# New from New York!



## J.Green17 (Aug 31, 2020)

Hello Slipper Community! J.Green17 here from New York (not the city lol). Art Teacher by day and orchid addict by night! Currently in my paph collection I have:
'Fred's Enchantment' ( Friedrich von Hayek 'Lehua's Quiet Elegance' HCC/AOS x Magically Wood "Slipper Zone Pink Syn' AM/AOS). (Picture Below-first flower for this plant! I don't have favorites....but.... cannot wait for this plant to mature)
Rothschildianum ('Val' FCC/AOS x Mont Millais FCC/AOS/RHS). (Seedling- probably 3-5 years from blooming... oy)
Sanderianum x sib ('Dr. John' AM/AQ/AOS x 'Sam Tsui' AM/AQ/AOS). (Coming soon! Excited to try my luck with this one!)
And a Liemianum ('October' x 'Mo') (in spike)

Its a small yet growing collection- trying to keep my collection small until I find a larger living space... 
In the future would love to find either a nice complex or white paph... Also have no experience with phrags.

All my orchids are grown in orchid bark (paph imperial mix from repot me) Thinking about topping my medium with sphagnum- can anyone attest to the success... or lack there of haha (kinda worried about contact with leaves)

Would also LOVE recommendations for indoor grow light options!

Can't wait to meet everyone and share our love for these beautiful plants


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## abax (Aug 31, 2020)

Welcome to ST from KY. Glad you joined us.


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## NewYorkBuilt (Sep 1, 2020)

Welcome from a non-NYC New Yorker. Had a good run of great lighting from T5 LED light fixtures this past year, my first green room experience. Flowering and growth has been great. Love the low power usage and low heat, with variable heights working well. Shifting into Semi-Hydroponics, taking it slow to see how the green children respond. Good to have you here.


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## musa (Sep 1, 2020)

Wellcome to ST from Austria!


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## NYEric (Sep 1, 2020)

Welcome from NYC. Moist moss on top helps roots grow, just like in nature.


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## J.Green17 (Sep 1, 2020)

NYEric said:


> Welcome from NYC. Moist moss on top helps roots grow, just like in nature.


Hi NYEric! Thanks for the warm welcoming, do you use sphagnum moss or another variety? I have been sifting through a lot of forum discussions (regarding fertilizer.... might regret saying that.. hopefully the fairies don't attack) and it appears many people, whom are much more educated than I, have been experimenting using moss varieties to create a more desirable environment and possibly providing nutrients for their chids, from what I could discern it seemed like they were avoiding sphagnum on top of the medium and using other varieties (that I had no luck finding).


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## J.Green17 (Sep 1, 2020)

NewYorkBuilt said:


> Welcome from a non-NYC New Yorker. Had a good run of great lighting from T5 LED light fixtures this past year, my first green room experience. Flowering and growth has been great. Love the low power usage and low heat, with variable heights working well. Shifting into Semi-Hydroponics, taking it slow to see how the green children respond. Good to have you here.


Thanks for the recommendation! I will definitely have to try this out!


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## NYEric (Sep 1, 2020)

J.Green17 said:


> Hi NYEric! Thanks for the warm welcoming, do you use sphagnum moss or another variety? I have been sifting through a lot of forum discussions (regarding fertilizer.... might regret saying that.. hopefully the fairies don't attack) and it appears many people, whom are much more educated than I, have been experimenting using moss varieties to create a more desirable environment and possibly providing nutrients for their chids, from what I could discern it seemed like they were avoiding sphagnum on top of the medium and using other varieties (that I had no luck finding).


I tried a variety from different sources, clean NZ sphagnum is always good but I like growing other types with it. I will try to get some photos later.


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## SuperPaph (Sep 1, 2020)

Wellcome to ST from Cuba!!!


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## BrucherT (Sep 1, 2020)

Welcome!


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## chris20 (Sep 1, 2020)

Welcome from Kentucky!


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## Ernesto (Sep 2, 2020)

Welcome from northern VA! My brother lives in Queens with his wife and kids.

I second the advice of top dressing with sphagnum moss. My paphs have had their moss for all of two weeks and I’ve already noticed new root growth coming in from the base. I’ve never seen such a fast response from my paphs before.


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## J.Green17 (Sep 2, 2020)

Ernieg96 said:


> Welcome from northern VA! My brother lives in Queens with his wife and kids.
> 
> I second the advice of top dressing with sphagnum moss. My paphs have had their moss for all of two weeks and I’ve already noticed new root growth coming in from the base. I’ve never seen such a fast response from my paphs before.



Thanks for "second-ing"! I will definitely have to give this a go and will let everyone know how it goes! Also preparing for the winter months, I'm planning a (not so fancy/complicated) orchidarium, I'll be posting updates and pics in the months to come.


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## KateL (Sep 2, 2020)

Aloha from Honolulu. I started with a small collection, too. Good luck with that!


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## cpmaniac (Sep 2, 2020)

Welcome from smoky California. And yes, good luck keeping your collection small!

