hi cbarry. i just recieved a phrag from ebay in bud and it is gorgeous. it is phrag super grande longifolium pink x warscewiczianum. can you tell me anything about growing this orchid. what are it's light and watering requirements? i've heard they need alot of water. i was thinking of watering it every 2-3 days or keeping it in a saucer of water which i read some phrags like. it is now about 1-2 feet from an east facing window. i've never grown phrags before. i do grow paphs and have been successful at getting some of them to rebloom. i would really appreciate any ifo or tips on growing this orchid. thanks.

I was hoping you would appear Carolyn. I have a Grande/ Maybrooke. 2 new growths ~3", older growth never flowered. I also have a Paph Lowii, same issue but no new growth. (stalled for sure this winter, my fault, no room) Somehow I rot the roots on these guys. Long way back from this type of root rot. That was last summer. I have been going dry since then. Maybe too? Looks like I am getting some dessication in the grande's mature growth (root rot or underwatering). Have to repot soon anyway, so I'll check it. These 2 never got established in their pots. Have a few paphs like that.

Thought I was growing them in high light. 4 tubes and added 100 cfl or 2 this winter. (not on the Lowii) Just moved to the shoppe. They get dappled sun now from 2PM on. The last hour or so of the day they are getting full on sun in addition to sitting under 4 florescent tubes. Phrags/paphs seem to be a slower growing orchid. .

What the heck is Phrag/paph mix? Read it on another thread. Thoughts to medium ? Have them in bark mix, nothing fancy.

Clara

Sounds like this is a continuation of a conversation I missed.

I'm by no means a big slipper grower, but 5 years ago I wasn't able to grow them at all, and now I can, so I will chime in with my thoughts.

First, I've learned that the ones that like lots of water like lots of CLEAN water. Sitting in a stagnant puddle is not what they like. Growing on a cliff in a waterfall is more like it. So the saucer method should work if you flush your saucer water regularly. Otherwise, bad idea. I know I won't flush so I don't do the saucer method. (Flushing involves picking up the plant and draining the saucer, either by carring it precariously to the sink or by carrying a bucket around to collect the waste water.)

The solution for me with phrags is either to grow them in mud mix or a CHC mix. The ones I have in mud mix do very well for me. They are mostly besseae hybrids. I take soil-less mix like promix or farfard's or any African Violet mix, and add perlite and sometimes water absorbing polymer crystals. I may add lime to adjust the ph.

The other phrags are in a CHC mix - something like:

1 quart fine bark
2 quarts large CHC
1 quart perlite/spongerock
1 quart fine charcoal
1 quart chopped sphag loooooosely packed
3T bone meal

This is based on the recipe printed in the Orchid Digest a few years ago, written by Marilyn LeDoux of Windy Hill. I've added more CHC as I am a chronic underwaterer and CHC holds water for longer than bark. It has worked very well for me.

If I had some on hand, I would probably add some rockwool cubes to the water lovers.

For paphs, I am using a similar CHC mix but without the fine bark and with added dolomitic lime. I am also stuffing styro peanuts into the pot - there is a central core of styro in each pot, as well as at the bottom for drainage. (If you grow on a bench, you probably don't need any at the bottom.)

Also, I'm increasingly using diatomite instead of the perlite/spongerock.

By the way, some people hang their phrags:

{{gwi:169040}}

{{gwi:155056}} Phrag Grande 'Glenn's Pride' Full shot of the plant {{gwi:142253}}

{{gwi:142255}} Phrag. Grande 'Hermanas'

{{gwi:169047}} Phrag Sedenii 'Bowl of Cherries'

{{gwi:169052}} Phrag. Eric Young 4N x Sorcerer's Apprentice 4N This will have at least 11 blooms, maybe more because they just keep forming.

All of mine have been grown in CHC sitting in saucers of fertilizer water. I just switched a bunch to s/h and they appear to be doing well. They need to be repotted yearly, like lots of light (think catt light).

