# Paph. stonei culture



## reivilos (Dec 11, 2012)

Hello guys,
Do you have any recommendation for growing stonei properly ? I mean perfectly.
This one is said to be a very slow, but I've come across quite a good specimen a while ago that is growing like weed.
Thanks.


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## ehanes7612 (Dec 11, 2012)

stonei is pretty easy to grow but most of them are very slow until they attain a couple BS growths, in which case they can grow like weeds (especially if its a recalcitrant bloomer)..there is no special growing tip ( other than low K) but i would keep them in low light until they reach BS , and be careful switching to high light, as they resent that a little , also dont grow in CHC , they cant get enough water from the medium


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## reivilos (Dec 11, 2012)

Thanks for the info. So far it's about 1cm/week for a leafspan of over 80cm.
What about temperature ?


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## ehanes7612 (Dec 11, 2012)

reivilos said:


> Thanks for the info. So far it's about 1cm/week for a leafspan of over 80cm.
> What about temperature ?



i grow all mine at minimum 55 (mostly around 58) F...i only have one at the stage of blooming (5 BS growth plant)..i have tried everything..dropping temp down to 50 for two weeks, high light, and even a warm shock (95 degrees)..i did get a sheath this year but that was six months ago and it hasnt evolved anymore..i think its just one of those stonei's that doesnt want to bloom..grows great though

i think seedlings will grow at a certain speed no matter how optimum the conditions, they can only make their enzymes so fast ..i have noticed that they seem to grow at the same rate in the summer as in the winter (where light levels dip to 100 FC living in seattle)..same with my roths


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## Paphman910 (Dec 11, 2012)

I grow my Paph stonei in chc, perlite, moss with limestone chip under my 400 Watt Metal Halide lights year round with temperature min of 20 C and summer up to 28 C. It is watered biweekly year round and gets really big!

I find it really easy growing and it seems to slow down growing during the summer months and pick up in the winter months. First time blooming with 5 flowers in June 2012 and it was beautiful. It took me almost 4 years to flower it from an 18 cm seedling.


Paphman910


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## Paphman910 (Dec 11, 2012)

ehanes7612 said:


> ..i did get a sheath this year but that was six months ago and it hasnt evolved anymore..i think its just one of those stonei's that doesnt want to bloom..grows great though



Same thing happen to my stonei as well but it suddenly decided to bloom for me in June very rapidly!!! Yours should bloom in June 2013.


Paphman910


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## ehanes7612 (Dec 11, 2012)

maybe they are like apple trees, set their bud one year and bloom the next


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## Rick (Dec 11, 2012)

I think they are pretty easy to grow too.

Pretty much roth conditions. Warm and bright. Keep humidity up.

I've switched all of mine to baskets with moss/limestone gravel. Low K fert has picked up growth rate and leaf size even more than on MSU.

I've had a couple of first time bloom sheaths that formed in summer and got held to following spring. But after the first bloom the sheaths/spikes seemed to have no problem going from late spring to early summer.

I'm starting to get seed out of the capsules I set with mine and Waynes bloomings this summer.


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## Paphman910 (Dec 11, 2012)

Rick said:


> I think they are pretty easy to grow too.
> 
> Pretty much roth conditions. Warm and bright. Keep humidity up.
> 
> ...



That is pretty quick! Do you have a picture of the seed pods?

Paphman910


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## Justin (Dec 11, 2012)

Reivilos, what everyone else said. It's one of the slower Paph species, except for the few exceptional clones like Paphman910's. But worth the wait.

Rick, on my stonei the pods matured faster than i would have thought. I think it was around 6 months when the pods turned brown and seemed ready. The pods then sat in a drawer for another 5 months before i got them to the lab. I got moderate germination, about 10+ flasks worth. They should be ready this spring!


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## Paul (Dec 12, 2012)

Hello,
First of all, get a good, fast growing plant. If you have that plant then you just have to grow it warm, bright and humid (like roths as said above), with an opened mix (better to water frequently). and fertilizing as long as the plant is growing. Try not to wet the inside of the growths especially in winter, because it can be the cause of blasting the future bloom, when it is in sheath (generally during winter, then flowering in late spring)


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## Rick (Dec 12, 2012)

Paphman910 said:


> That is pretty quick! Do you have a picture of the seed pods?
> 
> Paphman910


 Out of 3 pods set, one started turning so it got harvested. Lots of seed!

The other two are still nice and green. Do you still want to see a pic? 

