# Paph. niveum var. ang thong 'Maybrook', AM/AOS



## Scott Ware (Jun 11, 2009)

Dick Hanson sent me this photo today of a plant he has flowering in his greenhouse. Dick grows his brachypetalums in a specially constructed “case” in his greenhouse with interior lateral air flow from small muffin fans and auxiliary overhead lighting. He has recently improved lighting conditions by replacing old fluorescent shop lights with 6500K T-5 fluorescents and is really pleased with the results.







When looking up _Paph. niveum var. ang thong_ ‘Maybrook’, AM/AOS in OrchidWiz it appears that this is, or was at some time considered synonomous with _Paph. godefroyae_. I confess I don’t know what the current taxonomic stance is this week, but this particular cultivar grows much more like _Paph. niveum_ than _Paph. godefroyae_. 

This cultivar belonged to G.A. (Bert) Wright, who created so many great and wonderful paph hybrids over the years. This cultivar grows vigorously and is quite rot-resistant. I know Bert shared this plant with many growers over the years so it’s possible some of you out there may have this in your collection.


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## CodPaph (Jun 11, 2009)

great bloom , very very nice, show


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## P-chan (Jun 11, 2009)

Fantastic! I love it.


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## JeanLux (Jun 12, 2009)

great blooming!!! But are there not too many spottings for niveum?, or is this normal for the ang thong var.? Jean


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## Elena (Jun 12, 2009)

Wow,that's quite a display. Excellent growing!


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## Roy (Jun 12, 2009)

Scott, if you are suggesting this clone was created then its quite possible the name should be P. Greyi which theoretically is the man made cross of P.Ang-thong = niveum x godefroyae. This also look a lot like a lot of P.Greyi from the net & what I have seen in person.


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## slippertalker (Jun 12, 2009)

From the time period that Bert Wright obtained this plant, it is almost certainly a collected plant of Paph ang thong which is a natural hybrid.


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## SlipperFan (Jun 12, 2009)

Tell me about his specially constructed case -- my question is, with the fluorescent lights, is it the quantity or the duration that makes them flower so well???


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## john mickel (Jun 13, 2009)

*Here we go again*

Stop this - This is a really beautiful plant - I dont care if it is natural or a created plant - If you saw this plant in the wild would you slap a P. Greyi name plate on it - Nature rules - I wish all plant crosses were left to natural collections and stop trying to out due nature - john


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## goldenrose (Jun 13, 2009)

SlipperFan said:


> Tell me about his specially constructed case -- my question is, with the fluorescent lights, is it the quantity or the duration that makes them flower so well???


I wanna know more too!


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## SlipperKing (Jun 14, 2009)

Love the clone! Nice Paph x_ang thong_!


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## Scott Ware (Jun 17, 2009)

*Dick Hanson's "Brachy Case"*



SlipperFan said:


> Tell me about his specially constructed case -- my question is, with the fluorescent lights, is it the quantity or the duration that makes them flower so well???





goldenrose said:


> I wanna know more too!



Here are some photos that Dick sent over after he heard folks were asking for more information on his brachy case. It is essentially just a section of the bench that has been isolated between two vertical walls to create a separate environment. When the case was first built it had sliding glass doors on the front much like a retail display case. There is a four-lamp T-5 fixture hanging above the four-level shelving with two muffin fans offset on opposing walls to create airflow from both directoins. The slots that held the glass doors are still visible in the lower front. There is a small electric heater mounted above the lighting fixture to maintain a temperature separate from the main greenhouse temp when desired. However, after implementatoin it was difficult to control the heat and humidity with those doors closed and the turbulence from the fans turned it into very efficient desiccation chamber! Removing the sliding glass doors did a good job of addressing that problem and it is still a very effective brachy-friendly environment.






Dick feels that the improvement this year in both plant health and flowering quality is due to more frequent repotting and improved lighting conditions - giving credit to higher intensity and improved color spectrum. The exposure time has not changed since the old shop lights were removed, but he has increased the frequency of fertilizer applications to twice a month in order to allow for the additional lighting the plants are now receiving.






One observation I have made is that keeping these paphs at nearly eye-level in a semi-sheltered location allows one to make quick and early assessments that might identify a potential problem (rot, bugs, etc.) very early and while there is still time to deal with it. We sometimes have a miserable time keeping brachys happy in our climate and to have a plant more than 5-10 years is considered a pretty good accomplishment. Many paph growers in this area consider it only a matter of time before we lose our favorite brachys - usually to some form of rot. Often we tend to divide and distribute our favorites among fellow growers as quickly as possible - sometimes out of generosity, but just as often as a way to hedge against extinction of the plant with some hope of getting a division back.






Any resemblance some of those plants on the top shelf bear to ascofinetias is purely coincidental


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## SlipperFan (Jun 17, 2009)

Thanks, Scott. I couldn't picture how there could be a structure within a greenhouse, but this explains it very well.


