# species paph root care



## noel (May 12, 2009)

hello everyone,i just bought my new batch of species paph,which consist of paph glaucophyllum,baccanum,lowii,supardii,gigantifolium,tonsum var virens(this one's name kinda confusing).all of them are definietly need boost in root growth.can you give me some advice please?because it's been bugging me lately.i'm afraid they will be affected by rot and died


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## goldenrose (May 12, 2009)

:clap: Welcome noel! :clap:
It would probably help to tell us more about yourself, do you have other paphs? what are you sucessful at growing? do you grow on windowsill? size - are they seedlings? what's your water source? 
the more we know the more we can hopefully help!


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## biothanasis (May 12, 2009)

Rose is right!!!! More info is needed about your paphs and your growing area!!! A few more words/pics of your collection would be great too (go to introduction thread)!!


However, most plants need humidity in the air around them to shoot new roots and somehow lower light conditions than usual (but it is not that necessary). Also overwatering is definately causing root rot!!! If you give us more info, then more help could be provided!!! There are also some technics that can give positive results (more roots) 

Others here know better than me and could help you more!!!!Welcome to the forum, Noel!!!


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## rdlsreno (May 12, 2009)

Welcome Noel to Slippertalk!

Ramon


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## paphioboy (May 12, 2009)

Welcome to ST.. You have some interesting species which I have not heard of..  I think you mean tonsum var. braemii or javanicum var. virens..


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## SlipperFan (May 12, 2009)

Welcome, Noel. I agree with Rose. In addition to what biothanasis said, Paph roots tend to like a chunky medium so that air can circulate around them, also.


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## noel (May 13, 2009)

tahnks everyone,i live in indonesia,home of the most paph species.i grow my paph on lair in my house.i grow them on spaghnum media.i live in tropical lowland.so humidity and warmthness is not my problem.but eventough it's hot outside(32 c)in afternoon,my lair is still rather cool(26-28 c)in the afternoon and it's shaded too.about the photos,i want some help about posting them.because i actually dont know how to post them hehehehe.....my water source is tap water(i wonder if unclear blotches in my mirror when the water diried out is considered hard water)and they're all adult plants


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## NYEric (May 13, 2009)

Welcome from NYC! You should use a secondary photo sharing source like photobucket or flickr, there are instructions here somewhere. If your plants are in sphagnum, the medium is probably holding too much moisture. Put some bark in with the moss to open up air spaces.


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## goldenrose (May 13, 2009)

If one has success in using sphagnum, I don't want to knock it but what are the pros & cons to any media that we chose? Pros on sphagnum - it holds water. Cons - it holds too much water unless you let it dry out but then one would probably need to soak the whole pot in order to wet the sphagnum thruout, which results in one extreme to the next. Another con on sphagnum is it sours easily & roots won't like that. 
Your water quality will also affect root growth, personally I prefer rainwater.


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## noel (May 13, 2009)

most of the grower in indonesia use spaghnum as a moisturer.and they seem to have succes with it.so i can't complain.but water quality is not my issue,because my slipper orchid still grow few new roots.i want some advice on boosting root care because it seems that my orchid is wild collected.here's the picture.
this is the one so called paph tonsum var virens.identify and correct it for me













and this is the spaghnum moss looked like after watering


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## paphioboy (May 13, 2009)

That is a javanicum var. virens. A very nice one too..  Firstly, the pots are too big for barbata type paphs. I'm from Malaysia, which is tropical too, and paphs potted in large plastic pots (especially in sphagnum) always fail. Sphagnum is ok if you use clay pots. Use a pot that is just large enough for all the roots to fit in. A good thing is you have suitable climate to suit javanicum, so I hope it grows well for you..


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## TyroneGenade (May 14, 2009)

Hello,

If you stick with the spagnum moss, then punch some holes in the sides of the pots too allow for faster drainage/drying out. I wouldn't worry about the souring of the moss as your water is evidently quite hard and probably alkaline. This does mean that you will have to over water when you water so as to flush out the salts that are building up. If you can, collect rainwater for "regular" watering to help with flushing out the salts.

To help "air" the mix, you can introduce some pebbles into the mix. Dolomite or lime would be best as this will also help keep the medium alkaline and prevent souring.

Keeping the plants drier rather than wetter will help with root growth. Letting the pot dry out between waterings would be OK, as submerging the whole pot to flush out the salt build up will have to be done in any case.

Best of luck


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## noel (May 14, 2009)

ok,so i just need to change the media.what is the best mix for all kinds of paph and give me the perfect position of the media for all kind of paph,thanks a lot....


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## goldenrose (May 14, 2009)

noel said:


> ok,so i just need to change the media.what is the best mix for all kinds of paph and give me the perfect position of the media for all kind of paph,thanks a lot....


 the mix you use is dependent on your culture, water quality, amount & frequency of fertilizer, humidity, light & air movement all play a part. I have a tendency to overwater so I make up my own mix that is lighter & fast draining. How long have you had these plants? You could continue to use the sphagnum, the advice is to repot into smaller pots & punch holes in the sides of the pots.


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## noel (May 16, 2009)

ok,i will repot it to smaller clay pots.when is the best time to repot?in the morning or in the afternoon.is it okay to repot when it's flowering or when it's growing flower spike?because my paphiopedilum violascens is growing flower spike.and i'm afraid to kill the flower spike because i heard that paph violascens is quite sensitive plants.i post the picture of the flower spike later


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## biothanasis (May 17, 2009)

I would repot only after the flower has faded so that the plant is stressed as less as possible and try to water carefully till I repot!!!! Morning hours is better i think! Happy growing!!!


