Is this Phrag. pearcei okay?

[dodidoki]

My advice is next: S/H may be right, but I would cower the surface with sphagnum around the plant "neck" as a scarf and keep it moist. While I use this way, new roots never dried out and reached under surface where media is wet enuogh for roots.

 

[Cheyenne]

Just a question. Is this in a closed pot with holes in the side for s/h or is it in a regular pot sitting in a saucer? If it is the ladder, I would put it in a saucer that is alot deeper and put moss on the top of the pot.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

Regular pot in saucer. I top dressed with about 1/4" sphag and the saucer is about 2.5" deep. I'd like to try something other than S/H with this one. This phrag seems to currently be growing slower than my sanderianum.

The plant now

If I was to do a mix of 1/3 sphag, 1/3 bark, and 1/3 charcoal or LECA (or a similar mix), would the above pot it is in be ok? It is quite wide but short. Or would a smaller pot or net basket be better?

 

[Brabantia]

I cultivate my 2 Phrag. pearcei in a mix 50/50 rockwool/clay balls + a little bark in a classical pot (no saucer with a water level). The two are in spike. They receive one time per week 50 ppm N and are slightly watered two to three times per week in order to maintain the upper surface of the potting well wet. No problems since many years.

 

[Cheyenne]

My only concern is if this plant was in s/h before or was it in a regular bark mix. If it was in a bark mix the transfer to s/h could have caused it to loose some roots. Maybe it is growing so slow on top because it is getting adjusted to the s/h and growing new roots. Just a guess.

 

[Rick]

Maybe your expectations are too high.

Maybe its presently growing roots like crazy, and will soon be going into new growth phase. I wouldn't say mine are constant year round new growth producers. So maybe it needs some time to develop a root base.

It's only been a month or so, and if you constantly change things the plant will never adapt.

Maybe what it really wants is more light??

BTW the plant pic I posted is in 8" pot. A relatively shallow pot is good for this species since it spreads so much.

 

[Rick]

My only concern is if this plant was in s/h before or was it in a regular bark mix. If it was in a bark mix the transfer to s/h could have caused it to loose some roots. Maybe it is growing so slow on top because it is getting adjusted to the s/h and growing new roots. Just a guess.

Yes.

You just moved it to SH in January of this year.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

Ok, I'll leave it be. I moved it when it was growing roots & and if I move a few clay balls around, I see new roots. When is their active growing season?

I moved a Paph. urbanianum into S/H 2 months after I moved my pearcei and it is growing new roots and leaves. I was just concerned the pearcei wasn't adapting quickly enough. Hopefully being top dressed with sphag will help.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

It must be ok because now its in bud!

What is its blooming habit like? How many blooms per spike and how long do they last?

 

[The Mutant]

According to Slipperorchids.info they get between 4 to nine flowers per inflorescence, but I can't tell you how long they'll last since I've never flowered a Phrag before, let alone a pearcei.


But now to why I even bothered to write in a thread about a species I know close to zero about; I have a similar problem with my Phrag Green Hornet (it's half pearcei at least :wink: ) as you had before. I hope it's okay if I highjack your thread for a bit?

So, I've had this guy since October last year and in the beginning I watered it waaay too little, so it was not happy with me and its oldest fan never recovered after this and died eventually. It also suffered ugly leaf tips, but it doesn't get any more of those. Now, the problem is that the top of the plant is not growing, at all I think, and I've heard they are supposed to be quick growers, but mine never got the memo (the issue is obviously owner related, but let me put the blame on the plant for a bit at least)...

This is how I care for it; I water it every second or third day and change the water in the saucer at the same time. I feed it often, weakly, with K-lite and seaweed extract, but not every watering and the water I use, is "sort of" purified (it's RO for poor people, which means it's not as sterile as RO water is, but not as... "diluted" as my ordinary tap water) It's potted in bark/sphagnum/perlite, but I was thinking that maybe it's time to repot? It has been in the same substrate for about eight months now so it should be pretty decomposed by now, right? It's standing close to my T5 but not underneath it and at least the colour on the leaves look okay. It's planning to do something, but I don't know what. It could be a new leaf emerging on the mature fan, or a stem, I don't know.

Here's how it looks like now (it was so big and beautiful when I got it :sob: ):

Here's one of its new roots out on some sort of exploration trip (indicates that the top of the substrate isn't too dry at least):

 

[The Orchid Boy]

Mine has finally started making new growths so maybe yours will soon. I think they can be heavy feeders once they start growing.

I've heard they are supposed to be quick growers, but mine never got the memo (the issue is obviously owner related, but let me put the blame on the plant for a bit at least)...

Exactly how I felt.

 

[The Mutant]

Mine has finally started making new growths so maybe yours will soon. I think they can be heavy feeders once they start growing.



Exactly how I felt.

Mine is doing something, maybe it's going to bloom? Who knows? I went ahead and repotted it, which was a hassle since it refused to let go of the pot, but I think it was a good idea, 'cause the substrate smelled decomposed. Now we'll see what it'll do (it has enough roots now I think).

 

[The Orchid Boy]

Once in a while I put my phrag out in the rain. It seems to really like it and it helps to really flush the pot.