TOPIC TRANSCRIPT
Present were: 29
Bradwinn (Brad in MI)
sparkysteve in Boca Raton Fla
Ellen,Smithtown, NewYork
RCW (Bob - upstate NY
marylois in Louisiana
Lanceps (Thamina - S Calif)
onelaelia (Ursula - Caracas Venezuela)
PaphioDePaphio (Jason in NY)
55SS (James in N Calif)
JCY8S (John in S Calif)
Jane5536 in NY
soobie me (Susan - central NC)
MarilyninOttawa
Fleur in Tasmania
JanetteH in NC
BTague in N Calif
yoshiko2 in Ann Arbor MI
MiamiBert
AORCHID (Art in SC)
uncleearl in N Calif
CaryStarr in Fla
Carol Holdren in Boca RatonFla
gaillevy in Boca Raton Fla
prankster d in Oregon
Ann12 in Dallas Tex
johngingarland Tx
JAGS (Bombay)
Guest JJB (Boulder CO)
Dryadella (aka platystele - Peggy in WI)
With thanks to Sparky, James, and Gail who combined talents to capture
the evening's transcript.
* * *
Ellen,Smithtown,NewYork
Looking forward to tonight because I am a poor paph grower I hope I can
find out what I do wrong.
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
Well, I'm looking for questions based on the mail out, look at it as a presentation,
this is question time.
JanetteH ((In the foothills of NC))
Hi, Bob. I read your info and there was really no surprises as far as species,
but a few on the hybrid side. The Darling and Wossner Armeniglan are ones
that I have never heard of or seen for sale.
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
You have to look a little for the Darling clones, but they are out there.
I've seen them at a couple of places on the Orchid Mall. Same for the Wossner
Armeniglan.
[Val Tonkin at Tonkin's Orchids has Paph. Darling -- KB]
Ellen,Smithtown,NewYork
The mailout was great, why did you select those plants?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
The plants were selected based on ease of culture and blooming, availability,
size and desirability of flowers.
JCY8S (John in Arcadia, CA)
Bob - Do St Swithins need to be more than one or 2 growths to bloom?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
St Swithin needs a growth and a half to 2 the first time to bloom, a divided
plant can bloom on a growth.
marylois (TOPIC: 25 Great Paphs for Every Collection)
Parvisepalums again, Bob - the key to blooming, esp. armeniacum and malipoense.
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
Lois, the Parvi species give a lot of people trouble, which is why we suggest
the hybrids, which seem to bloom easily for almost everyone.
[Listed in order of ease of flowering: Paph. armeniacum fma. F. Mark, Paph.
malipoense, Paph. armeniacum, Paph. emersonii, Paph. micranthum... We have
substantial numbers of the parvi species and still flower no where near
what we would like: if the temps during bud formation don't get too warm,
the humidity doesn't get too low, the mice don't find the buds, plants don't
stay too wet, etc. You want to give the plants lots of light, warm days,
cool nights, let the plants dry out between watering, keep the humidity
up, and keep your fingers crossed! --RCW]
Ellen,Smithtown,NewYork
Not everyone, Bob.
JCY8S (John in Arcadia, CA)
Where does Paph. concolor fall down? It does great for me and is easy to
grow. I have had one clone for many years.
[Answering JCY9S: Paph. concolor doesn't have the biggest flowers in the
brachy group, the flowers aren't particularly showy...although there are
clones out there that have 4 and 5 flowers per inflorescence if you can
find them! But they are easy to grow, of course...basically we felt that
other brachys could have stronger recommendations.--RCW]
marilyninOttawa
Bob, I have recently acquired a flask of Paph. (emersonii x Deperle) The
seedlings are very well rooted but I feel that it is time to de-flask as
the roots are no longer growing. What medium would you choose for the first
compot stage and why? How many seedlings would you suggest planting together?
Would you suggest a flat/tray for them all? What temperature and light would
you provide seedlings of this cross?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
We don't treat flasklings differently (Paphs) according to background. I
think the keys are warm and low light initially, gradually increasing. As
far as medium and pot size, that has a lot to do with individual conditions.
