Suzanne Decker

monocotman · Jun 17, 2018

Four growths this past season although only three flowered.

13587825-42D1-49AD-8551-604C05D6E0ED by john quaife, on Flickr

1DD72BE4-EFF5-4B24-854E-3AE9D78BC889 by john quaife, on Flickr

Going to experiment with higher feed rate this year. The seedlings were definitely underfed over the winter with the ultra low levels I use for mature plants. TDS is usually just over 100. The seedlings stopped growing and went pale. Decided to put two scoops of rainmix into a bucket of water rather than one. This may take the TDS to nearer 180. Done this for a couple of months and they have greened up and starting to move. Interestingly the mature plants were fine. Maybe they have more reserves.
Will the mature plants respond as well?
David

Silvan · Jun 17, 2018

I love that cross.
I find that Suzanne Decker enjoys more light and more feed than other kovachii hybrids. I've also tried feeding more my Phrags while in growing period and beside making bigger plants, it didn't seemed to do anything else.
As for the seedlings, I find that it's better to keep them in a low feed regime, but to water them more frequently and fertilize them every other watering.

monocotman · Jun 17, 2018

Culture

Silvan
Thanks for the info.
Let’s see how things develop this year.
I was surprised at just how quickly the seedlings went pale. I don’t remember others doing this but this is a bigger batch of seedlings than normal.
Suzanne just puts out about three flowers per stem. I am sure there is scope for more if I can produce larger growths. Don Wimber on the same regime produces tall spikes with two side shoots,
David

Silvan · Jun 17, 2018

We do have to experiment for ourselves to see what works and what doesn't

Also, I mostly grow in rockwool and sphagnum moss, so amping the fert is not always a good idea for my plants.
As for getting more flowers out of a Phrag, I find that the longer the new growth takes to mature, the more flowers that growth makes. But that's in general for crosses that doesn't have kovachii in it's parentage. I think those crosses needs way more time for us to see their full potential.
Also also, I've noticed that the kovachii crosses will keep on blooming as long as it gets watered every day.