Surprise Paph rothschildianum x sib (Knight Sunshine SM/JOGA x Taratula GM/JGP in Bud

[Nelson Wong]

I have had quite a bit of success this year blooming lots of hybrids and crosses, but always struggled with blooming species.

I got 2 of this roth cross from Tony Casler last year who bought it from Sam Tsui when he retired. Both were in bad shape when Tony bought it from Sam and sent it to me.... and well... still recovering but in better shape. Both plants have definitely stabilized and no longer wobbly, which I can only assume the roots have been growing. This one has 3 new growths, small, but slowly maturing and the other is still growing out leaves. Because of how small the leaves are (around 9 to 10 inches) I was not expecting this plant to bloom at all for another 2 to 3 years.

Well.... Guys... This is the most unexpected thing to happen. out of no where, this roth decided to spike. The only difference I have made in the past 2months with this plant was switching its location to get around 400PPFD of light and I started adding 30% k-lite to my weekly watering.

I am going to guess this guy will get 2 flowers, 3 if it is lucky, but most likely I will snip the flower after a month and let it continue to focus on recovering and putting nutrients into its new growths.

 

[Tom-DE]

Good job, young man!

 

[Nelson Wong]

you have no idea. I have around 10 roths for the past 3 years, this is the first to bloom.... so I am very excited!!!!!!!

I will update in 2 to 3 months when the spike is more developed

 

[Tom-DE]

Do you still have 10 of them? I barely have room to keep just one...and it is the compact one.
They all will mature and bloom...not that hard but just be patient.

 

[orchidlife]

Very nice! The plant looks so small for roth so congratulations! I have a couple of monsters that I hope will spike in the near (?) future. Patience is hard...lol 35" leafspan and still growing and a 2nd fan is growing so maybe soon.

 

[Nelson Wong]

Do you still have 10 of them? I barely have room to keep just one...and it is the compact one.
They all will mature and bloom...not that hard but just be patient.

Yea. I still have all 10 of my roths. Granted, they are all in my living room under lights. They are big and bushy, but so are most multi-florals. I think one signature of a good orchid grower is that you have more and more plants each years because they are alive.

Very nice! The plant looks so small for roth so congratulations! I have a couple of monsters that I hope will spike in the near (?) future. Patience is hard...lol 35" leafspan and still growing and a 2nd fan is growing so maybe soon.

Yea, most of my other roths are Humongous, this one is the smallest one to bloom so far. I am hoping it stays small and have 4 to 5 flowers in the future! and if it does, I will likely make crosses with it to make smaller roths.

I have roth hybrids that are even bigger, the Paph Julius has close to 39" leaf span and still no flowering....

 

[orchidlife]

Yea. I still have all 10 of my roths. Granted, they are all in my living room under lights. They are big and bushy, but so are most multi-florals. I think one signature of a good orchid grower is that you have more and more plants each years because they are alive.


Yea, most of my other roths are Humongous, this one is the smallest one to bloom so far. I am hoping it stays small and have 4 to 5 flowers in the future! and if it does, I will likely make crosses with it to make smaller roths.

I have roth hybrids that are even bigger, the Paph Julius has close to 39" leaf span and still no flowering....

My Julius is not quite that big but getting there

 

[Tom-DE]

Yea. I still have all 10 of my roths. Granted, they are all in my living room under lights. They are big and bushy, but so are most multi-florals. I think one signature of a good orchid grower is that you have more and more plants each years because they are alive.

I thought the signature of a good orchid grower is that you have killed a boatload of them.
Let me tell you a funny but real story here, at our last club meeting, a lady won a raffle plant and I said to her, "Why do you want that? You don't grow orchids anymore..." and she said, "but I kill them and that makes me an expert!"
Let me tell you another one--probably 25 years ago, a late orchid club member said, "There are two types of hobbyists, the real orchid growers, and the orchid buyers..." He was talking about one of the ladies at the club who always bought plants in bloom/in buds and showed them at the meeting and claimed the "credit". A vicious statement but there is truth in it...(I think he had had a few drinks before he said that.) After that, no one at the club would claim the credit for the bloom if he/she has not grown the plants for at least 6 months...
To me, a good grower will have to grow and bloom the same plant better each year.

 

[treefrog]

I am going to guess this guy will get 2 flowers, 3 if it is lucky, but most likely I will snip the flower after a month and let it continue to focus on recovering and putting nutrients into its new growths

Hi Nelson, did the plant flowered in the end? Was it what you expected? Please share picture . Cheers,
Math

 

[CharlesD]

Hi Nelson, did the plant flowered in the end? Was it what you expected? Please share picture . Cheers,
Math

@treefrog I get the feeling you have a lot this cross so maybe that is why you anxious to know? so few people grow them fast enough to actually verify the parents it is really unfortunate that may have been taken advantage of with mislabelings. There are many ‘mass market’ roths I see resold in the US from wholesalers in Hawaii labeled with mount milais as parents but unless you buy the flask from Xavier or TON directly very unlikely they are real. It’s almost a joke to me now

Tarantula as the actual parent is pretty rare as well

 

[treefrog]

Yes, it's what I'm afraid of. I have one plant of this exact same cross, and maybe 4 other plants with Tarantulas as a parent....and about 6 others with fancy names from OI that I haven't bloomed yet.
I now acquire my flask exclusively from Xavier, who I trust, as I've experienced enough disappointments with the fancy name cross from USA.
Unfortunately.

 

[CharlesD]

Yes, it's what I'm afraid of. I have one plant of this exact same cross, and maybe 4 other plants with Tarantulas as a parent....and about 6 others with fancy names from OI that I haven't bloomed yet.
I now acquire my flask exclusively from Xavier, who I trust, as I've experienced enough disappointments with the fancy name cross from USA.
Unfortunately.

Oh no like I said in another thread you should also sign up for Paph paradise email list to know when he has new flasks. His Roth crosses are parents direct from orchid zone or other verifiable quality plants. But his Roth flasks are usually not cheap and very few available.

 

[Nelson Wong]

The blooms were developing and paused very suddenly.... not sure why....

 

[emydura]

The blooms were developing and paused very suddenly.... not sure why....

The top bud still looks good. Hopefully it opens for you. The dark colour looks promising.

 

[Nelson Wong]

We will see maybe I slightly over watered. Or the plant is just too weak to sustain this much flowering. Who knows.

 

[BrucherT]

We will see maybe I slightly over watered. Or the plant is just too weak to sustain this much flowering. Who knows.

Aww what makes you consider it “paused?” To me, it just looks ready to burst. I only see one bud though.

 

[Nelson Wong]

Aww what makes you consider it “paused?” To me, it just looks ready to burst. I only see one bud though.

There is two buds actually. The first bud is hidden in the first sheath and partially developed, while the second bud is ready, but everything paused maybe 2 weeks ago. Which is unusual because the first bud always blooms first from my experiences but this one seems like it halted.

The only difference was I slightly increased watering because I thought it needs more nutrients for the blooms. Despite against my intuition and after picking the pot knowing it doesn't really need watering.

Temperature hasn't changed much - steady between 67-70F. Light hasn't changed. Fertilizer concentration didn't change. Only watering frequency changed.

 

[Tom-DE]

Insects could cause that too.

 

[Nelson Wong]

Insects could cause that too.

it's not. I checked like 10 times. So I don't know what is causing it

 

[DKkenn]

Oh no like I said in another thread you should also sign up for Paph paradise email list to know when he has new flasks. His Roth crosses are parents direct from orchid zone or other verifiable quality plants. But his Roth flasks are usually not cheap and very few available.

he does not ship to the EU..