# Phrag besseae Orchid Zone culture?



## Sirius (Jul 25, 2016)

I have a couple of new besseae from the Orchid Zone, and I am curious about something. I noticed when they arrived, that the plants had one old growth buried while the new growth was allowed to grow out of the pot and bloom without roots. I've seen photos of besseae in the wild doing this. 

Is anyone here growing besseae this way at home? I often read about people fighting the stolon to keep besseae in her pot. Would it be better to stop fighting the stolon, let the growth mature and bloom with no roots, then repot it lower when a new stolon appears and the plant has root growth energy rather than bloom energy?


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## gonewild (Jul 25, 2016)

Let's see a picture!


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## Sirius (Jul 25, 2016)

gonewild said:


> Let's see a picture!



Not until you answer. :rollhappy:


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## gonewild (Jul 25, 2016)

Sirius said:


> Not until you answer. :rollhappy:



No picture no answer. oke:


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## Sirius (Jul 25, 2016)

gonewild said:


> No picture no answer. oke:



I'm trying to figure out how to pot them. A picture at this point is of bare root besseae. I guess I will just go with the OZ method for now and bury the blooming growth later.


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## gonewild (Jul 25, 2016)

Sirius said:


> I'm trying to figure out how to pot them. A picture at this point is of bare root besseae. I guess I will just go with the OZ method for now and bury the blooming growth later.



If you are repotting the newest growth needs it's roots in the media.


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## NYEric (Jul 25, 2016)

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39822&highlight=besseae+wossen
This is what happens when you leave the forum for too long.


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## terryros (Jul 25, 2016)

I agree with sphagnum "air layering" (who ever invented that term). I have done this for at least 5 years with any stoloniferous Phrag. As soon as I see the beginning root nubbens (must be another technical term) on a growth out of the pot, I wrap moist AAA New Zealand sphagnum moss around the growth. Often, you can just keep the moss mounded and covering any roots until you are ready to pot it. For a tall stoloniferous growth, I have also cut some smaller pots in half and put this around the sphagnum ball surrounding the root zone. I use duct tape to secure the two halves together. You then have a pot sized root ball when you are ready to pot.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## Gilda (Jul 25, 2016)

Similar thoughts on my Bright Spot culture post here with pics. A friend had a stolon growth on his besseae. He kept the new growth which had roots in the air, and gave me the old previous bloomed 2 leaf growth with the majority of roots. Mine has since put up a new growth with roots in moss. I covered the top of the pot with plastic wrap so the moss would stay moist.


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## troy (Jul 25, 2016)

My guess would be air layering is good, with a few thousand bessaes........lol..


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## silence882 (Jul 25, 2016)

I got a 2-growth plant just like that from OZ. The old growth had all the roots and the new in-bloom growth had none. I potted it slanted so that the stolon was parallel to the surface of the media and just barely below the surface. I used a pot clip to hold it down in place. When the next growth emerged I used a pot clip to keep the stolon growing along the surface of the media. When the stolon started to form into a new growth I repotted the whole thing so that all the growth bases were just below the surface of the media.

The mature growth never rooted, but the new growth is putting out roots. However, it does require a larger pot to do it this way and you must water frequently to keep the surface of the media moist. I have found that Phrag roots will not extend if they're not in direct contact with damp media. Also, I bought a select clone that was advertised as tending to clump rather than put out long stolons.

During my next repot I will be dividing by removing the back growth as long as both remaining portions have a robust root system.








--Stephen


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## Sirius (Jul 25, 2016)

Well, I potted up all three. I got them as low in the pot as I could, then mounded sphagnum moss up around the base of the blooming growths with no roots.

I guess with so many besseae to take care of, OZ can't fight every stolon, due to the labor involved. Or maybe besseae grows better for them left to its wild nature. Who knows?


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## Happypaphy7 (Jul 26, 2016)

It is a growing habit of this plant I read.
I would think in a high humidity condition like a greenhouse, you don't really have to worry about covering them up.
They would root and grow in whatever fashion they like.


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## NYEric (Jul 27, 2016)

No, you have to have something aound the roots.


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