# Phrag. kovachii 'Sweet Valentine'



## ThienNgo Le (Feb 16, 2019)

Those of you who are my friends on Facebook probably saw this beauty on my Facebook page already. This is the best one I have bloomed so far. I bloomed some really good one last year but not this good.
Enjoy the flower.
Best,
ThienNgo Le


----------



## Jjaymay29 (Feb 16, 2019)

wow.... i cant even believe how big that flower is


----------



## kiwi (Feb 17, 2019)

Wow


----------



## monocotman (Feb 17, 2019)

Best yet!
David


----------



## Ozpaph (Feb 17, 2019)

that is amazing


----------



## Jpaph (Feb 17, 2019)

Wow!


----------



## kiwi (Feb 17, 2019)

How do you grow this please?


----------



## Hien (Feb 17, 2019)

very full, plus the dorsal is not cupping as other kovachii.
did you try to have it judged, seems awardable to me.


----------



## abax (Feb 17, 2019)

ThienNgo Le said:


> Those of you who are my friends on Facebook probably saw this beauty on my Facebook page already. This is the best one I have bloomed so far. I bloomed some really good one last year but not this good.
> Enjoy the flower.
> Best,
> ThienNgo Le
> ...


WOW! That's beautiful and HUGE!


----------



## NYEric (Feb 18, 2019)

Hi Le, a friend from Peru shared this , I believe on the Peruvian forum. Can you post a photo from the side, please? Also, what is the ploidy?


----------



## ThienNgo Le (Feb 18, 2019)

NYEric said:


> Hi Le, a friend from Peru shared this , I believe on the Peruvian forum. Can you post a photo from the side, please? Also, what is the ploidy?


Hi Eric,
I did not take any pictures from the side. I am out of town now. I will take pictures from the side when I get back home, hope the flower won't drop. This plant is from a flask from Chuck many years ago. It looks like a 4N one to me according to the size, substance, and texture but the only way to be sure is take the DNA test which I am not gonna rich enough to do that. )


----------



## KyushuCalanthe (Feb 18, 2019)

That is beyond the pale. Award worthy isn't the issue, it definitely deserves an award. That plant needs to be line bred and meristem cloned!


----------



## LadySlipper (Feb 18, 2019)

That is huge! And beautiful.


----------



## ThienNgo Le (Feb 19, 2019)

kiwi said:


> How do you grow this please?


I grow it under LED lights


----------



## ThienNgo Le (Feb 19, 2019)

Hien said:


> very full, plus the dorsal is not cupping as other kovachii.
> did you try to have it judged, seems awardable to me.


Hi Hien,
It opened exactly one week after the judging day at the local judging center. I bloomed 18 kovachii last year and non of them opened on the judging day too. It seems like they don't want me to lose money for award fee LOL


----------



## ThienNgo Le (Feb 19, 2019)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> That is beyond the pale. Award worthy isn't the issue, it definitely deserves an award. That plant needs to be line bred and meristem cloned!


I already self-pollinated it. I am doing the breeding line on several Phragmipedium species.


----------



## musa (Feb 19, 2019)

Wow! I'm fascinated


----------



## NYEric (Feb 19, 2019)

Thanks for the info. I know you are into Phrags, I still have the Frank Smith you were interested in, and Glen told me you grow Paphs as well. I think we still could do some interesting trades.


----------



## Hien (Feb 19, 2019)

[This plant is from a flask from Chuck many years ago. It looks like a 4N one to me according to the size, substance, and texture but the only way to be sure is take the DNA test which I am not gonna rich enough to do that. )"]

you certainly are a very good grower.
years ago, I got all different flasks of various kovachii crosses from Peruflora when they first offer them to the US customer (same time that Chuck order them from Peruflora), and they all died on me, granted the seedlings inside the flasks are tiny
Then I kill 2 more kovachii flasks from Glen, this time I have no excuse, because the seedlings inside the flasks are big.


----------



## TrueNorth (Feb 19, 2019)

It's amazing! I've never seen one with teeth before, so I'm betting it's 4N. I'm glad you're propagating it.


----------



## Phrag-Plus (Feb 20, 2019)

Gorgeous!


----------



## Dandrobium (Feb 21, 2019)

That is huge! What are the measurements? A beauty for sure!


----------



## Happypaphy7 (Feb 21, 2019)

Mamma Mia!!!


----------



## P.K.Hansen (Feb 22, 2019)

Impressive.


----------



## blondie (Feb 25, 2019)

Wow that flower is amazing


----------



## TrueNorth (Feb 25, 2019)

So how did the shape hold up? It appears to have thicker substance than usual. Did that make a difference in retaining it's lovely shape?


----------



## NYEric (Feb 26, 2019)

Hien, my advice, stop playing with baby plants.


----------



## ThienNgo Le (Feb 27, 2019)

Hien said:


> [This plant is from a flask from Chuck many years ago. It looks like a 4N one to me according to the size, substance, and texture but the only way to be sure is take the DNA test which I am not gonna rich enough to do that. )"]
> 
> you certainly are a very good grower.
> years ago, I got all different flasks of various kovachii crosses from Peruflora when they first offer them to the US customer (same time that Chuck order them from Peruflora), and they all died on me, granted the seedlings inside the flasks are tiny
> Then I kill 2 more kovachii flasks from Glen, this time I have no excuse, because the seedlings inside the flasks are big.


Hi Hien,
Thank you. I just got lucky I think. I just grow them like any other Phragmipedium in my collection; there is no special treatment for them.


----------



## ThienNgo Le (Feb 27, 2019)

TrueNorth said:


> So how did the shape hold up? It appears to have thicker substance than usual. Did that make a difference in retaining it's lovely shape?


I was out of town a day after I pollinated it so I don't know. The picture above was on its third day, so I think it kept that shape a couple more days at most.


----------



## ThienNgo Le (Feb 27, 2019)

NYEric said:


> Thanks for the info. I know you are into Phrags, I still have the Frank Smith you were interested in, and Glen told me you grow Paphs as well. I think we still could do some interesting trades.


Hi Eric,
Oh. You live close to Glen? Tell him I say hi. I got a 10 growths division of Frank Smith from my friend last year. But thank for the offer anyway. I do have some Paph but not much, most of them are species like jackii alba, micranthum alba, vietnamense of course.


----------



## NYEric (Feb 28, 2019)

Will do. I'm not close, about 3 hour drive, but I see Glen at shows often. If you have enough of the albums to sell/trade at a reasonable cost I may have something you might want.


----------

