# Paph. delenatii repot yes or no?



## Marc (Feb 26, 2011)

Since a couple of weeks I have a delenatii, after I recieved it my parents suggested that I repot it as soon as possible because the medium looks pretty bad.

On the other hand the plant looks happy and started making a new growth that is currently 1 - 2 cm big and in of the growths I see something coming up that might be a leaf but might be something else. It's to deep in the growth to make a picture of.

Now the big question is to repot yes or no?

Acc. to Paphiopedilum by Braem delenatii is best repotted in March or April after flowering. But I'm not even sure if it's going to flower.

I'm personally inclined to wait with repotting. The risk of damaging the new small growth is not worth it at the moment. The plant doesn't look unhappy at the moment.

And then there is the question of the growing medium. It's currently in a medium that looks like some kind of bark.

I'm currently thinking about repotting it in a mix of bark and perlite. Other sources on the net state that spagnum should be avoided.

Materials available to me:

Bark ( medium + coarse )
Perlite
Spagnum ( dry + living )
Charcoal
Limestone
Expandec clay pallets
Styrofoam chips


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## NYEric (Feb 26, 2011)

Depends on your culture, the need to add medium tht holds moisture or not. If I had the chance I would repot every year.


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## Shiva (Feb 26, 2011)

The best time to repot a plant is when it's healthy and it shows new signs of growth. If you wait for signs of stress, then you'll be adding another stress to the plant when you repot. If it was me, I would repot it now.


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## likespaphs (Feb 26, 2011)

i almost always repot everything as soon as i get it
it goes into the potting mix with which i am familiar so that i can best monitor it 

are you able to see the roots on the plant?


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## Marc (Feb 26, 2011)

likespaphs said:


> i almost always repot everything as soon as i get it
> it goes into the potting mix with which i am familiar so that i can best monitor it
> 
> are you able to see the roots on the plant?



No it's in a non transparant pot. So I'm really guessing what the status of the root system is.


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## Rick (Feb 26, 2011)

Agree with the above.

Repot in a medium that you have good experience with. It's not so much a matter of what the plant likes as rather what your watering practices are compatible with.

The sphag basket system I've been potting into lately, has been working great with no transfer shock. I've repotted a few things now in low bract, and the spikes are moving right along without a hitch.

I water heavy, and maintain a high air humidity. So I can't recommend it universally.


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## likespaphs (Feb 26, 2011)

Marc said:


> ...I'm really guessing what the status of the root system is.



they say people don't grow orchid plants, you grow orchid roots. get good roots, you have a strong plant

i have almost everything in clear pots


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## Marc (Feb 26, 2011)

likespaphs said:


> they say people don't grow orchid plants, you grow orchid roots. get good roots, you have a strong plant
> 
> i have almost everything in clear pots



Going to ravage my parents stockpile tomorrow to see how many transparant pots they have.


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## paphreek (Feb 26, 2011)

Most Paphs generally like fresh mix and this is the ideal time to repot in the northern hemisphere, with the day length increasing daily. I would repot. Just be a little careful to not damage the new growth.


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## Paphman910 (Feb 26, 2011)

Definitely repot it if the mediums is poor otherwise you will lose all the roots. What are your conditions like? ...temperature (day and night), humidity

Paphman910


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## Marc (Feb 26, 2011)

I grow on my windowsills, nighttime temperature is somewere around 10-12C, daytime temperature is currently 15-19C. Still working on the daytime temperature because the plants are in a different room then were the thermostat of the central heating system is located.

Humidity is unkown.


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## GaryB (Feb 26, 2011)

If the mix doesn't look good repot it. Why wait for the plant to bloom and risk the plant declining in bad mix?

I am moving all of my paphs into a mix of bark, perlite,charcoal and sand (river sand, not the white play sand). The Bachy's seem to really like it.


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## Marc (Feb 26, 2011)

GaryB said:


> I am moving all of my paphs into a mix of bark, perlite,charcoal and sand (river sand, not the white play sand). The Bachy's seem to really like it.



I was thinking of this mix minus the sand + spagnum. That's more or less the mix that I've got a couple of paphs in allready. Only difference is that I've added a bit of limestone as well. But will leave that out for the delenatii.


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## W. Beetus (Feb 26, 2011)

NYEric said:


> Depends on your culture, the need to add medium tht holds moisture or not. If I had the chance I would repot every year.


 
I agree completely with this. All of my plants get repotted every year in April unless they are new plants that were repotted within a few months of then.


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## Rick (Feb 26, 2011)

Marc said:


> I was thinking of this mix minus the sand + spagnum. That's more or less the mix that I've got a couple of paphs in allready. Only difference is that I've added a bit of limestone as well. But will leave that out for the delenatii.



I'm seeing some good results with sand addition in bark and sphagnum mixes. I'd add sand in replacement of the limestone.


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## Howzat (Feb 26, 2011)

Rick
If you are in a dilemma, and if I were you, I will dip the whole pot in fresh water, to buy time, once a fortnight. This will neutralise the PH, if it were too acidic.
And once the new growth is strong enough you can repot. Good luck


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Feb 26, 2011)

delanatii takes very well to repotting. Put it in the same mix as the brachy's, but add a little sphagnum. delanatii likes it acidic and moist.


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## Clark (Feb 27, 2011)

Take plant to parents. 
Use their medium.
Stay for dinner.
Go home with yummy leftovers.


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## Marc (Feb 27, 2011)

Clark said:


> Take plant to parents.
> Use their medium.
> Stay for dinner.
> Go home with yummy leftovers.