We can flat them if kept indoors under lights, but can't in our greenhouses
where it is cooler. We use our standard seedling mix of fine fir bark, perlite
and chopped NZ Sphagnum moss.
bradwinn
In general, seems like I can grow a paph well, but to get it to spike and
bloom is another story, have any tips?
[You may need to give your plants more light, and increase the phosphorus
in your fertilizer so you aren't feeding 30-10-10 all year 'round. Make
sure you are growing good roots too! If you grow under lights, make sure
the plants are within 4 inches of the lightbulbs --RCW]
Ellen,Smithtown,NewYork
Same problem here, Brad.
JCY8S (John in Arcadia, CA)
Thanks, Bob. Maybe my St Swithins with 2 growths is just getting to blooming
size.
marylois (TOPIC: 25 Great Paphs for Every Collection)
Had a two growth division of St. Swithin from Harry Freiberg - grew it five
years before it bloomed!
Jane5536 (Huntington L.I. N.Y.)
Should parvis be underpotted?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
In general, we feel almost all Paphs should be kept underpotted.
JCY8S (John in Arcadia, CA)
Bob - do you mind if we print out your mail-out for our own use?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
It's fine to print it out.
bradwinn
Length of day, amount of light, divide and repot?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
As far as repot, frequently, divide infrequently, light is one of the least
critical criteria for Paphs.
JCY8S (John in Arcadia, CA)
Equal proportions in your seedling mix?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
Seedling mix is probably 70% fine bark, 20% perlite, maybe 10% NZ
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
We also start them in two ways, parvis and brachys, which tend to be a little
stouter and have brittle fleshy roots [seem to carry their leaves almost
parallel to the pot, as opposed to the more upright growth of other hybrids]
get spaced out in the 5"x5" compots, usually one per flask. Others
get clumped into 2.5" pots, usually 3-4 pots per flask.
marilyninOttawa
Thank you, Bob.
BTague (Barbara, N. Calif.)
I killed a compot of micranthum a few years back, now I finally got the
hang of it, this pot have 4 growing in it. Doing well. Hope it'll bloom
next year.
[Was it a true compot of seedlings, or a compot of immature stolons that
were removed from adult plants. These were being sold occasionally a few
years ago, and if that was the case they were probably doomed to die.
Do not remove individual immature stolons from these plants. --RCW]
yoshiko2 ((Yoshiko in Ann Arbor))
How large does Magic Lantern have to be, in terms of leaf span, in order
to bloom?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
Magic Lantern will generally bloom on a 5-6 inch leafspan plant. Remember
clonal variation though, there is a lot in the size of one parent, micranthum.
JanetteH ((In the foothills of NC))
Good. Maybe some of my Magic Lanterns will bloom this year. :-)
yoshiko2 ((Yoshiko in Ann Arbor))
Now I know why my Magic Lantern hasn't bloomed yet.
JCY8S
We'll keep our fingers crossed for you, Janette!
JanetteH ((In the foothills of NC))
John, this is a flask I got from Bob in Feb. 97. Plants look great.
JCY8S (John in Arcadia, CA)
Bob - How long do you allow a pod to remain on the plant before you cut
it for greenpodding? As long as possible or a set number of months?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
John, we pull them [capsules] primarily based on appearance, too many to
be looking at dates, and you build up a database of times to a degree.
JCY8S (John in Arcadia, CA)
I thought so but I was told to let the pods remain on at least 9 months.
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
Some capsules mature much sooner, especially for the multiflorals.
PaphioDePaphio (Jason in Brooklyn)
Bob: how long for the pod to mature on multifloral?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
Multifloral capsule times generally 4-5 months under lights, 6-7 months
in the greenhouse in the North.
PaphioDePaphio (Jason in Brooklyn)
Bob: Cool, got a few ready soon I guess.
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
John also remember that temp and light affect maturation time, as well as
individual clone variability.
BTague (Barbara, N. Calif.)
