Phrag kovachii finally blooming!

[dmcmkl]

This is my Phrag kovachii ('Purple Cow' AM/AOS x 'Ray Raab' FCC/AOS) that I purchased from Jason at Orchids Ltd a few years ago. Can't remember exactly when though. This is the first time that it has bloomed for me. Can't remember how many times I thought I'd lost it but I kept persevering and this is my reward!

It popped open overnight and it is not fully open yet. I took a quick photo with my phone because I was so excited to get this posted to the forum. I'll take some better 'glamour' shots later. It has a very pretty white pattern on the back of the dorsal. Quite frankly I am almost afraid to touch it since I do have a history with breaking off spikes by not being careful.

 

[dmcmkl]

Took another quick pic of the backside because I think it looks pretty cool!

 

[Tom-DE]

Beautiful!

 

[monocotman]

Lovely! Congratulations on blooming this species.

 

[NYEric]

Congrats, you are in an exclusive club.

 

[dmcmkl]

Thanks everyone! I have three others of different crosses in spike as well!

 

[dodidoki]

Amazing!!!!!!

 

[PeteM]

Congrats! Well done! It’s going to be a beauty, I remember when they bloomed out purple cow. What a large spread those petals will have.

Can’t wait to see your kovachii forest!

what mix and conditions are you growing in?

 

[Califoutdoors]

Congrats! How exciting after waiting!

 

[Kaleighh]

Beautiful!

 

[PhilaGardener]

Great job blooming that one, kudos to the plant too!

 

[BrucherT]

What a triumph, what a RIPPER of a bloom! Love that you admire ALL of it, including the white rear surprise. So happy for you and now tempted to try Phragmipediium kovachii again myself! I've killed two... wondering how you keep the temperatures down? I think heat killed mine, RIP to my beautiful P. besseae as well...

 

[Tom-DE]

What a triumph, what a RIPPER of a bloom! Love that you admire ALL of it, including the white rear surprise. So happy for you and now tempted to try Phragmipediium kovachii again myself! I've killed two... wondering how you keep the temperatures down? I think heat killed mine, RIP to my beautiful P. besseae as well...

Same here! I like the back as well... I seldom will include Phrags in my collection but I think I will try to grow this species someday if I can bump up/maintain the PH.

 

[dmcmkl]

I grow the majority of my orchids in my basement which of course is the coolest room in the house. During the winter the temps don't rise above 74 degrees during the day and drop down to around 62 degrees at night. Humidity ranges between 58% and 44% depending on the time of day. Lowest humidity is in the early morning when the heat comes on and the temp rises as the house heats up. Then it levels off to around 50% for the majority of the day. During the summer the temps never rise above 78 degrees and the humidity is usually hovers around 50%. I have a large evaporative humdifier in the room that I use to try and keep the humidity above 40% at all times.

I've struggled myself with kovachii in the past having killed a couple myself. This is what I have found works for me.
1) I was growing them in a mix of rockwool cubes and perlite. They would do fine for a while but then start to decline due to root loss. I decided that was due to the mix being too wet with not enough oxygen around the roots. I changed the mix several months ago to 1/3 rockwool cubes, 1/3 medium perlite and 1/3 medium Orchiata bark. I think that this is keeping the mix wet enough for them but providing plenty of oxygen to the roots. I think that this was the change that probably had the biggest effect on my success.
2) I started rotating fertilizers also several months ago between Peters 30-10-10 with added liquid CalMag since this fertilizer doesn't have any calcium or magnesium and MSU Orchid Fertilizer 13-3-15. The MSU doesn't need any CalMag since it already contains calcium and magnesium.
3) I top dress the pot with crushed oyster shell which I refresh every six months or so as it looks like it might have dissolved away
4) Watering is once a week with RO water which after I've added the fertilizer I make sure is at a ph of 6.5. The MSU fertilizer doesn't need any adjustment but the Peters does.
5) Lighting is with LED ViparSpectra XS2500 grow lights set to provide a PPFD of 200. Lights are on for 12 hours during the winter and 14 hours during the summer with a ramp down to 13 hours during the spring and fall.

In fact all of my phrags have taken off since I started growing with the above parameters. It works for me. It may or may not work for others.

This one should live on in the future since I took off the pollen structures, the pollinia, and drove them down to Jason at Orchids Ltd this morning. He was excited to make some crosses with it. Since I am no spring chicken anymore I'm not sure I'll live long enough to see any of the results but who knows, right?

 

[terryros]

Congratulations from a fellow Minnesotan and long-term friend of Jerry and Jason at Orchids Limited. I grow in similar basement plant room conditions. I am grateful to have gotten old enough to realize that I need to gradually shrink my orchid collection, but I admit it is emotionally challenging. While my collection is mostly Cattleya, I maintain my special place for Phrags, including a juvenile kovachii I acquired from OL as a tiny seedling. It grows in a very similar temperature range to yours with similar fertilization but in 100% LECA (Hydroton). The Phrags receive intermittent fertilization, but the pot surface is heavily misted almost daily. This maintains root moisture, and I have no black leaf tips. As you said, oxygen is critical to the roots, yet they need frequent water.