I left the plant at home, but went to my parents
I took four 10 liter buckets with lids and filled them at my parrents place with various potting materials.
I stayed for dinner and had a wonderfull meal.
We ate rabbit so there were no leftovers. :clap:

At home I repotted the plant, here are some pictures of before, w.i.p. and after.

I potted the plant in a mixture of bark, perlite, spagnum and a bit of charkoal. I will water it for the first time in a couple of days. My parents thought me that it's better not to water after repotting to prevent rot forming on places were the plant got damaged a little while repotting.

Before:







W.i.p.











Result:






The perlite was a bit finer then expected so it gathered at the bottom of the pot. We'll see how the root system will develop. Will update this topic in a month or two.


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## likespaphs (Feb 27, 2011)

not to be a [email protected]@ss but i think you may have potted it a touch too high 

{but visually, and because sometimes i am a [email protected]@ss, i would have centered the plant differently....}
oke:


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## Marc (Feb 27, 2011)

likespaphs said:


> not to be a [email protected]@ss but i think you may have potted it a touch too high
> 
> {but visually, and because sometimes i am a [email protected]@ss, i would have centered the plant differently....}
> oke:



No need to call yourself that.

Try 2:

Repotted again, tried to place the plant more in the center of the pot and placed it a bit lower.


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## Clark (Feb 28, 2011)

Roasted or pan fried? :drool:
Your lucky to enjoy, my generation in this location might consider this cruelty.

Rabbit and pheasant were the only game I consumed. After a snapshot, gave everything else away.

What are they making next weekend?


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## Ernie (Feb 28, 2011)

The plants _and roots_ look perfectly healthy to me. I agree that you potted a little high (I'd drop it down maybe 0.75 cm or so). 

Also, you don't have a delenatii there. From the leaves, looks like delenatii crossed to a cochlopetalum. Could be Deperle (delenatii X primulinum) or Gina Short (Pinocchio X delenatii) or similar.

Now that your skinned knee (from the bare root pic where one of the roots stuck to the old pot) is probably dried over, you'll want to water the heck out of that thing today or tomorrow IMO. The bark you used is bone dry and will shed water until you convince it otherwise. I'd use water with a little bit of liquid dish soap (a couple drops per liter) in it to help wet the bark. Take it to the sink and pour soapy water through the pot every half hour or so for the entire morning. Keep the plant a little shadier until that bark continues to hold water. This will help prevent the plant from being water stressed as the bark 'breaks in'- if it gets a little dry, but is in dim light, it won't be as stressed as if it were getting optimal light. This is even more important to windowsill gardeners that don't have the humidity greenhouse folks have.


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## likespaphs (Feb 28, 2011)

Ernie said:


> ...The bark you used is bone dry and will shed water until you convince it otherwise. I'd use water with a little bit of liquid dish soap (a couple drops per liter) in it to help wet the bark. Take it to the sink and pour soapy water through the pot every half hour or so for the entire morning.....




do you think soaking the pot instead would have similar results?
i've always tried to soak them thinking it would result in faster saturation.
i use chc instead of bark though and don't know if that would change things either....


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## Ernie (Feb 28, 2011)

likespaphs said:


> do you think soaking the pot instead would have similar results?
> i've always tried to soak them thinking it would result in faster saturation.
> i use chc instead of bark though and don't know if that would change things either....



Maybe, but I'm guessing that bark will float quite a bit, and if he's not careful would undo his pot job. It would be easier and effective if careful. So, let's add this option...

Look around the kitchen for a container that is just a little bigger than this one, add the plant and carefully and slowly pour in the soapy water (or add the water first then slowly dunk plant). Allow to soak for an hour or more.


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## Paphman910 (Feb 28, 2011)

Your night time temperature are a bit too cold for this plant. Should aim for at least 15-16 C and daytime temperature should be about 20-25 C.

Paphman910


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## Ernie (Feb 28, 2011)

Paphman910 said:


> Your night time temperature are a bit too cold for this plant. Should aim for at least 15-16 C and daytime temperature should be about 20-25 C.
> 
> Paphman910



Good catch. That is a little on the chilly side.


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## Marc (Feb 28, 2011)

Thanks for the input guys.

Regarding if it's a pure delenatii yes or no. I recieved the plant for free in a group of five from a another breeder whose a friend of my parents. The stick on the pot mentioned it was a delenatii that's why I presumed it is. However the sticker also mentioned that it is from a big garden center that has a lot of stores throughout the country. So I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't a species plant. But as I got it for free I'm not that bothered by it. 

Regarding the watering. I've poored a lot of water through the mixture and then I put it in the sink that was filled with water. I had water up to halve the height of the pot to prevent the medium to rise up. I left it there for a while and now it's draining out. Will look at it before I go to bed and if it's dry tomorrow morning I'll pour some more water over it before I'm of to work.

I'm hoping that the spagnum and perlite retain enough water to continue wetting the plant and of course the bark.


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## Marc (Mar 1, 2011)

@ Ernie, I've done some searching on the internet and the phorum here and I want to thank you for pointing it out that it's not a true delenatii.

I noticed a topic in the sales area:

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19577

And comparing the pictures of the plants in that topic with mine I find the similarity stunning. Also the searching I did for delenatii on the net showed that true species plants have a greyer tone to their leaves.

I hope that it will develop a bloom soon that I can find out if it's Deperle or something else.

I checked on the plant this morning and the pot looked still quite moist. Will rewater this evening if required but so far the spagnum and perlite seem to be doing their job.


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