I have live sphagnum topping some of my pots. In my conditions it spreads quickly, and roots will follow. I learned the hard way it has to be kept trimmed back to avoid a tangled mess of roots!


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## NYEric (Sep 3, 2020)

moss top (topping has certain connotations!)


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## J.Green17 (Sep 3, 2020)

NYEric said:


> moss top (topping has certain connotations!)View attachment 22039
> View attachment 22040


 Thanks for the share! One of the orchids I just received has some live moss grow on it, so I'm going to try to cultivate it. I also bought some live sphagnum online so we will have to play around with that as well!


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## Pinebark (Sep 3, 2020)

Welcome from Eastern Tennessee


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## Guldal (Sep 4, 2020)

Hello Mr. Green
A warm welcome, too, from across the great divide!
Kind regards,
Jens, Copenhagen, Denmark,

who loves, when green moss starts to form and to adorn the top of my non-organic growth medium:


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## J.Green17 (Sep 4, 2020)

Looks so beautiful! Definitely goals! Your medium is non-organic? Also what do you keep your humidity levels at to help encourage strong moss growth?


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## Sherry H (Sep 4, 2020)

Welcome from Florida too!


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## Guldal (Sep 4, 2020)

J.Green17 said:


> Your medium is non-organic? Also what do you keep your humidity levels at to help encourage strong moss growth?



I quote myself to provide you with the information:


Guldal said:


> I grow my paphs in a non-organic medium, Greenmix, mainly consisting of rockwool (diabas), perlite and lignite, i.e. both waterabsorbing and waterrepellent material.
> When properly used, in a short while a nice layer of moss will form on top of the medium... the medium shouldn't be allowed to dry out completely, but the waterrepellent elements should allow for air and some dryness for the roots...
> Our local mastergrower and my mentor in most things orchiadic, mr. Hans Christiansen from Orchidégartneriet in Fredensborg (P. hennisianum fma. christiansenii, Phrag. christiansenianum - yes, it's him!) swears to it, some people at my local orchid society seems to hate it... Actually, it appears to me, that the question of growth media is the thing most likely to bring on something akin to religious war among orchid growers!
> In this, parallel to so many other aspects of life, my own rather agnostic maxim would be: choose the growth media(s) you feel comfortable with and get to know it real well, learn from your errors, and don't change what works well! Or maybe it might be appropiate to quote St. Paul in this instance: "...test everything; hold fast what is good" (1. Thess. 5:21



Press the 'Click to expand'-button and you can read the text in its entirety!


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## J.Green17 (Sep 4, 2020)

Guldal said:


> I quote myself to provide you with the information:
> 
> 
> Press the 'Click to expand'-button and you can read the text in its entirety!


Thanks for the information!


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## cpmaniac (Sep 5, 2020)

Here's live sphagnum growing on a pot containing Phrag. longifolium:





This is just dried NZ Sphagnum that started growing.

Cheers and good growing,
Paul


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## Just1more (Sep 6, 2020)

I wasn’t aware that dried sphag um could be cultured!!!


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## cpmaniac (Sep 6, 2020)

Just1more said:


> I wasn’t aware that dried sphag um could be cultured!!!


I suspect there are probably spores in the dried moss. Using RO water, it often starts growing, even outdoors, where the humidity can be quite low.


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## Duck Slipper (Sep 6, 2020)

Welcome, from Kentucky.


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## DrLeslieEe (Sep 6, 2020)

Welcome from Toronto! 

You are now entering a world of happiness that you can never turn back! Fair warning LOL


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## SuperPaph (Sep 7, 2020)

What is Rockwood, please? I have been looking for translation to the spanish and have not found it!!!


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## cnycharles (Sep 7, 2020)

SuperPaph said:


> What is Rockwood, please? I have been looking for translation to the spanish and have not found it!!!


I think you were reading ‘rockwool’?
*Description*
Mineral wool is any fibrous material formed by spinning or drawing molten mineral or rock materials such as slag and ceramics. Applications of mineral wool include thermal insulation, filtration, soundproofing, and hydroponic growth medium. Wikipedia
It’s often used for plants in hydroponic plant growing


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## SuperPaph (Sep 7, 2020)

cnycharles said:


> I think you were reading ‘rockwool’?
> *Description*
> Mineral wool is any fibrous material formed by spinning or drawing molten mineral or rock materials such as slag and ceramics. Applications of mineral wool include thermal insulation, filtration, soundproofing, and hydroponic growth medium. Wikipedia
> It’s often used for plants in hydroponic plant growing


Thank you very much for explain me Cny Charles. Now is easier for me to understand.


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## cnycharles (Sep 7, 2020)




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## NYEric (Sep 8, 2020)

water? Yes, you can culture dried sphagnum.


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## Jenny St. Michel (Sep 10, 2020)

Hello! I top dress with mostly tree fern fiber but will also use spagnum moss as well. I started with repotme But I do not buy from them anymore. Once your collection grows you can go broke buying there. There are other places with equal products at way lower prices


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