Very nice, 'decent' flower...I should say "perfect" one.
Phrag Lovely Lynne 4n x sib blooming thread
- Thread starter monocotman
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It has some strong competition!
I agree, David. The petals are a little upswept compared to some others that are very horizontal. Since you have enough space, you have the luxury of keeping anything that is pretty good for another cycle or two to see what happens.
Been repotting some of the special plants today. I’ve been concerned about the roots growing in too dense a medium, despite the addition of net pots so I’ve gone for a 50:50 mix of leca and rockwool. The plastic pots you see are new from Amazon and have plenty of slats for air movement. 
The first plant to be repotted has adequate but not great roots although the top growth is good. Hopefully this new mix will improve this situation. By contrast, the ‘St Ives’ clone was the only one I repotted into a single gravel tray, as they all were in their first two years of growth. You can see that the root growth was much better here. This may be an indication that my thoughts about the rockwool mix in pots was correct.
So the plant has gone back into the same tray, but with the new mix of additional leca.
Let’s see what happens this year. I may repot some of the other plants into this system as well.
The first plant to be repotted has adequate but not great roots although the top growth is good. Hopefully this new mix will improve this situation. By contrast, the ‘St Ives’ clone was the only one I repotted into a single gravel tray, as they all were in their first two years of growth. You can see that the root growth was much better here. This may be an indication that my thoughts about the rockwool mix in pots was correct.
So the plant has gone back into the same tray, but with the new mix of additional leca.
Let’s see what happens this year. I may repot some of the other plants into this system as well.
Interesting, thanks for posting. I’ve not tried the mix with the addition of leca, after Ray mentioned its addition. I’ve been looking for ways to incorporate more air as well to help the root growth in these larger net pots for smaller plants establishing. I’ve been mostly relying on charcoal and perlite to help. I’ll keep tabs on your thread to see if you have positive results. The other item I wanted to try was flipping a smaller net pot upside down in the middle of the larger net pot like others do with cattleyas. Sounds like it’s time for some experimenting. As always, yours plants look very healthy despite your root concerns.
Very useful and informative repotting, thank you! May I ask what is the size of cubes 1x1 cm or how do you think 2,5 x 2,5 cm should be fine for the medium?
observation on the cube size. I may recall you having a difficult time sourcing the larger ‘chunks’ in your region. I’ve completely abandoned the smaller grodan ‘cubes’ because they were significantly impacting the root health on some of the younger phrags grown in larger pots. But I have not observed this so far with the larger grodan chunks.
All true. The larger chunks are very difficult to source here in the UK.
For me, the problems with root growth have increased as the pot size has increased. It’s not so bad with four inch pots and smaller.
Let’s see how things go.
When I grew in normal bark mixes the root growth was generally very good. Sometimes in large plants, the roots filled the entire pot. It’s not something I see with rockwool. However, the differences in leaf growth and flowering are non existent.
For me, the problems with root growth have increased as the pot size has increased. It’s not so bad with four inch pots and smaller.
Let’s see how things go.
When I grew in normal bark mixes the root growth was generally very good. Sometimes in large plants, the roots filled the entire pot. It’s not something I see with rockwool. However, the differences in leaf growth and flowering are non existent.
Thank you very much, @monocotman ! I’m so sorry for spoiling beautiful thread with my newbie questions…
David, I used a mix of Growstones (now not available) and the smaller size rockwool. As you know well, it is all about getting the balance of aeration and moisture correct. I had good root growth, but still thought I needed more aeration. Your potting arrangement could make the difference. I am now on the other side of the divide, using all LECA with a well aerated pot. However, that means that I give a light rain to my Phrags about everyday in between my every 4 day soaking with fertilizer solution. These are not conditions that I could have done when working full time or being gone very much. You might be in the Goldilocks zone.
Terry, we will see. I may have gone too far with the new mix. As I currently water just once a week, the new slatted pots may need it more often. I’ll have to monitor them closely.
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