# paph ooii?



## orchideya (Mar 11, 2015)

OOI orchid nursery is visiting Montreal this month. They have seedlings of paph ooii listed for sale. 
I can understand hefty price of a seedling given its rarity, but wondering what are the chances of this seedling to survive under my care.
Is anybody growing it? Share your experience please.


----------



## Ray (Mar 11, 2015)

"ORIGIN/HABITAT: Northern Borneo. We were informed in a personal communication from Dr. Koopowitz that his sources in Malaysia reported this newly described species has a habitat the same as that of Paphiopedilum rothschildianum (Reichenbach f.) Stein. The collectors further indicated that this new species grows on rocks and is found an additional 2 day's travel from the site habitat of Paphiopedilum rothschildianum. Plants have been found in only two sites on the lower slopes of Mt. Kinabalu at 1950-3950 ft. (600-1200 m). They grow in leafy humus on ledges of steep, northeast-facing cliffs and slopes of eroded serpentine. Plants are normally found near running water, 20-40 ft. (6-12 m) above the stream, and apparently thrive in both high light and shady situations. -- Source: Charles Baker"


----------



## Justin (Mar 11, 2015)

i believe one of the Ricks here is growing it (Rick or Slipperking). maybe he can weigh in...


----------



## NYEric (Mar 11, 2015)

Do you know how big these things grow!!??  Think about it.


----------



## orchideya (Mar 11, 2015)

NYEric said:


> Do you know how big these things grow!!??  Think about it.



No, I didn't think about that. I just saw the picture of the flower and thought that it was different. Something that you don't see very often.


----------



## eggshells (Mar 11, 2015)

Easy to grow. Same culture as Paph stonei. The only downside is the size. If you can grow it to it's full potential. You are looking about a meter tall perhaps even taller. Though I don't think many will reach that size in cultivation.


----------



## Fabrice (Mar 11, 2015)

I'm sorry but ooii seems not to be easy to grow. At least the wild collected plant. Slow grower, not really vigorous. It's also the reason it's very rare in cultivation. But maybe the seedlings are easier to grow.
Eggshells, I suppose you grow ooii seedlings too but are you sure they are well labelled?


----------



## Ray (Mar 11, 2015)

I wonder if that's a good candidate for treatment with Inocucor Garden Solution? Holger Perner is having great success with tigrinum using it.


Ray Barkalow
firstrays.com


----------



## eggshells (Mar 11, 2015)

Ray said:


> I wonder if that's a good candidate for treatment with Inocucor Garden Solution? Holger Perner is having great success with tigrinum using it.
> 
> 
> Ray Barkalow
> firstrays.com



How do you use that? Sprinkle on pots?


----------



## MorandiWine (Mar 11, 2015)

I bought an ooii last year. The plant was in no so good shape when I purchased it, but took a chance anyway. Had two leaves and one huge root. Now it has four leaves and several roots.

It grows with all my other multiflorals, brighter light/higher heat/more humid. Potted in a plastic basket with equal parts bark, hydroton, NZSM and Flourite gravel.

Who knows when it will bloom the thing is only about 15" tip to tip right now.

Tyler


----------



## Paul (Mar 13, 2015)

It seems that plants with active roots are not hard to grow but not very fast growing plants... Needs to be grown humid and same culture as any other multiflorals about light and temperatures.


----------



## Paph_LdyMacBeth (Mar 13, 2015)

I had no idea it was that huge! 
While it is certainly an opportunity to purchase such a plant, its also quite expensive...tough decision!


----------



## Justin (Mar 13, 2015)

other than the botanical interest, the flower on these is just so unappealing that i was always curious why bother.


----------



## MorandiWine (Mar 13, 2015)

I like weird flowers ......


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2


----------



## eggshells (Mar 13, 2015)

MorandiWine said:


> I like weird flowers ......
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2



Same here. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like unique shape and colour than conforming to the standards of what is "awardable" based on other people's definition.


----------



## Paul (Mar 13, 2015)

eggshells said:


> Same here. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like unique shape and colour than conforming to the standards of what is "awardable" based on other people's definition.



blooming an ooii may deserve a CHM


----------



## SlipperKing (Mar 13, 2015)

I said this about a canhii post, "cute or ugly they all have value. Their genetic potential will always make something different" and this holds true here as well.
Justin is correct I bought this species from Michael when his son was in the States. It doesn't seem to be a fussy grower, Mine are well shaded for now in my std mix. I water them allot using rain water. Once they get bigger I'll try more light. Xavier (Roth here) told me they grow in a very acid environment and recommended shewed tree fern which I did for awhile but wasn't impressed with the growth so I moved them into my std mix.
Michael Ooi had PICs of his growing ooii seedlings on his Face Book page. Its not your standard seedling culture technique. He has two different nurseries at different elevations, the higher one where ooii is. He basically naturalized the plants to the ground area there. He had them planted along what looks like a fence row in the leaf litter within the woods. So these plants will look a bit rough as in collected. You can't tell but I don't think he has them in pots cover by litter


