getting slightly disappointed with phrags

[Paphman910]

I have been growing phrags for almost a year and yesterday I made an honest assessment of the results and it seems that I am not very good with them.
For some reason they grew full pots of roots, but not much of the foliage. On the contrary - some type of brown rot would snap half a leaf here and there until I can't look at it anymore and throw the whole fan away.
The only one that grows nicely both roots and leaves and has no problems at all is caudatum, but its leaves are harder and thicker, maybe that's why. Rest are besseae hybrids and they don't like my tank.
Temps around 16C now, there is a fan running on the schedule, watering with distilled water.
What's not to like?

First check your water quality! Should be low in TDS and make sure the pH is about 6.5 to 6.8.

 

[gonewild]

First check your water quality! Should be low in TDS and make sure the pH is about 6.5 to 6.8.

The water being used has no quality!....it is distilled water.

 

[Paphman910]

The water being used has no quality!....it is distilled water.

Thanks! Missed that!

 

[Ray]

How often should I fertilize?

My approach is to mimic nature: there is very little nutrition available to the plant, but it's always present.

I feed very dilute solutions at every watering, flooding each time.

 

[cnycharles]

If in the tank do you have fans? Moving air would help many things. Can leave in rank if you allow air exchange. If you need some more feed and need calcium then you could use calcium nitrate. This will add n and c and make possible k ratio lower

Clark just told me he was able to stop rot by not watering from over top and watering from bottom in a bucket

 

[Paphman910]

Do you have a photo of your setup in the tank?

 

[AdamD]

I have one suggestion that really helped me with the K-Lite. Get a coffee grinder! I have one devoted solely to crushing up K-Lite. It was $20. Well worth it. I use 1/4 tsp/gal almost every watering. Granted I got rid of my phrags... I grow too hot and bright. Hope this helps. It was suggested to me and I don't know what I would've done without it!

 

[tnyr5]

Try this :
get two gallon jugs, a measuring teaspoon, and an 8oz cup.
-Measure two level teaspoons of K-lite and mix with distilled water in a gallon jug, shake to dissolve.
-Add one 8oz cup of this mixture to the second jug, then fill to the top with distilled water. Use this to water your plants at 9 out of every 10 waterings.
- On the rare occasions you don't use it, mix one or two cups of tap water into a gallon of distilled water. Adding a pinch of epsom salts wouldn't be a bad idea, either.
- Open the lid to the terrarium for 20 -30 minutes every night to allow gas exchange
- follow everyone's advice & add a small fan inside the tank

I'm certainly no expert; many people here know a LOT more than I do, and I'm sure they could come up with better ways, but this is pretty easy to follow.
Tony

 

[Stone]

If you want to grow leaves you have to provide the plant nutrients. The amount of fertilizer you have used is not enough.

I solved the type of rot problem you describe by reducing potassium in the fertilizer.

16c is too cold for day temperature.

If caudtum is doing well and besseae hybrids are not then you may not be watering enough.

If your tank is enclosed you may have low CO2 levels.

I agree with all this...except for the potassium:evil:
Also, 1 year is nowhere near long enough to learn how to grow a difficult group of orchids. I think I might just be learning how to grow SOME Paphs after 3 years and I'm sure it will take another 5 to perfect it.

 

[Stone]

The water being used has no quality!....it is distilled water.

So that make it high quality then....or low quality if you are growing orchids :evil:

 

[gonewild]

So that make it high quality then....or low quality if you are growing orchids :evil:

To be either good or bad quality it must have some mineral content otherwise it is just water and certainly there is no reason to test it.

High quality water has just the right amount of nutrients.
Low quality water has too many bad chemicals.
No quality water has nothing.
:wink:

 

[Stone]

To be either good or bad quality it must have some mineral content otherwise it is just water and certainly there is no reason to test it.

High quality water has just the right amount of nutrients.
Low quality water has too many bad chemicals.
No quality water has nothing.
:wink:

Purity is a quality:wink:

 

[abax]

Orchideya, can you collect rainwater? I have a 55 gal.
barrel under a downspout and I use that rainwater exclusively for Phrags. I don't fertilize much or heavily in
winter because there's very little sun to utilize larger amounts of fertilizer. I will gradually increase the amount as spring and summer changes the light situation. I've been growing Phrags. just about a year too and it does take some time to observe and learn just
what they like and don't like. I use K-lite at 1/4 tsp. twice a month now in the rainwater and I never let my
Phrags. sit in water. I hand water the Phrags. first and
let them sit in water while I water the rest of the greenhouse and then empty the saucers. I use clay pots
to aid in transpiration and it seems to suit them in the high humidity of my greenhouse. I might add that my
greenhouse has a lot of air movement and one small
muffin fan directing air slightly over the Phrags. So far,
so good. I'm learning too. We'll work it out together!

 

[orchideya]

Do you have a photo of your setup in the tank?

Here I posted my slippers tank a little while ago:http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34485

 

[orchideya]

Orchideya, can you collect rainwater? I have a 55 gal.
barrel under a downspout and I use that rainwater exclusively for Phrags. I don't fertilize much or heavily in
winter because there's very little sun to utilize larger amounts of fertilizer. I will gradually increase the amount as spring and summer changes the light situation. I've been growing Phrags. just about a year too and it does take some time to observe and learn just
what they like and don't like. I use K-lite at 1/4 tsp. twice a month now in the rainwater and I never let my
Phrags. sit in water. I hand water the Phrags. first and
let them sit in water while I water the rest of the greenhouse and then empty the saucers. I use clay pots
to aid in transpiration and it seems to suit them in the high humidity of my greenhouse. I might add that my
greenhouse has a lot of air movement and one small
muffin fan directing air slightly over the Phrags. So far,
so good. I'm learning too. We'll work it out together!

Angela, I could collect rainwater from the downspout, but I am just afraid of all the garbage collected in the eavestrough, and all the water will go through it. I only have 5 phrags, so buying for them distilled water from drugstore wasn't a big spending.
I am wondering about clay pots, wouldn't roots grab on it for good?

 

[NYEric]

Can you show us an updated photo and the phrags?

 

[orchideya]

Can you show us an updated photo and the phrags?

Sure, I will take pictures tomorrow.
I have repotted them yesterday and placed on the windowsill in the bathroom. Hope they like it in there.

 

[ALToronto]

Making K-Lite concentrate, step by step:

1. Buy a small precision scale

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B0012L...id=1423834394&sr=8-2&keywords=precision+scale

2. Buy a 1 L glass bottle (Dollarama)

3. Measure 33 g of K-Lite and dissolve in 1 L of distilled water. This makes a 4000 ppm N solution.

4. Use 5 g of concentrate (1 tsp) per litre of water for 20 ppm N. Adjust as necessary.

5. Keep the concentrate in the fridge.

 

[orchideya]

Thank you AlToronto. Would 5 g of concentrate (1 tsp) per litre of water be good for phrags too?
For how long will solution be good in the fridge?

 

[NYEric]

NO-too much IMO.