P. kovachii Hybrids

[Heather]

Hey everyone!
So, I’m back at it, six months down the primrose path of houseplants…now trying a Phrag again…
Of course, I go with a finicky kovachii hybrid which I am sure everyone got tired of discussing about a decade ago! Fritz Schomburg, how can I go wrong?!?

At any rate, it’s in grodan cubes which are pretty neat, now that I’ve read up on them. Seem to be all the rage these days for the kov. relatives which make sense and leads me to a couple questions.

How important is pure water? Can I use filtered or do I really need distilled?

Any recommendations for fertilizer for this guy?

I think my temps should be ok. Nights are in the 50-60s.

Thank you! I thought we had a pinned kovachii master thread but couldn’t find it. Can’t believe it has been over 20 years since kovachii came on the scene! We sure have a lot of experience on this forum…

 

[monocotman]

Welcome back to the phrag scene, Heather. I find high quality water essential for phrags. It doesn’t have to be distilled but definitely needs to be low in dissolved salts. Your kovachii hybrid likes a good level of feed but also some flushing between feeds.
I use rockwool cubes. Have you potted yours into the small (1/2 inch square) or large ( 1 inch) cubes? The current thinking here is that the small ones may be too dense in a five inch pot. Ray uses two thirds leca and one third mincubes to provide more air. I am starting to use the larger cubes even in five inch pots and also to use net pots. Don’t press the cubes down during potting, they tend to collapse and become more dense during use.
Some people sit the pots in trays of water and other don’t. It depends on your circumstances. I find that it helps me but I’m indoors with lower humidity than some.

 

[Heather]

Thank you! That’s helpful. Plant came in a 4” pot in 1/2”/1cm rock wool cubes from Orchids Ltd, so I figured I’d leave it as is since my struggle with humidity is what led me out of Phrags. However, now that I have a bunch of houseplants, I have some small humidifiers in my plant areas so I’m giving it another go. Have it sitting in a humidity tray with pure water as well.

 

[Heather]

I’m getting some leaf die off on the old growth. Looks pretty normal but happening fast! Acclimation issue or…? Getting some distilled for it today just in case my filtered water isn’t pure enough.

 

[monocotman]

If your plant is in full growth and everything looks ok then it’s probably nothing to worry about. Different clones and plants keep their older foliage for different length of time. It can be for anywhere between one and three years.

 

[Heather]

Yes it is the old growth. New growth fine and in spike.

 

[awesomei]

I just purchased some Phrags, both kovachii hybrids and non. They were all potted in 1/2"/1cm rock wool cubes. They were very compated ad full of water. That can't allow good air circulation. I immediatly repotted them in a mix of med. bark, rock wool cubes and crushed oyster shell. This mix works really well for me in my greenhouse.
George

 

[Heather]

Yes, I’m a little concerned that the rock wool is retaining too much moisture.

 

[awesomei]

Yes, I’m a little concerned that the rock wool is retaining too much moisture.

Yes, rock wool can hold a lot of water. But, for me the issue is more the compaction of it when it gets wet, eliminating good air flow.
George

 

[Heather]

I got some perlite from work last night so I think I’m going to pop it out and repot it with a mix of the two instead of just the rock wool. Hope it won’t mess up the spike growth tho. One of the things I’ve read is how easy rock wool is to repot since it doesn’t disturb the roots much…thank you!

 

[awesomei]

Be sure the perlite is not to small. The idea is to open up channels in the rock wool where air can circulate. I try to never repot a plant in spike.
George

 

[vanda2020]

I am replacing perlite with pumice for Bonsai. I find the quality of perlite is going down and the fact it is dangerous for the lungs when in a dry state as reason enough to look for something else to open up the mix with.

 

[awesomei]

I always work with my perlite outdoors with a breeze

 

[Ray]

FWIW, I have a few hybrids - still unbloomed - in S/H culture and they seem to be doing fine.

 

[Heather]

Be sure the perlite is not to small. The idea is to open up channels in the rock wool where air can circulate. I try to never repot a plant in spike.
George

Better to lose the spike than the plant…

 

[Dekejis]

I never really had great luck with the Rockwell (which is a shame, since I bought I giant box of it). I have been shifting all my plants over to S/H using pumice chunks, which has been superior in my conditions.

 

[annica.jarvela]

Hi everyone! Could someone explain what the abbreviaitons or shortenings mean, like FWIW and S/H. There was also in a another thread, that someone said: send me a DM. Does that mean private message or something else?
Please, and sorry, that I'm not that good of knowing all such things. I thank you already in advance.

 

[eds]

FWIW = For what it's worth
DM = Direct Message (PM = Private Message etc.)
S/H = Semi Hydroponics - see First Rays site for more useful information on that growing method than anywhere else IMO (In my Opinion )

 

[annica.jarvela]

Thank you Eds, I shall DT (do that)