----------



## Justin (Mar 13, 2015)

SlipperKing said:


> I said this about a canhii post, "cute or ugly they all have value. Their genetic potential will always make something different" and this holds true here as well.
> Justin is correct I bought this species from Michael when his son was in the States. It doesn't seem to be a fussy grower, Mine are well shaded for now in my std mix. I water them allot using rain water. Once they get bigger I'll try more light. Xavier (Roth here) told me they grow in a very acid environment and recommended shewed tree fern which I did for awhile but wasn't impressed with the growth so I moved them into my std mix.
> Michael Ooi had PICs of his growing ooii seedlings on his Face Book page. Its not your standard seedling culture technique. He has two different nurseries at different elevations, the higher one where ooii is. He basically naturalized the plants to the ground area there. He had them planted along what looks like a fence row in the leaf litter within the woods. So these plants will look a bit rough as in collected. You can't tell but I don't think he has them in pots cover by litter



i saw that pic too. they appeared to be planted in leaf litter and shaded under trees.


----------



## Trithor (Mar 15, 2015)

So is there some consensus to grow them as other multis, in the same mix, perhaps a bit more like stonei? My understanding was that they needed slightly cooler conditions than roths, but otherwise the same as, which makes it significantly cooler than stonei?


----------



## dodidoki (Mar 15, 2015)

I have one, just established with few new roots and 2 new growths. I think it is question of good luck to keep them in good health. I got few canhiis in the past, two of them died, one survived with a tiny new growth, one is growing like a weed and in low bud with 3 new growths, under same conditions.


----------



## paphioboy (Mar 16, 2015)

I think Xavier (roth or sanderianum here, but he hasn't posted in a while) and also Alex (Valenzino) have mentioned before that ooii needs to be grown wet, shady and acidic, similar to anitum. The best medium is reportedly tree fern or pure sphagnum, sitting in water. I think this is pretty different from stonei, which likes to dry out in between waterings (due to its lithophytic habit) and likes strong light and aeration.


----------



## paphioboy (Mar 16, 2015)

Some photos of wild-collected ooii for your reference (photos not mine, originally taken by and uploaded by the orchid collectors):


----------



## paphioboy (Mar 16, 2015)

As you can see there is some variability in plant shape and size. The smaller ones blooming on a single growth look like praestans in terms of plant shape. The ones in pic 4 and 5 are huge, 3 foot long leafspan, looking like kolo. According to the hunters, ooii grows in highland areas which are much less accessible compared to roth habitats. Wild-collected roths are advertised for sale almost on a monthly basis, or when they manage to get large quantities of plants, even weekly. In comparison, very few ooii plants get collected.. Doesn't this make you think about how Michael Ooi could manage to obtain so many plants (no doubt wild-collected, who else in the world has artificially raised ooii to this size) for his 'conservation garden' in Northern Peninsular Malaysia?

Michael Ooi's beds of ooii (pics are from his Facebook page, I post them here for anyone who does not have FB):


----------



## paphioboy (Mar 16, 2015)

orchideya said:


> OOI orchid nursery is visiting Montreal this month. They have seedlings of paph ooii listed for sale.



I would be interested to know what size those seedlings for sale reportedly are... I doubt Michael has managed to flask ooii successfully when little success is reported by other larger paph nurseries in Taiwan and elsewhere...


----------



## polyantha (Mar 18, 2015)

I have 4 ooiis, they established in a very short time. Light: a little bit more than anitum. Water: Use big pots and water from the bottom (tray), if no water is in the tray anymore, wait 2-3 days and fill it again. I use alot of CHC in the mix and must say that ooiis are among the easiest species in my collection. I noticed that they like the big pots alot. Look at the root masses they can produce in nature!


----------



## paphioboy (Mar 19, 2015)

polyantha said:


> I have 4 ooiis, they established in a very short time. Light: a little bit more than anitum. Water: Use big pots and water from the bottom (tray), if no water is in the tray anymore, wait 2-3 days and fill it again. I use alot of CHC in the mix and must say that ooiis are among the easiest species in my collection. I noticed that they like the big pots alot. Look at the root masses they can produce in nature!



I hope they turn out to be true ooii.. You purchased from Michael?


----------



## polyantha (Mar 19, 2015)

paphioboy said:


> I hope they turn out to be true ooii.. You purchased from Michael?



No, not from Michael, but from the same source whence he gets his plants too.


----------



## Paul (Mar 19, 2015)

It seems that Orchiata works perfectly with that species as it holds more water than pine bark and does not break out. And big pots, of course.


----------