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## SlipperKing (Jun 19, 2009)

Scott, First, super plants! Question: what size are those aircones?


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## NYEric (Jun 19, 2009)

Send him a slippertalk card! oke:
Thanx for sharing.


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## Scott Ware (Jun 20, 2009)

SlipperKing said:


> Scott, First, super plants! Question: what size are those aircones?



Almost all sizes. Everything except a 2 and a 6.

Top shelf has 2.5", 3", 4".

Lower shelves have 2.5", 3", 4" and 5". Sure wish Ray would have done those 5" pots several years earlier while he still had the pots. The jump from the 4" to 6" size was often not very successful.


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## KyushuCalanthe (Jun 20, 2009)

Wow, what an awesome show!


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## biothanasis (Jun 20, 2009)

Impressive show case!!!!


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## Ernie (Jun 20, 2009)

Perfectly grown plants. Yep, he's licked Brachy-decay. Very nice!

-Ernie


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## John Boy (May 11, 2010)

I'm so glad I came here!!! The stuff I keep finding in the bowels of this forum are just short of a revelation.
Many thanks for these pictures.


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## KyushuCalanthe (May 11, 2010)

John Boy said:


> The stuff I keep finding in the bowels of this forum are just short of a revelation.



DISTURBING IMAGE ALERT

PLEASE STAND BACK!! oke:


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## Pete (May 11, 2010)

was this an old award?


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## Scott Ware (May 11, 2010)

Pete said:


> was this an old award?



Well, it wasn't at the time. oke:

The award is from 1983.


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## papheteer (May 11, 2010)

Wow, those are very nice plants. Never thought of Brachys as hard to grow plants really. In general, do you guys find them harder to grow than parvis?


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## smartie2000 (May 12, 2010)

yes brachy paphs are easier to rot than parvi paphs for me


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## labskaus (May 12, 2010)

That's a nice and extremely well grown plant, very enjoyable!

Thanks a lot for posting Dicks set-up. I'm looking for a way to treat my Brachys separately within the GH and that bench gave me a good idea of how to do it.


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## tomkalina (May 12, 2010)

This is one of our favorite brachys and seldom seen, although quite popular in the 80's and 90's. Here's one we acquired when we bought Birchwood Orchids from the Clement's estate. 

Thanks!


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## SlipperFan (May 12, 2010)

Can't get much rounder than that, Tom!


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## paphioboy (May 12, 2010)

wow... That setup is great!! And so many blooming plants at once...


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## paphioboy (May 12, 2010)

IMHO, the plant the very first post is not a straight niveum.. niveum has a light sprinkling of tiny pink/purple speckles, not that heavy patterning, which is characteristic of godefroyae or x angthong (= Greyi)..


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## rdlsreno (May 13, 2010)

Wow!

Ramon


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## slippertalker (May 13, 2010)

paphioboy said:


> IMHO, the plant the very first post is not a straight niveum.. niveum has a light sprinkling of tiny pink/purple speckles, not that heavy patterning, which is characteristic of godefroyae or x angthong (= Greyi)..



Please refer to the title of this thread.....


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## paphioboy (May 13, 2010)

Sorry, my bad..


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## Greenpaph (May 13, 2010)

Beautiful,

Interesting a case inside the greenhouse!?


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## Scott Ware (May 23, 2010)

*Brachy Case Update - May 2010*

Since this thread was recently revived, I thought folks might enjoy seeing a couple photos from this year (2010). While it is nearly the exact same time of year as the previous photos in this thread, there a few different things in bloom.













The topic paph shown in the first post of this thread is located second from left on the lower shelf. It took a little bit of a rest after last year's performance. 

Of note - the smaller paph on the extreme left of the lower shelf is another labeled as _Paph. niveum var. ang thong_ that I received in 1987 in a shipment from Supchadiwong. The three flowers have much shorter and weaker stems than the 'Maybrook' cultivar next door, however the flowers are quite similar even though they are a bit smaller.


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## JeanLux (May 23, 2010)

Wow, a lot of beauties!!!! Jean


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## KyushuCalanthe (May 23, 2010)

What a proud dad you must be! Impressive doesn't begin to describe your accomplishment.


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## paphioboy (May 23, 2010)

Nice.. Are they growing in rockwool..?


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## Scott Ware (May 23, 2010)

Nope - no rockwool. Just a simple bark/charcoal/perlite mix with crushed oyster shell top dressing.


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## SlipperFan (May 23, 2010)

OK, I'm jealous.


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## Jim Toomey (May 24, 2010)

Hi Scott,
Do you still add peat to your mix?


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## Scott Ware (May 25, 2010)

Jim, yes on a case-by-case basis. I don't add it for the brachys. I have better luck if they dry out a little faster than other paphs between waterings.


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