Congratulations!
The long petaled species like Phrag. caudatum seem to do much better for me when grown similarly to Paphs in terms of watering. I water them on a similar schedule, never let them sit in water for long, give them very bright light (more like Oncidium or multifloral Paphs would get), and protect them from summer heat as well as winter cold. Does that sound like your growing routine or are you doing something different? Oh, and I seem to have better success with tall pots.
I also find the long petaled species a bit challenging to grow, certainly more difficult than Phragmipediums from the other sections. Granted, most other Phrags grow like weeds for me and seem to be easy in my conditions. The caudatum types seem to be slower growing and more susceptible to rot & erwinia, so not a winning combination in my collection.
Where'd you get this from?
And yes, give the flowers a sniff once they're fully open -- if you're brave. These are sometimes lightly fragrant. It's not a pretty smell to me, sort of a musky sweat-like or urine-like smell, but much less repulsive than the real deal. Weird. Also, it's one of those scents that some folks just can't detect.