Brooke

Hi,

I'm not a real authority on phrags- I'm actually just beginning to get seriously interested in this genus. There are some slipper forums that can give you better, proven advice than I can offer, and here are some links that you should check out-

http://www.slipperorchids.info/
http://www.slipperorchidforum.com/forum/index.php
http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/index.php

I can't seem to find the link which lists the water lovers vs the drier-preferrers, but the folks at the above links can easily help you with that.

fman- AFAIK, yours is water lover. And many phrags want higher light levels. 1-2 ft from an eastern window will *not* do it for your plant. If that's where you want to keep it, you should add supplemental light (some CFLs would be nice). A saucer of CLEAN water (as Komi pointed out) is a good idea, but be dedicated about the 'clean', and change it 2-3X/week. I can't help but to fuss, so I am willing to dump the water daily (I don't but I would). What else do you grow and bloom? Do you like to water or forget to water? Do you have a preferred media to grow in?

Clara- My adult phrag mix is a little larger than a seedling mix, and it has a little bit of everything: CHC, chopped sphag, small lava rock, med perlite, chopped tree fern, ground cork, med/sml bark, tiny sea shells, (maybe lime or bone meal), charcoal, and maybe/maybe not other stuff. It's a mix that drains well, holds some water (but since my phrags sit in saucers of water, the media doesn't need to retain much water on it's own). My seedling phrag mix is the same, just smaller pieces of the same stuff.

As Brooke said, many people grow theirs in s/h. I haven't tried that, but might soon.

If you're having problems with your phrags, my experience is to add more light if you can, but also make sure that they have the water level appropriate for your plant. I can't bloom catts, and I know that my light is clearly less that catt-level, FWIW. But phrags typically need a lot more than paph light to really succeed.

Carolyn

Thanks! Wow what a Phrag Komi! Arthur told me they were decorative foliage only, hee hee. Always welcome to chime in. That's why I post. I mentioned on another thread that I can't bloom phrags. Carolyn grabbed me, thankfully.
The light went up yesterday. Lets see what happens. "Paph" light, really misleading term. I think of paphs and Phrags together, low light creatures. I will give s/h a whirl. I am underwatering. I've been having really good root results with rock and spag mix, high holes or maybe no holes. I have to simplify what I can this summer.

Clara
PS Carolyn the Stan popped another PB. Its so cute! Thanks

oh hey, some paphs need a lot of light too ;-) Paph lowii reportedly gets a little full sun in nature....

hi cbarry. thanks for responding to my questions. i hope you don't mind but i have a few more. i know there are different lights to grow orchids under but don't know much about them. what is a CFL LIGHT? where can i get it? is it a kind of light that i can put into a clip on shop lamp that you can get at home depot? i will keep my phrag in that east facing window while it is in bloom and then move it into another room with this supplemental lighting after it has completed blooming . in terms of watering i'll probably will water it every 2 days if that is o.k. you asked about what other orchids i grow. i mostly grow the mottled leaved paphs, several kinds, don't remember all the names. i also have 2 phals, one of which i got to rebloom. i have a tabletop plant light that i grow most of my paphs under. it is approx. 4 feet long by 3 feet high and has a long florescent grow light in it. i don't know if this is a good enough light for growing phrags. i would love to grow more of them. you asked about potting medium. most of my orchids are in a bark mixture. honestly, i never repotted any of them. i'm a little nervous to do it even though i read it is really good for them. you seem to be very knowledgable in growing orchids so any info you could provide me would be greatly appreciated. thanks, fman.

fman-

You've come to a great place! There are lots of very knowledgeable people here.

CFLs are those twisty curly new bulbs that they promote for energy efficiency. For a regular incandescent bulb, you pay for 100 W when you use it, a comparable CFL costs you 26W. My understanding is that you are only using 26W, but the light just seems as bright as a 100 W bulb. In my experience, CFLs also put out some pretty good heat, and they can burn leaf tips that get too close. When you buy them (markets, HD, Lowes) they are sold with both wattages on the label so that you know which watt to buy. I have 5 of them (26W CFL size) in a multi arm unit and 4 long tubes (utility light type) in my main grow area, and a couple of CFLs in other fixtures in other areas. I'd like to get 1 more of the 5 arm units and add 5 more 26W CFLs. Under all of this, I bloom stans, ctsms, paphs, and phrags as it turns out. Some other stuff too, but these guys are the majority of my collection.

