Phrag. andreettae

[NYEric]

Yeah, I have 2 remaining from a flask and they're real puny.

 

[lienluu]

Thanx. As you know I grow most of my Phrags except besseae in trays of moving water. I thought my andreetae are too small to put in water yet.

I would just put them on stilts, to keep just the tips of the pots in water. i do this with all my phrag compots and have no problems. i just make wire boxes, so to speak and place the pots on this.

 

[Kevin]

Yup. I grew many in shallow pans of water for years, but of course it was always stagnant water, except for watering day. Which I think is a pretty common way to grow Phrags for many people. However, when I've seen them in wild, they're often growing with roots partially submerged in fast moving water (well oxygenated). So the power heads serve this purpose. Plus without it, a gross film usually develops on the water surface, which of course, does the opposite of promoting well oxygenated water.

I'll try to take some photos. The set-up has worked very well for both Phrag species and hybrids. I actually have all my Phrags in these bins and have not lost any plants and have seen terrific growth. The biggest problem is that the roots often invade into neighboring pots. On days I fertilise, I just mix up the solution as I would with any plant and water directly. There's enough water in the bins already that it dilutes it quite a bit. Every few weeks I drain the bins (there's a bulkhead on the bottom with a valve) completely and refill with fresh RO water.

Eric, it depends on the species/hybrid, but my basic mix is fine bark, charcoal, perlite, clay pelletss. Some have calcium chips added to the mix as well and some have granite chips added to the mix.

Intriguing idea. I know what you mean about the gross film, although not an issue if the water is changed regularily. I mostly let the plants use all the water before watering again.

 

[dodidoki]

Dear Lien!
Wonderful flower indeed! I have one but seems to be very slow plant.....
My question is: how about LS? Mine has never bloomed yet( I grow it for one year), LS is 30 cm across, but I saw some photo of whole plant and they seemed to be smaller. Can you post a pic of your whole plant?

 

[tomkalina]

The original description for Phrag. andreetae states the leaves can be "up to 15 cm long", so it's possible to have one with a 30 cm adult leaf span. When I posted this photo last year, ours (also from Ecuagenera) had an 18 cm leaf span, so they can bloom at a smaller size. BTW - We add 1/4 tsp of 100 mesh dolomite lime annually as a top dressing to adults and NBS seedlings in 2 1/4" pots. 100 mesh dolomite is very fine - almost like flour - so most of it waters through over a short period of time, but it does seem to promote good root growth in the seedlings.

Thanks,

 

[NYEric]

Thanx for the info Tom.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Love that pink color! Such a girlie flower :rollhappy:

 

[NYEric]