Help me choose

[goldenrose]

Hello my friend, Are you interested in some trades?

maybe, whatcha got?
I'll PM you.

 

[cnycharles]

hey, no drug dealing/trading in front of minors

 

[The Orchid Boy]

I think I might just get her one as a gift and wrap it up nice and repot it before I give it to her. I'm wanting to get her a sequential blooming paph and am leaning towards P. Deperle, P. Gina Short, or P. Annabellchen. Are any of them easier to grow, blooms last longer, more pink than another, prettier foliage, ect? And when I repot it, what medium should I use so it is easy to know when to water? I was thinking a bark and little bit of sphagnum with charcoal mixture in a clear pot.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

Keep in mind that Deperle is white, not pink. The yellow in primulinum and the pink in delanatii cancel each other out (or rather, their genes do) leaving a white flower..same as Armeni White.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

I knew that Deperle was white but the other two are pink right? I've seen varying pictures. And what media should I repot it into. I changed my mind and I thinking about straight sphagnum and tell her to fertlize at 1/2 or 1/4 strength every month and water only when the moss it totally crispy dry. I grow my phals like this and I gave a different relative a cattleya in straight sphagnum and it seems to be doing well.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

Hmmm.....don't know about that. I'm not a big one for growing any kind of paph, other than a sick one, in sphag. I'd pot it into the simplest bark mix...just bark and perlite. Tell her to water it at least once a week. Keep it as simple as possible. Sphagnum seems simple, and it is for phals and lots of other orchids, but not for paphs. Not to mention the sudden death that can occur when the sphagnum gives out and gets too acidic. It will still look the same, but won't be very good. Avoid disappointing her, and stick to something tried and true for most people.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

Ok, I'll stick to the bark mixture. Are any of the 3 above paphs better than the other by growing faster or blooming longer? I was assuming they are all pretty much the same but I want to make the best choice for her.

 

[goldenrose]

you don't have the plant yet, correct? How do you know it needs repotting? If it's in a bark mix & the mix seems good, why add another stress to the plant?

 

[The Orchid Boy]

No I don't have the plant yet. The place I would get it from plants most of their orchids in a very course bark mix and then they need watered every 3 days. The orchid will probably be due for repotting in the spring and I won't see my relative until July but I thought I might get it early and grow it a little bit and possibly enjoy a bloom and make sure it's healthy. I would have a temporary resident in my collection for a while.

 

[NYEric]

Self-enabling! :evil:

 

[The Orchid Boy]

Yes!