# Pain in my rear Robinianum



## Paph_LdyMacBeth (Jun 19, 2014)

Hi all,
I have a wonderful Robinianum that blooms regularly...3 times in the 6 years I have had the plant...and is a good grower. Produces nice blooms too.
BUT
It never seems to have more than 1-2 growths and the growths always die after it blooms. 
Is this normal for Robinianum? Any reason why this might be happening and how I can stop it? 

Thanks!


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## NYEric (Jun 19, 2014)

$5! :evil:


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## SlipperFan (Jun 19, 2014)

A lot of my Paphs seem to be like that.


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## Paph_LdyMacBeth (Jun 19, 2014)

NYEric said:


> $5! :evil:


ha ha ha that's about all its worth right now in its miserable 1 growth state!


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## Ray (Jun 20, 2014)

This is going to seem very self-serving, but consider a regular regimen of 30 ppm N K-Lite and 1 tablespoon-per-gallon KelpMax at three successive waterings, followed by once every 3-4 weeks thereafter.

Even my recalcitrant paphs have all started putting up multiple growths and keeping the old ones longer.

The attached photo is a complex paph I got from Hillsview as a single-growth and in-bud plant. The flower is long gone, but the plant is still bright and sturdy, and the eight - yes 8 - new growths are all this spring's.

I will acknowledge that eight new growths is not the "norm", but 3, 4, or 5 is pretty typical.


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## John M (Jun 20, 2014)

Holy cow, Ray. That's very impressive. It isn't self-serving if it's true and helpful. Good info backed up with clear evidence. Thanks!


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## Ozpaph (Jun 20, 2014)

great growing


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## Stone (Jun 20, 2014)

Ozpaph said:


> great growing



Yes!


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## Ray (Jun 21, 2014)

Ozpaph said:


> great growing



If only I could claim that. The last year has been really hectic, and my level of care has been horrible - I'm embarrassed to let folks see in the greenhouse.

The plants have done well _despite_ my growing.


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## cnycharles (Jun 21, 2014)

Lol sometimes that's all they need is for us to not pay attention as much


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Margo (Jul 17, 2014)

Hello from Denmark
I have been reading your orchidboard for a while, and just like some of you I have switched to K-lite fertilizer because my Paph' s got yellow leaves and was looking miserable. The Paph. on the picture is my first Paph ( hybrid ) I bought in in 2010, it had two growths, which got one new growht each and so on, always just two new growths. In dec. 2103 I ordered K-lite from Ray, and I have been feeding 5o ppm N K-Lite ( sometimes a little less ) at every watering. This time my plant does not have two new growths, instead it has 8 new growhts and it could have had 9, but I broke one growth when I wanted to count them.


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## NYEric (Jul 17, 2014)

welcome to the forum.


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## SlipperFan (Jul 17, 2014)

Welcome to Slippertalk, Margo. Please tell us a little about yourself in the Greetings and Salutations section. You Paph is a good example for K-lite.


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## Happypaphy7 (Sep 5, 2014)

To the thread originator, it could be just the plant.
Some plants clump up readily while some just don't, and you just have to take it for what it is. At least it is growing and blooming for you. 
If you like that plant, maybe invest in a couple more to see how they all turn out.

Now, I don't want to discredit K-lite users, but without enough plants (large sample numbers) of two groups, with and without K-lite, for a long period of time, it is not really much of help and actually very misleading.
Even then, there are many other factors affecting the plant growth.

Complex hybrids (bulldogs) in general are great growers as Ray mentions.
I grow plants in a city apartment, which is less than ideal, and complex hybrids all go from single growth to multiple growths in just one year.
They are like orchid weeds. 

Now, some other paphs that grew only one or two growth at each growth season pick up the speed and send up a multiple fans at a time.

Many paphs will grow in this similar fashion. 
As they age, they will freely branch and multiply.

One, it is in the genes and that is how that particular plant wants to grow.
Two, as mentioned, age. 

Margo, your plant growth has much to do with its age.
Again, I'm not trying to discredit your fertilizing regimen, but rather I just dislike "false" association, because then this misinformation gets around and confuse the hell out of many people. 

Fertilizers will help grow plants, but I don't think it will necessarily make plants pop out all of a sudden.

Very similar and common one is how someone says "I see all this growth spur after repotting! Repotting makes (or stimulates) paphs grow".
I have paphs that I have not repot for years, and I only fertilize very lightly about once a month, sometimes more sometimes much less if ever, and they all grow throwing out multiple fans. 

I did all I can with other slower paphs. Nothing helps.
Maybe better conditions will help all my paphs, mainly more humidity and better night temperature dip, two main things I just can't provide as an indoor grower.

But given the conditions I can give and things that I have done, I find that paphs grow in season not because they have been just repotted (many start growing in the spring which is the time when many growers repot them, right?), but because the right season has arrived.

With time, paphs will branch and multiply.

Last, individual plants within the same cross will have their own "character".


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