Paph. Liemainum

[jselwa]

Hello,

This is my first post here.

I am relatively new to the world of slippers. I received a lovely Paph. Liemainum in the mail today, and it's my understanding that the roots on this type are supposed to be completely covered so that they don't dry out, unlike phal's. I'm seeking advice on how I should go about repairing this for the best health of the plant and the chance of success of it budding, whether it's to simply put a little bit of cocoa moss on the top and leave it alone (not my preferred option) or to potentially repot it (which I do have the materials on hand for) - But if I need to do a repot, when is the best time and is there any recommendations because this is a younger plant on ratio of bark, perlite, and moss? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you. - Jen

 

[Duck Slipper]

The plant looks good to me.
Since it is new, I vote repot...place it upright and I believe it will do good.
4 parts bark, 1 part perlite, 1 part charcoal if you can find it.

 

[Jpari]

I would certainly repot it to get it at the proper depth in the pot. Remember to include some drainage at the bottom of the pot so it's feet are not constantly wet.

 

[Morja]

Definitely repot and get those roots covered! I think with the Itty bitty plants especially, shipment sometimes jostles them a bit or makes the potting medium settle and they arrive almost falling out of their pots. Paphs need to be in the media enough that if they make new roots, the roots have somewhere moist to go otherwise those roots stop growing. I have a low humidity environment, so after I pot up with the small chunks of bark/perlite/charcoal, I put a layer of moist sphagnum moss on top to ensure new roots have a moist entrance into the world!
They like to be in a pot that is just big enough (not too big, it will rot the roots!). You can repot a slipper orchid any time. It seems to give their root growth a jumpstart and they seem to like it.

 

[tmoney]

howdy! I don't normally post responses here, but since you are a fellow michigander (ok, i moved away, but still), and we have conditions similar to yours, and we have our liemianum in bloom right now....i suggest the following:

semi-hydroponics. honestly, with paph species in living room conditions, semi-hydro is the way to go (for us). many will disagree, and that's fine. this method is super easy if you aren't familiar with it. only downside is that you should flush 2x per week, which for some is too much work.

get a rigid 1L plastic bottle, drill a hole an inch above the bottom, and cut the top half off. takes bout 1 minute to make the pot. you will need leca clay balls...fill the pot to measure how much you need. 100% leca, super easy medium...

we have repotted paphs into semi-hydro at all times of the year, minus heat of summer. they all have done fine. you could do it now, but I here you are gonna get a heat wave this week. should be fine tho honestly.

for context we grow over 25 species paphs, all in semi-hydro. and again, if you're growing inside in michigan then your conditions are gonna be somewhat similar to ours so im sure the method would translate to success for you. often when i suggest semi-hydro people respond with "i don't want to learn that, seems like a hassle", to which i respond that our semi-hydro paphs are the one group of plants that i literally never really think or worry about. in that growing method they are just simple, no-brainers. I can't recommend it enough,