# Growing Brachypetalums . . . . .



## NeoNJ (Jun 18, 2011)

I just acquired some Paphs after a long absence. I have Paph. bellatulum and Paph. niveum. I'm reading conflicting cultural information and some rather non-descript cultural requirements that I need some clarification on.

I read in one site that Paph. bellatulum need "cooler" temperatures.
Another site stated "warm to Hot" temperatures.
I read statements such as "Good Humidity" and "Sufficient light"......
neither of which tells me much of anything .....

It appears many shy away from growing Brachypetalums, stating they are to difficult to grow and bloom. 

One definitive I read was the need for a Cool-Dry rest in Winter.
Other than that, I'm baffled as far as what the growing conditions should
be for Brachypetalum paphs.

Can anyone assist me with this ......?


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## goldenrose (Jun 18, 2011)

I think I can safely say quite a few of us took the plunge last summer/fall. A well known brachy breeder was retiring, selling off his collection which quite a few of us got together & split up wholesale type purchases. Play around with a few. I've not found that they are difficult, just different, make the adjustments they need & you'll be fine. 
IMO the first step is get the potting media right according to your watering habits, they need an open type mix that drains well/quickly. They typically have fat fleshy roots so they don't need to be watered as frequently as some of the other paphs.
bella - can handle hot-warm temps BUT needs cool nights, it's my understanding, warm/hot days combined with warm nights could be death for this one.
I'd say bright indirect light is best, any direct sun for periods that would allow a burn spot is too much for group, whereas the multis could probably handle it.
Yes cool, dry winters are a must.
Diluted fertilizing, they are sensitive to salts build up, don't burn the roots, flush the pot every 4th watering.
Don't use neem oil.
You can handle that right? Go for it - Good Luck!


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## NeoNJ (Jun 18, 2011)

*Re: Brachypetalums*

I have Paph. niveum (in bloom which I posted), Paph. bellatulum, and Paph. concolor ....I'm actually petrified of them....afraid I will do something so totally wrong that I'll kill them overnight .......

That's a horrible way to grow orchids, right ?


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## Justin (Jun 18, 2011)

If you give them the right conditions they are very easy.

Use pure quality water, such as reverse osmosis or rainwater, and don't keep them too wet. Fertilize at low strengths often, including calcium and magnesium. Use a coarse mix with plenty of inorganic material so that you don't have to repot them often--they don't like to have their roots disturbed. 

Finally, good air circulation is extremely important as is bright light. I give mine intermediate-cool temps.


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## slipperscout (Jun 18, 2011)

Bill Fajen in Tampa reputedly grows this group exceptionally well. I have repeatedly, at lenght questioned a friend of mine who regularly buys plants from Bill to determine what he does that the rest of us fail to do in the culture of this challenging group of slippers. These are the nuggets that I have gleaned by this repeated questioning. In contrast to a relatively loose, open, fast draining potting mix, Bill pots his brachys in a heavy sand mix. I suspect that he has very soft water or uses RO water on these plants. His plants apparently do not suffer from the toxic accumulation of salts My water is very,very hard and my well does not have the acquifer reserves to install a RO system and I like our moderator pot the brachys is a very loose, highly porous mix and flush each pot extensively when watering. The other thing that I have picked up by the repeated questioning is that Bill's greenhouse has fans which provide excellent air movement at the top level of the plants. This too, I suspect contributes to the brachy health by promoting the rapid drying of the crown of the plant following watering. I now increase the air movement over the brachys following each watering. Diluting the fertilizer and extensive pot flushing when watering during the growing season prevents mineral accumulation. In the winter they definitely need cooler (50-60 degree) temperatures and reduced watering, I lightly water mine only a couple of times per month during November through February. (Koopowitz points out that this group has thick succulent like leaves that store lots of water.) Too much water and too much fertilizer leads to lots of immature soft vegetative growth which facilitates fungal infections. I have tried to incorporate my friends observations into my own brachy culture and achieved measuraeable success. My plant losses have stopped. Everybody looks happier,no wilted or twisted leaves. This year I actually bloomed a bellatulum alba and my mature clones of Lucky Bells. And mosy importantly I have had a leucochilium seedling and a bellatulum seedling outgrow a leaf soft spot. Knock on wood! 
Good luck to you!


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## valenzino (Jun 18, 2011)

niveum gode/leucochilum and some types of concolor are hot warm growers and need a high minimum temperature all year round(minimum18-20 C° night temp) to grow well and fast and a cooler dry winther resting periode.
Some others concolors and bellatulum are cooler growers(they grow in mountains,the others grow sea level or 100-300 meters elevation so hot).
Highly drainage and very good air circulation in the roots and in the air is a must.


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## Rick (Jun 18, 2011)

We've also had post of brachys doing exceptionally well in semi hydro. I finally burned a bellatulum out after several years of up and down roots, massive numbers of growths, followed by slow decline of new growth size (the "amazing shrinking plant syndrome"). I have a niveum that was in FAFERD potting mix for the last three years (until I switched it to the moss basket system this winter) that is doing very well and recently flowered.

After beating up a bellatulum and a niveum for a total of 10 years. I would say that "low salts" means "low sodium and potassium". These species generally grow in close contact with limestone and should have lots of access to salts of Ca and Mg.

Remember those insitu pics of exul? Niveum and Leucochilum were right next to it, and on Krabi, they are accessed by salty ocean spray/breezes and very bright light (my exul grows great with warm temps, high humidity, and very bright light).

I used straight RO water for my primary irrigation water for years, but all my plants have done much better since I've added back about 10% well water into my RO. I supplement Mg and don't use additional potash (potassium source) anymore. 