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## noel (May 18, 2009)

i repot them in smaller clay pot with perlite as the centre and spaghnum moss as the outer ring and topping.is that better than the last media.how long does it takes for it to be dry..


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## NYEric (May 19, 2009)

However long it requires, check the plant until it's dry but paphs don't like bone dry! :wink:


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## noel (May 24, 2009)

whew,i repot most of them already,it's tiring,but it's rewarding to know that my paph are saved.you guys were right!eventhough it looked healthy outside,the roots are almost,or maybe already ROTTING!!!:sob:,THANK GODNESS YOU GUYS WERE HERE:,i have my paph to thank you later..by the way,i havent repot the virens and violascens,because the virens is still blooming and the violascens is spiking.is it okay to repot them during that time?


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## paphioboy (May 24, 2009)

Paphs can be repotted any time, even in bud or bloom. Just be careful to not disturb the roots to much or snap the spike..


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## hardy (Jun 17, 2009)

Hi Noel,

where do you live?

My home is in Malang =)

I've been using bird nest fern fiber (moss hitam) in clay pots. Treefern should work fine, too. You should try these for your paphs.

picture link: http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10908

Salam =)


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## noel (Jun 19, 2009)

'salam' hardy,i live in surabaya....
and i currently use perlite+live moss as paph media
i water them once a day...
BTW,you have some nice paph species there,could i take their divisions?
is their division sold?
i would like to have them...


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## hardy (Jun 20, 2009)

Live moss! Interesting, do you have photos to share?

Currently I do not have extra divisions of my plants.
Which species are you interested in, by the way?
I bought quite a number from Kayoon,
the orchid stalls have some nice plants from time to time.
I got some from Simanis Orchids in Lawang, too.
They have some really nice species there.


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## noel (Jun 20, 2009)

uh...about the photos,maybe later...
i'm interested in your brachys,like niveum,concolor,etc.. and the one that are not native in indonesia like charleswotti,hirsustimum,etc...
Btw ,in which part of kayoon did you buy them ?
I heard they are expensive and does simanis orchid has good selection of paph species ? are they expensive ? and don't forget about phillipinense and sanderianum and maybe some parvis like michrantum,etc....do you know where to get these thing?do you have them?


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## hardy (Jun 21, 2009)

The various orchid stalls at Kayoon carry paphs from time to time, 
there are just few plants when they're available.
Expensive, yes, but the plants are established and the quality is quite good.
Mostly the maudiae types and the multifloras.
I saw a few sanderianums for sale before.

Then there's Simanis Orchids, they carry a variety of paph species.
Mostly jungle collected paphs from Indo, but the plants are already established.
Prices, um.... very very expensive.

If you're interested in concolor, parvis or other imported paphs, these are carried by several smaller nurseries from time to time.
Try Kusuma Orchids (Batu), Handoyo Budi Orchids (Malang).
They do source orchids from outside East Java.

Lawang Orchids which closed abt 5 yrs ago, carried a huge number of imported brachys. 
When they closed, they sold these at bargain prices and many smaller nurseries bought them.
I think these nurseries should have them still. 

Most importantly, at the annual orchid show in Surabaya and Malang (around April),
the orchid nurseries from Bandung and Bali carry a very good selection of imported species and hybrids.
Even some cool-growing ones like insigne, charlesworthii, gratrixianum.
The West Java orchid nurseries import regularly from Taiwan and Thailand.
Milo Orchids brought their huge collection when they moved from Australia to Bali.
Milo Orchids had amazing range of brachys and their hybrids.

I'm studying in Taiwan now. I also buy a few plants or flasks from time to time.

I have philippinensis, praestans, delenatii, sanderianum etc.
But I really don't have extra divisions for sale or exchange at the moment, in the future, perhaps.

So you can try to look from these different sources. 
They don't appear regularly, so you should keep looking from time to time.
Hope you find the plants that you like!


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## noel (Jun 21, 2009)

ok,ill wait for your extra divisions for sale...
could you give me the exact address?
maybe of some nurseries which provide brachys and parvis and imported species heheheh because right now i'm really desperated in looking for them hehehehe..... and don't forget the price range....


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## hardy (Jun 22, 2009)

Hi, sent you a private message


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## noel (Jun 22, 2009)

wow,you must be loving your sanderianum,because it's so expensive,BTW i will schooling in singapore starting this june,do you know the good and cheap source there?and how is the procedure to bring 'chid to indonesia from singapore?i bet you ever bring 'chid from taiwan...but i'll be waiting for the extra divisions...esp the imported species one...please send me a message if you have one,esp the sanderianum.....


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## paphioboy (Jun 22, 2009)

Noel, if interested to know more about orchids and orchid nurseries in Singapore, you can join this forum: www.greenculturesg.com/forum. There are a few large orchid nurseries in Singapore, like the Mandai orchid garden, Woon Leng, Song Orchids, Wairon, Moi Hua (phals) etc.. Have fun..


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## noel (Jul 1, 2009)

here's the photos of the live moss media
paph baccanum in it





paph praestans in it




paph supardii in it




sorry its a bit late hehehehehe....


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## paphioboy (Jul 1, 2009)

Looking good..


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## SlipperKing (Jul 1, 2009)

Those potted plants look great!


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