Phrag Fritz Schomberg

[Linus_Cello]

Purchased at the Paph Forum in 2013, in bud, but the bud blasted. Happy that the bud did not blast this time. Another bud on the way. Hopefully as the plant gets bigger, so will the flowers.

 

[abax]

Loooove the color and I'm sure the shape will improve. I don't know about
you Linus, but I'm finding Phrags. a challenge to grow well. I can't even
dream of blooming one. You did goooood!

 

[Phrag-Plus]

Very nice! Like the colour!

 

[phrag guy]

color is nice

 

[NYEric]

Yay besseae hybrids!

I don't know about
you Linus, but I'm finding Phrags. a challenge to grow well.

What kind of problems are you having?

 

[Linus_Cello]

This one is growing S/H. It seems to like it.

I have a nitidissim that is finally spiking after 3-4 years owning it; these apparently need to be grown more dry.

 

[SlipperFan]

Delicate color.

 

[abax]

NYEric, I just can't seem to get the culture right and I'm not even sure
why. The three I bought were a bit rough and I didn't help much standing
them in rainwater. They've been out of standing water for about three
weeks and they just seem to be hanging on...barely. Perhaps the potting
medium isn't right for my conditions. Do you suppose they might do better in either small or medium Orchiata? I think I need a really good
Phrag. book.

 

[NYEric]

You have one right here. Most Phrags, except caudatum or whatever its known as this week, like moisture. You should have a good pure water supply. However stagnant water and overly compacted media will deprive the roots of air, killing them. Medium Orchiata would be better than small. Being in wet home environments you have to be very carefull of rot in the crowns; good airflow and curatives, lime powder, Dragon's Blood, etc. will help. Also Phrags, especially pearcei are extreme attractive to scale. you have to check in the creases of leaves and on the back sides that you dont usually look at to find them hiding, multiplying, and sucking the life out your plants. You need a good insecticidal maintenance scheme. Not to much fertilizer, plus an occasional bit of lime and calcium. Voila!

 

[abax]

I'm doing all that...rainwater, no stagnation, no crown rot, no bugs, dowsed with Orthene a couple of
times, no fertilizer. Perhaps it's just going to take
them a while to recover from various abuses. I may be expecting too much too soon. BTW, none
of the "abuses" were due to ehanes.

 

[NYEric]

I doubt that, he abuses me all the time!

 

[Linus_Cello]

One more thing I forgot to mention, which may (but likely is not) the "secret to my success." Following the advice of Terry Root, I use water from my fish tanks (Amazon softwater). One tank has discus. Terry's theory is that discus secrete stuff from their bodies (which they feed to their fry) which helps slipper orchids. My discus, as far as I know, are not spawning.

My guess is that the S/H provides the air circulation Eric mentioned, and the pot is moist (with a reserve of water at the bottom).

 

[mrhappyrotter]

My Fritz produced a very nice, robust spike last year, then the buds all proceeded to blast. I actually have great success with phrags, they love me, I love them, it's a giant human-slipper circle jerk. So, to have a phrag abort buds like that is a bit concerning.

Anyway, the flower on yours is nice. Honestly, I had very high hopes for this hybrid in terms of color, and I'm simply not very impressed with most clones. I'm not a fan of pinks, and particularly light/pale pinks.

 

[Leo Schordje]

I have switched most of my Phrags over to nothing but straight New Zealand or Chilean sphagnum moss. Works well. I still stand these pots in shallow trays of water. I get good roots this way. You need to repot yearly, as the moss does break down, but the growth is phenominal. One problem I noticed, when I was growing in bark mixes, if the Phrag had poor roots when I repotted, often the bark mix would not stay wet enough, even standing in water, to get new root buds going. The bark at the top inch of the pot would be too dry for new root buds to take off. Moss solved that problem. Phrags in general are more or less semi-aquatic. If the pot is just lightly moist, the way a Paph would like it, it is already too dry for many Phrags. Keep em wet. Good air movement is important when they are this wet. And sun, they are not shade lovers. My 2 cents.

Nice Fritz Schomburg by the way.

 

[Linus_Cello]

Same plant, blooming again

11 months later, another bloom (more reflexing?)

 

[NYEric]

relative humidity?

 

[Linus_Cello]

relative humidity?

Guessing about 40%. It's grown s/h, so that probably helps with the humidity (along with all the other plants). Inside for winter, outside for summer (so higher humidity then).

 

[NYEric]

try misting more often. Otherwise could just be a curvy clone.

 

[troy]

I love kovachii hybrid!!! Very nice!!

 

[Linus_Cello]

Blooming again