# When Compots Go Begging - Paph. tigrinum Blooming in Compot



## Scott Ware (Jun 10, 2008)

I though I would share with y’all what happens when you fall behind in getting compots set out. They don’t wait for your next supply of “round tuits” to be replenished! It’s certainly no award winner but it’s still pretty darn precocious for a single-growth seedling in a flat. The stem is about 33cm tall.

This _Paph. tigrinum _outcross holds the record here for time from pollination to harvest – 542 days. 

I harvested the capsule on December 6, 2001 and received flasks back from the lab in early 2003. Now I know that 5 years is a bit longer than most plants spend in the community pot, but they don’t seem to have suffered too much. The mix is heavy on charcoal and #8 silica sand, so it hasn’t broken down as much as a mix that has a larger percentage of bark. With any luck these will go into 4” pots before too much longer.


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## Roy (Jun 10, 2008)

Scott, I think there would be a large number of forum members willing to help you with the potting, including me from Aust'. 
And people reckon its a difficult plant to grow.


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## Pete (Jun 10, 2008)

haha. thats great.


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## rdlsreno (Jun 10, 2008)

Scott that is so awesome!

Ramon


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## Faan (Jun 10, 2008)

Yes, you may send the compot over to Cape Town, I have time right now to do it!!


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## paphioboy (Jun 10, 2008)

> Scott, I think there would be a large number of forum members willing to help you with the potting, including me from Aust'.





> Yes, you may send the compot over to Cape Town, I have time right now to do it!!



Ahem... And what exactly do you people demand in return for your repotting services? oke:oke: 1 plant out of the compot? 

Nice plants, BTW... Sure proves that paphs grow much better in groups rather than as single plants...


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## tocarmar (Jun 10, 2008)

Very nice!! I'll take 2 from the compot!!

Tom


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## paphreek (Jun 10, 2008)

Two comments: 
1. Great choice of parents. The seedlings look wonderful and vigorous.
2. Excellent culture, 'lotta happy plants, there. :clap::clap::clap::clap:


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## Greenpaph (Jun 10, 2008)

Great job! Great looking plants!
:drool:


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## Rick (Jun 10, 2008)

Those tigrinum look great! This is the scenario that is starting to plague me as I do more breeding.

What kind of fertilizer do you use?


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## e-spice (Jun 10, 2008)

Very impressive! They look great.

e-spice


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## Sangii (Jun 10, 2008)

wow! I'm gonna show this pict to my 5 years old tigrinum which refuses to bloom :sob:

excellent culture; can you provide any culture tips for this wonderful species ?


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## cwt (Jun 10, 2008)

Now thats what happens if you have to many plants!!!!!!!!


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## NYEric (Jun 10, 2008)

That's pretty funny. "I'm bustin' outta here!" :rollhappy:


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## streetmorrisart (Jun 10, 2008)

There’s something really cute about this... I don’t show my plants, so I tend to gravitate toward any example of a species that is vigorous and has good color—please pm me if you don’t want to keep it! They all look great as has been said; a sea of that many happy slippers is a true joy to see.


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## OrchidFrank (Jun 10, 2008)

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## paphioland (Jun 10, 2008)

nice!


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## Elena (Jun 10, 2008)

It's quite obvious that you have faaar too many and it would only be fair to share with the group 

Wow, those are some happy-looking plants!


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## gore42 (Jun 10, 2008)

Awesome, Scott! Nice growing 

- Matthew Gore


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## Candace (Jun 10, 2008)

Someone got a blooming plant awarded at our local judging center, blooming like that in a compot/tray. I remember eveyone had a good laugh when the award was announced and the tray was held up. Good growing, Scott!


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## Heather (Jun 10, 2008)

That's hilarious! I love it. Nice job there, Neglector!


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## Scott Ware (Jun 10, 2008)

Thank you all for your enthusiastic comments. My hope is to grow the entire cross out and see if maybe.... just MAYBE... there might be 12 plants worthy of putting up for that holy grail of AOS awards - the Award of Quality. While this first bloomer is a little disappointing in size, we can't really judge the group based on one seedling blooming in a compot.

Six months ago I set out a few of the smaller seedlings to see how well they adapted to living alone and so far they've all done very well. I didn't want to barge right into repotting them all unless I knew the potting mix and environmental conditions were favorable.



paphioboy said:


> ... Sure proves that paphs grow much better in groups rather than as single plants...



This is true, in my experience. Time and time again I have set larger seedlings into individual pots and they did no where near as well as those placed into a compot with their siblings.



Rick said:


> What kind of fertilizer do you use?



I use Peters Cal/Mag 15-5-15 and alternate occasionally with 20-20-20 when I run out of, or don't have the patience to dissolve the Cal/Mag. 



Sangii said:


> wow! I'm gonna show this pict to my 5 years old tigrinum which refuses to bloom :sob:
> 
> excellent culture; can you provide any culture tips for this wonderful species ?


 
When I got the grandparents of these seedlings from Ray Rands several years ago (it was being called "_markianum_" then), they bloomed right away (jungle vigor?), but then pouted for a couple years before blooming again. I can't really think of anything I do differently for _Paph. tigrinum _that I don't do for everything in the greenhouse. Just the basics - good air circulation, humidity and clean water. With heating costs so high I try to get away with the bare minimum temps all Winter - watering minimally with the temp usually bottoming out at 55F during the day, and 52F at night. Whether or not that has anything to do with blooming, I'm not sure.



cwt said:


> Now thats what happens if you have to many plants!!!!!!!!



