# Paphiopedilum sukhakulii



## Kostas (Jan 22, 2016)

Bought this as P. callosum in September but as soon as I saw a green bud coming out in Nov/Dec, with a long, point end, I knew this was no callosum. The seller thinks this is a P. sukhakulii and it got mixed up during spring repotting
































Looks like it's gonna be a beauty 



Paphiopedilum sukhakulii bud by Konstantinos Giannopoulos, on Flickr




Paphiopedilum sukhakulii bud by Konstantinos Giannopoulos, on Flickr


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## Happypaphy7 (Jan 22, 2016)

Yep, definitely sukhakulii.
The leaves are very typical for type, too.

Are you growing them in hydoponic pot??
I thin that red thing on the corner of the pot is a water level indicator??
And is the rest of the pot filled with these little stone chips??
Just curious. 

Hopefully this opens up nicely!


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## Kostas (Jan 22, 2016)

Good to know! Seems nice and the bud is big.

I am growing it in a self watering pot(wick system) filled with a mix of small size zeolite,lava and pumice. The department above the water reservoir is filled with the material you see. Paphiopedilum seem to like that, I have a P. callosum thailandense thriving in such a system for more than 4 years now. I like it because it cuts down on maintenance and I only need to water very infrequently while they have plenty of water available at all times. 

Looking forward to grow this one big, to its full potential!


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## Justin (Jan 22, 2016)

Agree it is sukh. You are growing it very well.


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## Happypaphy7 (Jan 22, 2016)

Thanks for the reply.
I have seen such system before and was very much interested in it to ease the watering job on my part. lol
4 years!!!
You should start a thread on that callosum here. 
Do you just add more fertilize solution (or just water or alternate both I guess?) when the level goes below the red line, or do you have to flush the whole thing as in typical semi hydroponics??


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## Ozpaph (Jan 22, 2016)

await the opening


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## paph_deb (Jan 23, 2016)

Beautiful plant. I have a sukhakulii and a callosum ... but both are babies so it will be a long time before I get to see either of them bloom.


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## Kostas (Jan 24, 2016)

Thank you Justin! 

Actually my mother grows that callosum, I gifted it to her in that system to make sure it does well for her. And it has done more than well those 4 years, flowering annually on multiple growths and lasting a good 2,5-3months! I posted a few photos of it last summer, on my other callosum's thread(the two pictures on that page):
http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38682&page=2&highlight=callosum

I water in different ways depending on the plant, the season and my available time. For established Paphs, I prefer to water with dilute(1/4 to 1/2 the dosage) Rain-Mix or K-Lite fertilizer and fill the reservoir with it. Then wait till the indicator goes to the min, wait a bit more if it's a cool season, then flush the substrate with clean water and water with dilute fertilizer water.

If I don't have the time for that or the plant is not yet established, I water a bit with dilute fertilizer water when I see the substrate start to dry out while keeping the indicator on the low side(1/3 to half filled). Sometimes I will water with plain water if I have not flushed for a good while. They don't seem to mind either way.

Wish them to grow well for you Deb!


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## Kostas (Jan 24, 2016)

It's slowly opening


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## SlipperFan (Jan 24, 2016)

Looks like it will have great color!


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## Kostas (Jan 25, 2016)

One of today


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## SlipperKing (Jan 25, 2016)

Super wide flower you got there.


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## Justin (Jan 25, 2016)

Wow


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## Kostas (Jan 25, 2016)

It's still opening!




I cracked open a window nearby(it's freezing outside...last night with below 0C temperatures thankfully) to let some fresh air in and raise humidity a bit, and the flower opened up way faster than it had been doing till then. The picture you see is just a few hours from my last one, both taken just prior to each of my posts


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## Ozpaph (Jan 25, 2016)

great petals.


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## SlipperFan (Jan 25, 2016)

Very nice!


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## Migrant13 (Jan 25, 2016)

Wow, that's quite the wingspan.


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## Kostas (Jan 26, 2016)

A couple from today with natural light 


Paphiopedilum sukhakulii by Konstantinos Giannopoulos, on Flickr



Paphiopedilum sukhakulii by Konstantinos Giannopoulos, on Flickr


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## SlipperFan (Jan 26, 2016)

Petals are amazing.


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## labskaus (Jan 27, 2016)

What is the nat. spread of the flower? The petals are amazing, indeed, and the colour of the pouch is very good, too.


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## Kostas (Jan 27, 2016)

Glad you like it too, it's very nice from close. 14cm spread


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## cnycharles (Jan 29, 2016)

What's the purple in back left?


Elmer Nj


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## phraggy (Jan 29, 2016)

A real beauty Kostas --- very well done.

Ed


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## Kostas (Jan 29, 2016)

Elmer, it's a Tillandsia cyanea. This was its second flowering and It has been continually in flower the past 3 months. It just finished off today 

Thank you Ed!


New ones from today, the flower opened and spread some more


Paphiopedilum sukhakulii flower by Konstantinos Giannopoulos, on Flickr



Paphiopedilum sukhakulii flower by Konstantinos Giannopoulos, on Flickr



Paphiopedilum sukhakulii flower backside by Konstantinos Giannopoulos, on Flickr


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## JeanLux (Jan 31, 2016)

Very nice sukh, I like it a lot!!!! And cool pic series, thanks!!!! Jean


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## Ozpaph (Jan 31, 2016)

great wings


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## Brabantia (Jan 31, 2016)

Very nice. Maybe it is a Paph. sukhakulii "muscle"?


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## Anca86 (Aug 20, 2021)

Kostas said:


> Good to know! Seems nice and the bud is big.
> 
> I am growing it in a self watering pot(wick system) filled with a mix of small size zeolite,lava and pumice. The department above the water reservoir is filled with the material you see. Paphiopedilum seem to like that, I have a P. callosum thailandense thriving in such a system for more than 4 years now. I like it because it cuts down on maintenance and I only need to water very infrequently while they have plenty of water available at all times.
> 
> Looking forward to grow this one big, to its full potential!


Hi,Kostas,
I just bought a mediawhich contains zeolite. I would like to know what is your experience with zeolite. Do your paphs that are in it thrive?
Thanks
Anca


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## NYEric (Aug 20, 2021)

Thread from 2016


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## Anca86 (Aug 20, 2021)

NYEric said:


> Thread from 2016


I know  but I was thinking that if he is still around he might answer


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## GuRu (Aug 20, 2021)

Anca, Kostas was last seen here in September 2018


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## Anca86 (Aug 21, 2021)

GuRu said:


> Anca, Kostas was last seen here in September 2018


Thanks


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