# Phrag April Fool 'Carly'



## Chuck (Jan 3, 2013)




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## The Orchid Boy (Jan 3, 2013)

Wow! I haven't seen a ton of phrags but that has got to be the prettiest phrag hybrid I've ever seen, no kidding! It looks so... yummy, like candy or bubblegum. 

What's the leaf span on the plant? I'm seriously thing about getting one if I can find one...


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## goldenrose (Jan 3, 2013)

:drool::drool: Nothing April Foolish about this one! :clap::clap:


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## Shiva (Jan 3, 2013)

Now that's a great one. Congrats!


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## Hera (Jan 3, 2013)

Now that's what I'm talkin bout!


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## phrag guy (Jan 3, 2013)

That is very nice Chuck


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## SlipperFan (Jan 3, 2013)

April Fool = Cardinale x besseae. I've not seen a bad one yet, and I would love to have one.


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## NYEric (Jan 3, 2013)

Yay besseae hybrids! This cross is not that common, and as you can see is a big plant. It would be nice to see Phrag Foolerisch remade!


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## wjs2nd (Jan 3, 2013)

Beautiful! How are you growing it? What is the wood behind it?


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## JeanLux (Jan 4, 2013)

Impressive !!!! Jean


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## Chuck (Jan 4, 2013)

wjs2nd said:


> Beautiful! How are you growing it? What is the wood behind it?



Hi,

This plant is a climber. There is a thread from a while ago started by TDT (Tracey from Saskatoon) that discusses how her besseae is grown. 

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27450

The culture and potting is the same for this plant. The basic media is a fine bark mix or a mix of 50% sphag and 50% sponge rock but there is a thin layer of sphagnum moss in the front to stop the mix from being washed out of the hardware cloth in the front. It is the same culture that I use for any besseae or besseae hybrid (cool, moist and intermediate light) trying to compensate for the fact that some of them, or maybe all of them, like to climb. I can go into more detail if you want. 

Chuck


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## Susie11 (Jan 4, 2013)

A beauty!


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## iBreed (Jan 4, 2013)

*Growing system*



Chuck said:


> Hi,
> 
> This plant is a climber. There is a thread from a while ago started by TDT (Tracey from Saskatoon) that discusses how her besseae is grown.
> 
> ...



Thanks Chuk.

Would love to see some piics of set up you have to grow it.

Very impresive the results you are having with this growing system, congratulations.

Do you keep it dump all the time?

Thanks.

Jose


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## Justin (Jan 4, 2013)

excellent, you are an awesome Phrag grower.


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## wjs2nd (Jan 4, 2013)

Thanks Chuck, I had a feeling that is how your growing it. Can you post some pictures of this setup?


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## eaborne (Jan 4, 2013)

Very pretty!


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## Chuck (Jan 4, 2013)

iBreed said:


> Thanks Chuk.
> 
> Would love to see some piics of set up you have to grow it.
> 
> ...



I water it with rainwater every two days so it is always damp.

Chuck


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## Chuck (Jan 4, 2013)

Sure, I can post a few photos.

This is the container. I prefer transparent ones but others work just fine.







A plant ready to pot up. I bought this plant with the second growth on a long rhizome with no roots. It was inexpensive because of that.






The plant potted using half chopped sphag and half large sponge rock. A second piece of hardware cloth is cut to fit.








Hardware cloth fitted and secured.







Planting is finished.







A plant that has been growing for a while.







Several besseaes in my greenhouse.


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## Erythrone (Jan 4, 2013)

Very nice April Fool !!

What an interesting way of growing besseae... Maybe I should try it, although my only one doen't want to climb.

Can you tell me about repotting of your plants? Is it more difficult than in pot?


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## Chuck (Jan 4, 2013)

Erythrone said:


> Very nice April Fool !!
> 
> What an interesting way of growing besseae... Maybe I should try it, although my only one doen't want to climb.
> 
> Can you tell me about repotting of your plants? Is it more difficult than in pot?



The nice thing about this method of growing climbers is when the new growth emerges and climbs, simply add another piece of hardware cloth and some new media. Sometimes the growth have to be "adjusted" in the container to get them to hang out the front but that usually happens naturally. For many plants you can get 5, 6, or 7 growths before you need to repot. Several times new growths have started from the location of several year old growths giving nice large plants. I think the biggest advantage to this method is that you can get healthy multi-growth plants which produce more flowers often with branching spikes. Repotting is simple. Just remove the hardware cloth and pull the plant out of the container. Clean the plant, divide if you want and repot. For one plant, Phrag Jersey, which I like and has some sentimental value, I built a taller container and moved the plant without dividing.

Chuck


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## The Orchid Boy (Jan 4, 2013)

Cool! Thanks for sharing pictures of your set up.


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## SlipperFan (Jan 4, 2013)

That's a great idea -- I've been thinking about trying something similar. Maybe this will motivate me...


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## Erythrone (Jan 4, 2013)

And it is interesting to hang them to the walls... there is more room on the benches!


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## cabnc (Jan 5, 2013)

*Container*

Is the container something you bought and modified ? Or something you built ? Would you be willing to share your construction detailed information ?

Charlie


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## Chuck (Jan 5, 2013)

cabnc said:


> Is the container something you bought and modified ? Or something you built ? Would you be willing to share your construction detailed information ?
> 
> Charlie



I built them. The transparent material is cut from a sheet of material designed to be used to make sunroofs on decks. I bought it at a local lumber yard. The sheet is 2 feet by 8 feet. I cut it with a pair of tin snips. I rolled the cut piece into a cylinder and marked the end profile on a cedar fence board. Two pieces cut with a jig saw to become the top and bottom. A few drainage holes were drilled in them. I used them to pass a wire through the top to hang the set up from the wall. The sheet was attacked to the wood using three wood screw. Hardware cloth cut and attached with some wire through small holes drilled in sheet material. Added a piece of wire at the mid point to maintain the gap in the front. I made a couple of other ones using PVC pipe that I cut vertically with a jig saw, heated with a torch and opened to make a open vertical cylinder. They worked fine but I like the look of the transparent ones better.

Hope this helps.

Chuck


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## wjs2nd (Jan 5, 2013)

Thanks Chuck! Have you had any new growths grow threw the mesh before?


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## Chuck (Jan 6, 2013)

wjs2nd said:


> Thanks Chuck! Have you had any new growths grow threw the mesh before?



Occationally. That is easy to deal with. Simply use scissors to cut an opening in the mesh large enough for the growth.

Chuck


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