# Paph dianthum 'Rajani' ACE/AOC



## emydura (Mar 19, 2014)

Picked up my first cultural award with my dianthum and the highest award to boot. Below is a better photo of it then when I posted it previously. I was told I could not stake it above the first flower. This resulted in the spikes flopping out a bit and hence displaying much better compared to when they were rigidly staked. The flowers are not so crowded. I cleaned up the leaves a bit too which certainly helped.


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## Fabrice (Mar 19, 2014)

Outch!!!:clap::clap::clap:

Wonderful!

My dianthum doesn't want to increase its size. One old growth dead = One new growth...


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## Secundino (Mar 19, 2014)

Wonderful! Well done, congrats!


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## SlipperKing (Mar 19, 2014)

Holy Smokes! Congrats David, nicely done. Interesting about staking policy. So what was the actual score?
BTW, to me it should of gotten a flower quality award as well. You just done see this species with the colors, the flower count nor the behaved petals presentation.

PS. what's the clonal name represent?


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## emydura (Mar 19, 2014)

SlipperKing said:


> Holy Smokes! Congrats David, nicely done. Interesting about staking policy. So what was the actual score?
> BTW, to me it should of gotten a flower quality award as well. You just done see this species with the colors, the flower count nor the behaved petals presentation.
> 
> PS. what's the clonal name represent?



The clonal name represents the better half. I named the last one after my daughter so I think it was in my own interests to name this one after the mother. 

I'm comfortable with the fact it didn't get a quality award. I don't think the flowers are as good as the dianthum Jim had awarded recently. Many of the flowers themselves weren't as good as previous flowerings - possibly due to the stress of such a heavy flowering combined with the extreme temperatures in which the flowers had to develop. Many of the dorsals (not all) were very twisted and some of the petals were all over the place.

I don't know the score. A friend took the plant down to judging for me (it was a couple of hundred km's away). I might find out this weekend when I have to complete the paperwork.


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## eOrchids (Mar 19, 2014)

holy crap!

a very well deserved award!

congrats!


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## monocotman (Mar 19, 2014)

Fantastic plant!
Congratulations,
David


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## tomkalina (Mar 19, 2014)

What an amazing display! Congrats on the award......


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## NYEric (Mar 19, 2014)

Phhhffff!! :drool: I may have to buy one after seeing this poster for Paph dianthum!!! BTW, it's now on my wall at work!! Congrats!!


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## eggshells (Mar 19, 2014)

This is astonishing!!! :clap: Congrats


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## fibre (Mar 19, 2014)

Jipeeee! 
Congrats David!


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## Justin (Mar 19, 2014)

very well deserved!


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## orcoholic (Mar 19, 2014)

Unbelievable!!! BTW, What's ACE and where's AOC?


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## emydura (Mar 19, 2014)

orcoholic said:


> Unbelievable!!! BTW, What's ACE and where's AOC?



Award of Cultural Excellence / Australian Orchid Council

Here are some previous winners of the award. 

http://www.orchidsaustralia.com/award_photo_list.asp?AwardType=ACE&Pag=0


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## Rob Zuiderwijk (Mar 19, 2014)

Respect...


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## Paphman910 (Mar 19, 2014)

So amazing! Wow, words can't even describe how wonderful it is!
:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

:drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool:


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## eOrchids (Mar 19, 2014)

About, how long have you had that orchid, David?


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## emydura (Mar 19, 2014)

eOrchids said:


> About, how long have you had that orchid, David?



I have owned this plant for over 10 years now. I bought it some time in 2003.


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## Paph_LdyMacBeth (Mar 19, 2014)

Oh, come on, you can do better then that! Lol




Sent from my BlackBerry Bold 9900 using Tapatalk


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## SlipperKing (Mar 19, 2014)

Its so damn big it won't all fit on my screen! (PS. I wish my wife looked that good:ninja


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## phrag guy (Mar 19, 2014)

that is amazing


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## John M (Mar 20, 2014)

Call 911! Call 911! I'm having a heart attack! Holy cow...that's IMPRESSIVE!!! Congratulations!


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## Ozpaph (Mar 20, 2014)

very well done and well deserved cultural award.


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## emydura (Mar 20, 2014)

SlipperKing said:


> Its so damn big it won't all fit on my screen! (PS. I wish my wife looked that good:ninja



That's a sure sign your hobby is way out of control. Even I would stop short of saying that. 

I forgot you still use a 15 inch monitor. Here is a smaller version just for you. It looks tiny on my 27 inch screen.


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## AdamD (Mar 20, 2014)

That is awesome David in every sense of the word. I'm sure it's quite a sight in person. Congrats on a well deserved award


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## Dido (Mar 20, 2014)

wooooooooooow


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## SlipperFan (Mar 20, 2014)

Fantastic. Just fantastic! Congratulations, David.