Some of my other questions were just to learn a little about what and how you grow. I too, have a phrag (a Sorcerer's Apprentice) in a relatively low light area while it is in the bloom area, and I will move it back to the grow area when the blooms are done. I think that you will want more light than your fluorescent bulb - What's the wattage? and just 1 tube? Komi has a lot of good phrag advice posted above.

Bark is fine for most orchids, certainly for what you have. If your paphs haven't rebloomed, and should have, light could be to blame. If they seem to be growing well, then maybe their bloom season isn't here yet.

But don't just listen to me, ask our experts!

Good luck, and welcome
Carolyn

Brooke what kind of light and water are you giving your phrags? Do you do the saucer? I really like the sourcer's apprentice. How old is yours?

Clara

hi cbarry and everyone else. thanks for all the advice. cbarry, when you say a multi arm unit do you mean one of those stand up lamps with 3 or so lights at the top of them? how far do you keep the plants from the lights? is it possible to use a clip on shop light with a CFL light keeping the plant a proper distance from the light? i don't have a lot of room for any large set up. are there any other phrags that don't require as much light? i love the ones with the long side petals. i was thinking of trying one of those paphs with those long petals (st. swithin or micheal koopwitz ?) but they seem to be very expensive and don't know if i could be successful at growing them. by the way, i also got one of those spider orchids (? brassia). it is also gorgeous. it's flowers look like exotic underwater creatures. there are just so many beautiful orchids that i want but i think i better concentrate on the ones i have already for now. again thanks for any advice. fman.

clara the plant was a single growth last September when I bought it. I tied the foliage up on the plant and set it under flourescents all winter, foliage almost touching the light. Yes, pure water in a saucer with MSU added, flushed weekly and then right back in the saucer of water. It produced two new growths over the winter while this one started blooming.

While in the display area, it was in front of an ESE window with three CFL lamps also lighting the area. A month ago it was moved to a greenhouse, foliage released from it's prison and receiving catt light. None of my phrags have shown any leaf distress from the strong light but I guess the window/artifial had prepared it for the real world. At one time, I had 9 phrags on display in the area.

All phrags moved 3 weeks ago to s/h are showing rapid root growth. I am still waiting for the blooming ones to quit to make the move.

fman your paphs want to be moist and never dry out but not be soggy. Inside I grew mine with the foliage almost touching regular flourescent lights. not the CFL lights, that will burn them. In the greenhouse I have them in an area that receives 1500-1800 fc's until about 1 pm and then 1000 fc's. In the plant world, plants that have variegated foliage USUALLY need more light than their plain green brothers. Variegation gives them less chorophyll to live on so they need more light.

Brooke

fman,

Here is a link to a thread that shows a large part of my grow area, including my 5 arm lamp. I keep the plants at least 6 in away, less than that and I see burn marks on the leaves.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/orchids/msg1023482928785.html?28

As far as recommending lower light paphs or phrags, I'm not the best person to comment on that. Except that Phrag ecuadorense and Phrag. pearcei (maybe be synonyms) are lower light phrags. I have ecuadorense in spike right now :)
Maybe start a new thread with that question. I think brassias like more light too, but again I don't know.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: My octopus lamp

I am glad that this thread was highjacked. I am still at odds in the shoppe with the light set up. I was reading Howard's re:'s on your link. If you have 4 florescents and want to suppliment with cfl's what is he suggesting? How many are needed to do justice? Lets say 2000 fc's for 4-6 ft. assuming there are 4, 4ft tubes as the base, what is the best way to suppliment with the cfl's?Put them at the ends and shoot them in or in front? I have the same single bulb clippy lamps you do Carolyn. 14 of them I can use over 5 shelves. I change them every day and I am still not satisfied. I am ignoring the windows for now.

I have had problems with the 120's. I use the 100's and there is a difference. Convinced HD has some defect on the 120's. I found the 100's at Aldi's for 2.50$. They have a 1000 more lumen output than the HD 100's. Sylvania brand. As I recall 1500 vs 1600

Clara