# Red Lightning x Grande



## orchid527 (Apr 14, 2021)

It decided to take off this year. Currently growing in a nursery pot with Promix. Petals are 32 cm long. Mike


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## monocotman (Apr 14, 2021)

Love it. Very well grown,
David


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## abax (Apr 14, 2021)

Gorgeous plant and wonderful flowers. However do you grow in Promix????


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## Paphluvr (Apr 15, 2021)

Very nice display and a great looking plant.


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## tomkalina (Apr 15, 2021)

Very nice! Love the arrangement of the flowers on each stem.


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## Just1more (Apr 15, 2021)

Beautiful! I also want to know about ProMix culture!


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## Greenpaph (Apr 15, 2021)

Spectacularly grown! I agree with the others - tell us more about using the ProMix?


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## orchid527 (Apr 16, 2021)

Well, I used to grow everything in Promix, but I found out that moss works best for the smallest plants, Orchiata seems to work best for plants in 2 in to 6 inch, but after that things become unpredictable. Wet bark, even Orchiata, doesn't last very long and sometimes when I repot, it is a big fungal mess. The roots are still OK, but it looks disgusting. Also, I often see the roots lifting out of the pot because they can't push through the bark. That said, I try to use bark as long as possible. Sometimes it is seedling bark and sometimes it is the next size up, but for many large plants it just doesn't work very well. This is when I switch to Promix HP with a little extra perlite. My very largest phrags are all in Promix. I water every 2 or 3 days and wash out frequently to remove accumulated salts. My greenhouse is a little on the bright and dry side, and sometimes is a little too hot. I do not have any of my phrags standing in water, except when I am away for more than a week or so. This seems to work for everything I have including kovachii, and I have received a CCE on one of my big phrags growing in Promix. However, I must admit that I have less success with the long petal species, and I have a strong feeling that I could be doing better with everything, if I could just find the right combination. I am going to be running some experiments with large plants in Promix vs Bark vs Grodan + Hydroton for about a year. I will probably switch all of the big ones over to the one that works best. Mike


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## Linus_Cello (Apr 16, 2021)

How hot does your GH get? Is the PK in the GH?


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## orchid527 (Apr 16, 2021)

Linus_Cello said:


> How hot does your GH get? Is the PK in the GH?


I have seen it reach 100 degrees when we had a warm summer several years ago. If it looks like I will have several days above 90 degrees, I bring the largest Pk inside with the A/C, because I have too many years invested in that plant and the flower is nice. I do leave the smaller ones in the greenhouse, but they are in a shadier location near the floor. My guess is that it is a few degrees cooler in that location. I do see stress in most of the phrags in the summer. It shows in the older leaves, but the new growths are OK. By the time they start to mature, summer is gone and cooler weather has returned. The greenhouse is not optimized for phrags. It's not really optimized for anything, but it is the best I can do for the money and effort I am willing to spend. Mike


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## e-spice (Apr 19, 2021)

Amazingly well grown and impressive! Great job!


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## grubea (Apr 19, 2021)

WOW


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## Ozpaph (Apr 25, 2021)

excellent display


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