thing for me is to buy a larger plant not a tiny 2 in plant. Problem is I cannot get this plant to flower. Another reason why I started the phrag social group - big plant - no flowers!!!!

[shakkai]

Just joined the group, as I love Phrags! They are some of the easiest plants for me to grow - and their flowers are stunning!

The only downside to them for me is that a lot of them can get quite large!

[Valhill]

OH yes, They are big! Divide and GIFT :-)

[Brooke]

Clean water and lots of light for phrag blooms. They can be space hogs but there are many smaller growing phrags for the spatially challenged. They can grow and bloom year round because they bloom when each new growth is mature enough.

If you have enough room, they can give you color all the time.

Brooke

[Valhill]

My question about water quality is how clean is clean???? Filtered, RO, Distilled???? And then you add stuff back into the water the form of fertilizer. OH I'm SOOO confused.

[Gin]

Count me in , I have quite a few Phrags . Gin

[shakkai]

Originally Posted by Valhill

My question about water quality is how clean is clean???? Filtered, RO, Distilled???? And then you add stuff back into the water the form of fertilizer. OH I'm SOOO confused.

I use rainwater for mine. And I only use Jungle Green fertiliser which is very low in TDS with a ratio 1-0-1.

[Valhill]

I see you live in the UK, lots of rain. I'm not so lucky in Ga, we're in a drought situation now. I'm stuck with tap water so I'm looking into a filtration system. Why zero Phosphorus 1-0-1?

[shakkai]

Yes, we're lucky in that respect! Quite regular rain.

I can't exactly say why the formulation is what it is, but it was developed by a grower who specialises in Phrags, so I trust that they knew what they were doing. I've been using it for some time now, and my plants really respond well to it. As I said, most of my plants are quite sensitive to over fertilisation. That combined with the lower light intensities that we have here compared to a lot of places in the US means that my plants growing here probably can't utilise a lot of fertiliser, so increasing the amount would most likely do them more harm than good. So, this was the best choice for me for a number of reasons.

Maybe someone else can explain in detail why the zero P?