Bob, when you repot, do you wet the the mix or keep it dry?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
We repot with a damp mix, and then water the plant in also. Especially with
adult plants the watering in is important, as it will tell you if the mix
is too dense if the water doesn't flow through the pot freely without pooling
on the surface. [Generally if there has been some root damage requiring
root pruning, or if the plant has been divided, or if there were any wounds
present on the rhizome (which we would dust with cinnamon), we delay watering
the plant until at least the next day --RCW].
yoshiko2 ((Yoshiko in Ann Arbor))
If the water flows out of the pot freely, then the mix will probably not
bind the roots, or, that the mix is not packed in too dense? I just repotted
some paphs and worry about packing the media in too much.
BTague (Barbara, N. Calif.)
Thanks Bob, I have a friend, always soaks the bark in Physan. I'm just too
busy to go to the extra step.
marylois (TOPIC: 25 Great Paphs for Every Collection)
How do you and Lynn divide your growing duties *G*?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
Lynn is chief grower, especially potting and supervising help. I run the
lab, am in charge of water/fertilizer programs, mechanics etc
Lanceps (Thamina from Manhattan Beach, Calif.)
Great mailout, interesting taxonomy. Do you have taxonomy for Phrags?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
No Phrag taxonomy, I'm beginning to think there is besseae, schlimii, caudatum,
and a host of others that if you got enough together there would be a continuum
from one extreme to another.
Jane5536 (Huntington L.I. N.Y.)
Bob--do most parvis require lots of light to bloom as well as cool?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
Jane, our parvis generally don't great a great deal of light and they bloom
fairly well. I do try to increase the light levels on them in the fall,
I think that is more important.
yoshiko2 ((Yoshiko in Ann Arbor))
Why do the parvis need more light in the fall?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
The increasing light on Parvis is a mimic of the winter moonsoon conditions
they receive in nature. It may not be necessary, but with finicky bloomers
may be worth a try. It also may be important to remember, to ease frustration,
that armeniacum and micranthum have evolutionarily put a lot of energy into
reproduction by stolon, and blooming may be slightly less important to them.
Carol Holdren (Boca Raton, FL)
Bob what mix do you recommend for blooming size paphs?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
Our adult mix starts with a base of 6 parts medium bark, 1 part fine, 2
parts #4 spongerock, 2 parts chopped NZ. It is altered on an individual
pot by pot basis though by addition of more of any of the above ingredients
depending on plant type, roots, pot size, etc.
Ellen,Smithtown,NewYork
Some paphs like Oriental Tapestry seem to send out many small growths and
all seem to grow slowly at the same rate, Why?
[Check the roots, the only time we have seen this happen with this grex
was on a plant that had lost its roots, and appeared to be trying
to compensate by throwing out new growths to root from. I would not say
it is typical for the grex though I would say that this grex is a little
tempermental to grow. Needs a remake to try for better growers.--RCW]
JCY8S (John in Arcadia, CA)
Does Denehurst 'Surprise' affect the size of the pouch? or just the dorsal
sepal?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
John, I'd talk to Clark Day about Denehurst breeding, he knows a lot more
than I would about it.
JCY8S (John in Arcadia, CA)
Thanks, I will try to see him soon.
JCY8S (John in Arcadia, CA)
Can overfertilizing (or high levels of fertilizer) cause deformities in
the flowers?
Jane5536 (Huntington L.I. N.Y.)
# 4 spongerock? Like pea size?
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
John, I don't know. Jane, larger, more like nickle sized.
Jane5536 (Huntington L.I. N.Y.)
Wow, I've never seen spongerock that big--who would have it?
Ellen,Smithtown,NewYork
Michaels has it, Jane.
RCW-upstateNY (Bob in Candor)
The #4 spongerock is unfortunately not easily available, #3 is but is not
as good. We've got a couple of suppliers that keep their eyes out for us
for the #4 and we get a supply when we can.
If you get the mix right you can pack very tightly without interfering with
aeration or water flow, but its a trick to learn. Both are important to
Paphs, the plants must be anchored tightly or the roots tips will be damaged
during watering if the plant wiggles. This is a good reason to use square
pots whenever possible and another reason to keep them underpotted.
[When you compress the mix, the spongerock is crushed to some extent and
fills in some of the spaces between the bark, and the intertwining of the
moss tends to bind the mix and keep some moisture while the crushed spongerock
provides for rapid water transmission and aeration.--RCW]