They are on two different plants, the first one that is harvested is on the warmer/brighter side of the gh.

In general my multi capsules are much faster than other paph species, I've had lowii and philis go in 3-4 months.


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## Paphman910 (Dec 12, 2012)

Rick said:


> Out of 3 pods set, one started turning so it got harvested. Lots of seed!
> 
> The other two are still nice and green. Do you still want to see a pic?
> 
> ...



Yes, Just wondering how big they get. I have a capsule on my stonei that took but from Zephyrus Orchids stonei pollen.

Paphman910


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## Rick (Dec 12, 2012)

Paphman910 said:


> Yes, Just wondering how big they get.Paphman910



Ok, but don't get too excited. Length is about the same as the unfertilized ovary, and I'd be surprised if it was even twice as big around as the unfertilized ovary.

Slipper capsules hardly grow at all, especially if you compare Phals and Catts. That's what's so weird about barbata capsules taking over a year in some cases, (with almost no growth) and Phals maturing in 6-8 months and HUGE!


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## reivilos (Dec 12, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the details. Here is the thing

D-60






D-11





D


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## Paphman910 (Dec 12, 2012)

reivilos said:


> Thanks everyone for the details. Here is the thing
> 
> D-60
> 
> ...



Is that a division or a seedling?

Paphman910


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## Ozpaph (Dec 13, 2012)

monster plant


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## Justin (Dec 13, 2012)

awesome, big healthy looking stonei!


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## Rick (Dec 15, 2012)

Hey Wayne. It's a good thing I went in to get the pics of the capsules since they were turning, and needed to be harvested.

They are about 7-8cm long and 0.5 to 0.7cm in diameter. Got lots of good seed out of these.

The narrow dark capsule is a selfing of my Matt Gore plant. The fatter/greener cap is our cross with MG crossed with your Prancer X Humongous.


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## Stone (Dec 15, 2012)

Rick said:


> Hey Wayne. It's a good thing I went in to get the pics of the capsules since they were turning, and needed to be harvested.
> 
> They are about 7-8cm long and 0.5 to 0.7cm in diameter. Got lots of good seed out of these.
> 
> The narrow dark capsule is a selfing of my Matt Gore plant. The fatter/greener cap is our cross with MG crossed with your Prancer X Humongous.



Hey there Rick, Don't spose you could spare a pinch of that seed?oke:


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## Rick (Dec 15, 2012)

Stone said:


> Hey there Rick, Don't spose you could spare a pinch of that seed?oke:



Which cross? You do your own flasking?


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## Stone (Dec 15, 2012)

Rick said:


> Which cross? You do your own flasking?



No I have someone doing it for me. He charges 20 bucks to sow and 30 per replate.
Any Stonei, Its almost unobtainable here


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## Rick (Dec 16, 2012)

Stone said:


> No I have someone doing it for me. He charges 20 bucks to sow and 30 per replate.
> Any Stonei, Its almost unobtainable here



Send me a PM Mike


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## Paphman910 (Dec 16, 2012)

Rick said:


> Hey Wayne. It's a good thing I went in to get the pics of the capsules since they were turning, and needed to be harvested.
> 
> They are about 7-8cm long and 0.5 to 0.7cm in diameter. Got lots of good seed out of these.
> 
> The narrow dark capsule is a selfing of my Matt Gore plant. The fatter/greener cap is our cross with MG crossed with your Prancer X Humongous.




Thanks Rick!

Progress of my stonei pod:






The two arrows has length of 7 cm and the diameter of the pod is 8 cm across and looking good.


Paphman910


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## Paphman910 (Dec 16, 2012)

Rick said:


> Hey Wayne. It's a good thing I went in to get the pics of the capsules since they were turning, and needed to be harvested.
> 
> They are about 7-8cm long and 0.5 to 0.7cm in diameter. Got lots of good seed out of these.
> 
> The narrow dark capsule is a selfing of my Matt Gore plant. The fatter/greener cap is our cross with MG crossed with your Prancer X Humongous.




Thanks Rick!

Progress of my stonei pod:






The two arrows has length of 7 cm and the diameter of the pod is 8 mm across and looking good.


Paphman910


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## Justin (Dec 16, 2012)

looking great!


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## Ozpaph (Dec 20, 2012)

Stone said:


> No I have someone doing it for me. He charges 20 bucks to sow and 30 per replate.
> Any Stonei, Its almost unobtainable here



I'm in, pretty please (with a 'donation' to Rick, of course)


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