That is as much, if not more, a contradiction as "Jumbo Shrimp" or "Military Intelligence" - there is no such thing as too many plants!


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## Roy (Jun 11, 2008)

paphioboy said:


> Ahem... And what exactly do you people demand in return for your repotting services? oke:oke: 1 plant out of the compot?



Hey, not that many, one out of every second compot is enough.


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## SlipperFan (Jun 11, 2008)

That's amazing. Good luck getting a bunch to bloom at the same time.


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## etex (Nov 18, 2009)

Nice thread. Awesome flower!! Thought I'd bring it forward. Scott-how is the amazingly vigorous tigrinum now?


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## Roly0217 (Nov 18, 2009)

Uhhhhh nice paph !!! And even nice group of plants !!! Now I must add a tigrinum to my wishlist. Thanks to the enablers


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## parvi_17 (Nov 18, 2009)

Very cool.


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## Scott Ware (Nov 18, 2009)

Um... welp.... err... <kicking sand with toe of shoe> ya see, Diane... well, let me just start by saying that NOT ONE of them has died, OK??! 

I am still nervous about removing them from the compots and as a result we had 27 flowers open at once this year. But now I really don't have a choice - I have to get them out of the compot this year and into individual pots. I have been doing experimenting with some test potting mixes just to see what works best in individual pots and I think I have the recipe worked out. 

This seems to be a really magical location on the bench - not only did the _Paph. tigrinum_ all bloom beautifully in compot this year but now there is a _Paph. adductum_ blooming from a compot in the next tray over. I really think there is something to this "benign neglect" method of orchid growing!


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## SlipperFan (Nov 18, 2009)

Your compots must be wonderful!


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## John M (Nov 18, 2009)

Scott Ware said:


> I am still nervous about removing them from the compots and as a result we had 27 flowers open at once this year.



Scott; please don't tell us that you did not take a photo of that compot with all 27 flowers! We want pictures! PLEASE!?


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## Scott Ware (Nov 18, 2009)

Sorry 

I went several months without a camera this year and just managed to get a new one about 3 weeks ago. In fact it was so new a the time, I didn't even take it to the Slipper Symposium because I hadn't learned how to use it yet. You can bet I'll be taking more photos.

This past May when I had a nice Paph. Crystelle in bloom (sorry, Eric), I didn't have a camera of my own so I drove nearly 3 hours to Portland to get Theresa to photograph it. I know - it sounds like a lame excuse to visit Theresa, but she probably would have let me in the greenhouse without an excuse.


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## tim (Nov 18, 2009)

just goes to show that when you find a good mix, the old repot every year rule goes right out the window...

feel like sharing your mix recipe Scott?


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## etex (Nov 18, 2009)

LOL. Scott- Good response!! That must be some amazing potting mix! Aren't you glad I was scanning compot threads on the forum today to see how to better grow my new compots? If any of those babies need a home,you can count on us at slippertalk to help. No sacrifice is too great for a friend. The blooms are very pretty and the compot must be exceptionally healthy.


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## slippertalker (Nov 18, 2009)

Heck, I'm in Seattle and would help you repot....


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## JeanLux (Nov 19, 2009)

Scott Ware said:


> Um... welp.... err... .....
> I am still nervous about removing them from the compots and as a result we *had 27 flowers open at once* this year. .....
> I really think there is something to this "benign neglect" method of orchid growing!



:drool::drool: and no camera and no cell-phone !!!!??  

you owe us some pics of the next bloom Scott  Jean


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## NYEric (Nov 19, 2009)

Does Crystelle = FCC!?


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## Roly0217 (Nov 19, 2009)

Scott Ware said:


> Um... welp.... err... <kicking sand with toe of shoe> ya see, Diane... well, let me just start by saying that NOT ONE of them has died, OK??!
> 
> I am still nervous about removing them from the compots and as a result we had 27 flowers open at once this year. But now I really don't have a choice - I have to get them out of the compot this year and into individual pots.



Scott when you do decide to part with them count me in please. Those are really beautiful flowers. I guess I just like the color combo pink, green and brown. Congrats again and WOW 27 flowers !!!!!


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## NYEric (Nov 19, 2009)

You could have borrowed my old camera!


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## berrywoodson (Nov 19, 2009)

A belated awesome.


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## Scott Ware (Nov 19, 2009)

NYEric said:


> Does Crystelle = FCC!?



No, I sullied the good name of the grex by presenting only an HCC quality flowering. But it was still a beautiful flower and I had great fun sharing it and hearing the comments from the judges at our center.


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## John M (Nov 19, 2009)

Scott Ware said:


> Sorry
> 
> I went several months without a camera this year and just managed to get a new one about 3 weeks ago. In fact it was so new a the time, I didn't even take it to the Slipper Symposium because I hadn't learned how to use it yet. You can bet I'll be taking more photos.



:sob: Oh well. It would've been an awesome sight!


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## likespaphs (Nov 20, 2009)

dude. 
you need a camera 'cause i need photos
k?


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## NYEric (Nov 20, 2009)

Scott Ware said:


> No, I sullied the good name of the grex by presenting only an HCC quality flowering. But it was still a beautiful flower and I had great fun sharing it and hearing the comments from the judges at our center.



Oh nooooooooooo!!!! :sob: Frank will probably beat you with a wet noodle!


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