Paphiopedilum Media
I am currently using coconut for almost all of my Paphs. Below are previous mixes I have used for your reference. There are three different types of media on my Paph's, a dependent upon size, background (from which species), and growing conditions. These recipes are provided with no guaranty's or promises. They are what works well under my particular growing conditions when I resided in Colorado. I recommend that you try them and make adjustments depending on materials available to you and your growing conditions. Below are the three different mixtures that I use.Seedling Bark MixFor small seedlings, plants with little roots or plants that due to the species background, require more moisture around the roots; I use the following mixture:
Seedling Bark Mix
For small seedlings, plants with little roots or plants that due to the species background, require more moisture around the roots; I use the following mixture:
4 Parts Fine Bark
1 Part Large Perlite
1 Part Small Perlite
1 Part Charcoal
And Optionally:
1 Part Horticultural Granular Rockwool (Wet)
I never use this mix in larger than a 3 and 1/2 inch pot as it will stay too wet.
This mixture is also good for Mini-Catt's, Cattleya seedlings, Odont's, etc.
Medium Bark Mix
For larger plants at least in a 3 and 1/2 inch pot or larger. In my experience, this is especially good for brachypetilums. I grow Paph bellatulum's very well in this mix.
4 Parts Medium Bark
1 Part Fine Bark
1 Part Large Perlite
And Optionally:
1 Part Charcoal
This may seem to be a much larger mix that people are used to for Paphiopedilum. I find that the plants require about 3-6 months to adjust. After the plants grow the additional roots over this period, they grow much better and healthier.
This is also the media I use for larger Mini-Catt's and Standard Cattleya's.
Soil-less Seedling Mix
This is a seedling mix I use to accelerate growth of seedlings. It is a soil-less based mix. WARNING: You must repot every 6 months! This mix can compact or go bad and when it does, it goes quickly and will take out the roots! Do not allow this mix to go completely dry as it is difficult to rewet. If you can master the difficulties and work with this mix, you can push Paphs from flask to flowering size in 3 years on average.
2 Parts Soil-less Peat Based Mix (I use Coles Premium Potting Soil, available from Ace Hardware)
1 Part Large Perlite
1 Part Small Perlite
I would recommend you experiment with this mix first. Paph bellatulum and bellatulum primary hybrids tend not to like this mix. It does work well for me but it is tricky. I find I can use it as follows:
0-6 Months Compots with Multiple Seedlings
6-12 Months 2 1/4 inch pots
12-18 Months 2 1/4 inch pots
18-24 Months 3 1/2 inch pots
After 24 Months Change to seedling or medium bark mix
Seedlings less than a year out of flask in the Soil-less Seedling Mix.
Mature Plants in Soil-less Mix. Plants were moved from 2 and 1/4 inch pots about 9 months before and repotted about 3 months ago.
ISOLITE® After using Isolite for two years, I have decided that it is not suitable for Paph's. It seems to collect salts which causes root damage after several years.
Fertilizers and Additives For Fertilizer,
I use Dynagrow 10-10-10. It is a liquid, balanced fertilizer. I fertilize every 2 weeks during heavy growth, cutting back to once a month in the winter.
I also top dress the Paph's with crushed oyster shell once a year. All Paph's seem to like this but it especially helps the ones with a species in the background that likes to grow in and around limestone.
How do you spread your genes around when you're stuck in
one place?
By tricking animals, including us, into falling in love.
An Orchid gallery from National Geographic Magazine,
can be found here, and it is worth a look.
I know that sometimes I get questioned about how they grow and what constitutes a warm growing Masdevallia. I thought I would just explain how I and others grow them on a hot, dry continent. Firstly please understand that climates vary greatly from person to person in this forum so this won't work for everyone but I think with some experimentation maybe more people will be able too in the future.
The orchid family (Orchidaceae) contains flowers considered some of the most beautiful and most bizarre on Earth. It is the largest family of flowering plants, encompassing more than 26,000 species with 100 to 200 species discovered annually. Those amounts don't include the thousands of named orchid hybrids and cultivars. Orchids grow naturally all over the world and are either terrestrial plants or epiphytes. Epiphytes grow on trees and rocks, and they don't need soil. Assuring pollination is the main driving force behind the creation of almost unbelievable orchid flower shapes and colors.
Orchids located throughout the south-west continued to excite and amaze locals during the recent wildflower season as conservationists work to secure the endangered specimens.
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – An international team led by investigators in China, Taiwan, and Belgium has sequenced the genome of the orchid Phalaenopsis equestris — a favored parental plant in orchid breeding and the first sequenced representative of plants that perform photosynthesis using crassulacean acid metabolism.
PERFECT BLOSSOM: Research led by a National Cheng Kung University professor had slashed the amount of time needed to obtain results in the breeding of orchids
This plant, perhaps more than any other, was responsible for the orchid craze that followed.
This post will help you recognize when you are looking at an orchid species name that is named for a person or persons. And, if you are so lucky as to get to name a newly described orchid species, it will help you do it correctly if your taxonomist has stopped returning your emails. It should also help you recognize when the author of a document is attempting feats of pedantry beyond his skill level.
Orchids are delicate and unique and many only grow in certain parts of the world. They’re a lovely flower to encourage in your garden, or to have a few stems in a vase decorating your home. But how much do you know about orchids?
I am the tallest freestanding orchid and come from the perpetually cool high forests of Peru. I am reported to grow up to 44 feet or 13.5 meters high in optimum conditions. More typically I grow to 16.5 ft. high in open, sunny areas and 23 - 26 ft. in areas under a low tree canopy. My species name derives from the Latin and refers to my long stems.
Before trying anything "new", please take the time to ask others their opinion or experience in trying something "new". This could spare you in trying something that others tried, and failed. In the meantime, any orchid you might experiment with will also thank you.
I was in a nursery recently and wandered into the greenhouse where they had tropical plants generally grown indoors. There were all the typical foliage plants, such as dracaena, dieffenbachia, pothos ivy and Chinese evergreens.
I saw a beautiful collection of blooming bromeliads. But what really caught my eye was a display of phalaenopsis orchids.
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