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## Ruth (Mar 21, 2014)

:drool:Omg!!!!!!!!!!!:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:


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## JeanLux (Mar 21, 2014)

Well deserved David!!!!! Congratulations !!!!!

And in good company with those other ACE s !!!!

Jean


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## Bjorn (Mar 21, 2014)

Just stunning!!!!
any tip regarding culture?


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## KyushuCalanthe (Mar 21, 2014)

As you would say down south, "CRIKEY!"


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## PaphMadMan (Mar 21, 2014)

O M G


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## Migrant13 (Mar 21, 2014)

Super show. Congrat's on the well deserved award. Sadly, I only get one new growth per year on mine and so far only 2 flowers on the spike. Must be the Aussie water?!!


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## MaryPientka (Mar 21, 2014)

Beautiful!


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## Clark (Mar 22, 2014)

...just mopping up the drool over here.


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## Trithor (Mar 22, 2014)

Rob Zuiderwijk said:


> Respect...



I will second that! Wow!
I can't believe I nearly missed this post, this has got to be the highlight of the year! Well done, your growing is superb, so I can't say that I am suprised (just very very VERY impressed!)


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## emydura (Mar 23, 2014)

JeanLux said:


> Well deserved David!!!!! Congratulations !!!!!
> 
> And in good company with those other ACE s !!!!
> 
> Jean



Thanks Jean. How nice was that Coelogyne rochussenii 'Joy'. One of the most stunning orchids I have ever seen.



Bjorn said:


> Just stunning!!!!
> any tip regarding culture?



I don't do anything different with this species. Overall I think it is a pretty straight forward species to grow. Much easier than parishii. I think the trick is to find a clone that clumps well as it appears that many do not. So maybe look for a division rather than a seedling as the fact it has been divided demonstrates its ability to multiply. It grows in my glasshouse amongst my other multiflorals. Minimum temps of 16oC and maximums of around 31oC. Humidity above 50% often around 70%. I use my own low K fertiliser regime. 



Trithor said:


> I will second that! Wow!
> I can't believe I nearly missed this post, this has got to be the highlight of the year! Well done, your growing is superb, so I can't say that I am surprised (just very very VERY impressed!)



Thanks Gary. Probably the highlight of the hobby for me. I have four quality awards but I feel this is a bigger highlight than those as it is more about the culture than the individual flowers themselves. It is a culmination of growing this plant for more than a decade. I'm a bit stunned it got an ACE award. I certainly wasn't expecting that. They are pretty rare and there wasn't a single Paph amongst those from the last 10 years.


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## Carper (Mar 23, 2014)

To grow a plant to such a size and flower accordingly is a great achievement and you've been rewarded accordingly for your efforts. A stunning bloom. So a big congratulations!!!:clap::clap::clap:

On your previous comment, why is it easier than parishii? I do have a multigrowth plant which is in spike however, it hasn't put out any new growths for nearly 3 years. How do they react to being repotted?

Gary
UK


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## emydura (Mar 23, 2014)

Carper said:


> To grow a plant to such a size and flower accordingly is a great achievement and you've been rewarded accordingly for your efforts. A stunning bloom. So a big congratulations!!!:clap::clap::clap:
> 
> On your previous comment, why is it easier than parishii? I do have a multigrowth plant which is in spike however, it hasn't put out any new growths for nearly 3 years. How do they react to being repotted?
> 
> ...



I've had a few parishii's now and I am still yet to flower one. I just find they rot really easily. Others have found the same problem. Maybe it is because they are largely epiphytic and we are growing them in pots. I haven't found dianthum to be nearly as tricky although my experience is with only one clone. I recently bought another two NFS parishii seedlings so we will see how those go. It would help if I started off with a large strong healthy plant but you don't see those here. 

It is difficult for me to offer any advice on your plant as I've had so little success with this species up till now.


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## Stone (Mar 24, 2014)

Well deserved David. Congrats. It's a great plant!


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## SlipperKing (Mar 24, 2014)

emydura said:


> I forgot you still use a 15 inch monitor. Here is a smaller version just for you. It looks tiny on my 27 inch screen.


 Smart A$$! I did upgrade to 19 inch and its still too small for your plant:rollhappy:


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## quietaustralian (Mar 26, 2014)

Congratulations...Well deserved. I have the deep bronze labelums of previous bloomings etched on my mind.


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## emydura (Mar 27, 2014)

quietaustralian said:


> Congratulations...Well deserved. I have the deep bronze labelums of previous bloomings etched on my mind.



I know what you mean Mick. A lot of that colour comes from these small hairs on the inside of the pouch. So the direction of the light and the angle you take the photo can alter the colour you see. It confuses me a bit.


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## 2Toned (Mar 28, 2014)

Truly awesome, David! Well sone, indeed!


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## Heather (Mar 28, 2014)

Unbelievable! Congratulations!!


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## paphioboy (Mar 28, 2014)

That is a jaw-dropping specimen! Congratulations!!


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## cnycharles (Mar 29, 2014)

Wow - very nice


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