I think the big ticket to brachys is to get plenty of Ca/Mg (in equal ratio) and limit K. Generally warmer temps (maybe intermediate for belatulum) with good humidity and airflow. I think they can handle vanda light levels when well established.


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## Ernie (Jun 18, 2011)

All the above suggestions are excellent. concolor and niveum are the easiest two IMO. Bellatulum can be a stinker. godefroyae/leuco aren't too bad. 

They like to have great root aeration, but don't like to be repotted as much as other paphs. That sort of makes them tricky. You have to choose a mix that doesn't break down too fast, but will hold water long enough. They do have very succulent leaves and roots which helps out a lot. They can easily take extreme temps IMO. Hot in summer, cool in winter as long as watering and feeding is properly adjusted to temp/growth rate. Concolor and bellatulum put up with crazy temps best IMO. 

Nick T produced the toughest Brachys we've ever grown. Very vigorous! His contributions are already missed. 

For mix, Nick's works great. A general bark mix with coarse sand mixed in. Use fine bark for small pots, a mix of medium and fine for larger pots. Add in sponge rock or similar for aeration. And semi-hydro works great for them too! 

Generous Ca and Mg and frequent pot flushes keep them rolling pretty well. Good air movement helps prevent "Brachy decay" from rots.


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## Rick (Jun 18, 2011)

I think one of the reasons you see so much variation in brachy culture is that the 5 or so main species come from very different habitats.

Concolor and bellatulum are found at more northern latitudes (up to southern China) at elevations up to 4000 ft. Generally in forests (at least partial shade). 

Compare this to niveum and leucochilum found pretty close to sea level in the Malay archipelago. Often in full sun.

Godefroyae is kind of intermediate between the two extremes.

Hybrids would be a mish-mash.

So you really can't generalize brachy care any more than you can generalize Paphiopedilum care. 

Some will like bright some prefer shade, some prefer warm, some prefer cool. They all like limestone based substrates and very open mixes.


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## Rick (Jun 19, 2011)

Just for fun I looked up the salt composition of sea water for a hint of what ocean spray may contain for paphs like exul, niveum and leuco.


sodium 10,800 ppm
chloride 19,400
Magnesium 1,290
Sulfur 904
Calcium 411
Potassium 392

Maybe its not so much a matter of providing overall low salt water to brachy's but making sure there is enough magnesium to purge the monovalent salts out of their systems.


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Jun 19, 2011)

Brachy's are quirky. They need fresh, airy mix, but they don't always appreciate repotting. I give them a mix with extra spongerock, and try to avoid repotting for about 2 years. They are all easy to bloom...or, I should say, all easy to spike. Concolor and niveum usually make it. bellatulum is extraordinarily prone to blasting. In general, they are hardier than people give them credit for, but overall they are not the most long lived of paphs. Contrary to much of what is in the literature, they tolerate fertilizer well. They get the same fertilizer regimen as all my other paphs.


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## Rick (Jun 19, 2011)

Eric Muehlbauer said:


> Contrary to much of what is in the literature, they tolerate fertilizer well. They get the same fertilizer regimen as all my other paphs.



The salt thing is the quirky part for sure.

I would bet that if you hung a car next to a site with exuls and niveums growing on it, it would corrode from the salts to a pile of rust in a year. But we worry about using RO water.

Maybe this example from my tox lab might help. 

The freshwater organisms we test have mortality limits for excess amounts of various salts, but if you put them in pure RO water they can do OK for quite some time.

If we take marine organisms and put them in a salt solution (total salinity equivalent to marine salinity) but composed only of sodium chloride, they die in less than 48 hours. Without the balanced Mg, Ca and K salts added the deficiencies are lethal. Furthermore it takes the balance of all three of the above cations to alleviate the mortality effect (can't fix with just Mg or K separately). However the balance of Mg/Ca/K does not have to be the same as the above natural proportions amongst each other or with NaCL (you just have to have "some" Mg/Ca/K to offset the NaCl.

Subsequently I could see some quirky issues with brachie being kept on RO water and fertilized strictly with a bare bones "balanced" fertilizer with no Ca or Mg.

This is drifting back to my theory that calcarious orchids don't have a calcium demand but rather a magnesium demand, or are sensitive to high K.


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## chrismende (Jun 19, 2011)

Thanks to all who have replied to this thread for the useful info for those of us relatively new to brachys. I'm nursing some back to health that were donate to me, and I'm carefully restraining my watering hand while they reestablish here, but watering well when I do. They are all still alive after about two to three months, with some signs of new growth. I've got fairly hard water and TDS in the 200-280 range lately, since my municipal water is alternately well water and Hetch-Hetchy (pure!) water. Should I give them a watering with epsom salt solution, folks? I've fed them only once, a 16/16/16 (MaxSea), knowing I needed to hold the feeding down. It was half strength. They are potted in #5 and #5A Orchiata in slitted pots or baskets.


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## Rick (Jun 19, 2011)

chrismende said:


> Should I give them a watering with epsom salt solution, folks?



I would.

My well water is comparable to your hard water. I don't use it straight up, but dilute it 10:1 with RO water, for all irrigation without fertilizer addition.

Since I know it has much more calcium than magnesium (most well and surface waters have high Ca:Mg ratios), I add about 1/16th to 1/8 tsp of Epsom salts per gallon whenever I irrigate on sunny days.

I would encourage everyone to test their primary water source for both hardness and calcium, magnesium separately. There are a few places in the country where Mg is actually higher than Ca and supplemental Mg would not be necessary.


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