Four praestans plants that I keep

[hardy]

I have four different Paph. praestans under my care, bought from different nurseries in Indonesia as single growth out of bloom.
They are grown in my home in Indonesia, in a tropical highland setting.
Here they are, in order of their first blooming:

'#1': This is the most vigorous and floriferous of all. It has the largest growths, and have 4 to 5 flowers per stem. This plant also has flowers that are carried in a stately stance. It's a very handsome plant.

'#2': This plant is my favorite, and I now have seven of this . It is from the same locality as '#1'. The colors are slightly darker and the carriage of the flowers is more graceful. I prefer its downswept petals more to the outstretched stance seen in #1. It's not as vigorous nor floriferous though. 3 blooms per stem max.

'#3': This one is from a different locality, with more horizontal petals and bolder coloration. I am not sure if it is Paph wilhelminae? It has small growths and the staminode is broader.

'#4': From another locality, this one has bright yellow rather than greenish yellow base color.

'#4' is the most recent purchase of all, so its potential remains to be seen.

 

[emydura]

Very nice Hardy. Beautiful healthy clumps. Mine is in bud at the moment.

David

 

[JeanLux]

Great plants; I would keep those too !!!! Jean

 

[John Boy]

Some set-up you've got there!!!
Are you open to visitors?
Wonderful collection.

 

[NYEric]

Dude! You are like this orchid growing genius who's coming out of the dungeon into the light!

 

[etex]

:clap::clap: Wonderfully grown plants and blooms!! Sure can't beat the vigor and floriferousness of #1, but #2 and #4 are my favorites!! Great growing!

 

[etex]

Dude! You are like this orchid growing genius who's coming out of the dungeon into the light!

What Eric said,too!!

 

[GuRu]

Hardy, thank you for this lovely pesentation and explanation!!
They all are lovely but #2 is my favourite too.

 

[biothanasis]

Wonderful!!! Wish I had the proper space and conditions to keep these....

 

[Justin]

wow, stunning paphs!!

 

[Pete]

wow. thanks for the great photos. those plants look excellent. i would say they all fall under expected variation for P. praestans. i dont see any evidence of P. wilhelminae. I consider that one to be significantly smaller and maybe more brown, whereas yours all have a gold/reddish coloration. also ive never seen so many flowers or flowers quite as big on any P. wilhelminae..

 

[paphioboy]

Holy cow..!! I would kill to have praestans like that... :drool: :drool: :drool: They must grow like weeds for you (especially to obtain 7 divisions of No. 2!!!).. :clap: :clap: Do you use the same medium for all paphs? Just fern root?

 

[SlipperFan]

Wonderful that you can keep so many large plants of the same species! I'd be hard pressed to choose one!!

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Wow! Beautifully grown! :clap:

 

[hardy]

Thank you all for your kind comments and compliments.

Paphioboy: yes you're right, I grow all of them in fern root. One of them is in treefern root and the rest in birdnest fiber. They take years to grow that big, that's the key I bought the first two plants 12 years ago.

Thank you Pete, for helping me with identifying plant no #3. I also think it looks different from any of the wilhelminae I've seen in picture.

Some set-up you've got there!!!
Are you open to visitors?
Wonderful collection.

Of course we are open to visitors, hehe. The collection is part of my folks' ornamental plant business (african violets, begonias, aquarium plants etc.).

Not much of a set-up, really. It's just a small rain shelter with corrugated plastic and a couple layers of shadecloth underneath.

There are just two benches out of five given for the paphs. It's a very small collection really.

 

[SlipperKing]

Thanks for the comparisons Hardy. It's nice to see how it's not all black and white when it comes to splitting species.

 

[UweM]

#3 - Paph. striatum?

http://www.slipperorchidforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=158584

Best wishes
Uwe

 

[SlipperKing]

Uwem, you maybe onto something there. I see the same characteristic that you must see.

 

[hardy]

Aww, it does look somewhat similar, though not 100% same. No wonder this group gives some botanists a headache.
Thank you Uwe, for the info and link!

 

[NYEric]

There are just two benches out of five given for the paphs. It's a very small collection really.

That's how it begins! :evil: