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Post by vraev on Jun 16, 2008 2:40:45 GMT -5
Hi guys, yay! i bought me a great deal on a paphiopedilum. lol! its such a mouthful to say that. Okay! I finally bugged my parents to drive over to sheridan nursaries. We spent nearly an hour over there. My parents love roses...so they were picking out more varities. lol! they are almost as deep into roses now as I was when I started with vft's. We have like nearly 15 varities of roses in our back garden and they can recognise the differences of all. lol! I don't really care about roses and the thing acutally pricked me while i was putting it in the car. lol! it got its revenge as I always keep telling them : "How many more roses do u want??" anyways....so while I was there...i was checking out the orchid section. Insanely expensive... 45$ for a lady slipper orchid. Now...they have a section of orchids those have lost their blooms...so they are on sale. So I found one at 22$. Now the label is kinda wierd....and I personally prefer species in my plant selection...but this is a hybrid which doesn't really suprise me considering that this is a mainstream nursery for the public. its called paph. Anhinga x Hsinying or something like that. EDIT:: the exact name: Paph. Anhinga 'HOF Jumbo' x Paph. Hsinying Magic 'Voodoo'anyone familiar with such a name?? can't find anything on the net on it. It had kinda blackish flowers with nice contrasting green lines on the sepal. anyways.... I wanted to come away with something..so I bought it. . I also bought myself a nice new pressure sprayer. 10$...but its definitely better than the ones at canadian tire. NOW THIS IS NOT MY PICTURE... but this is the CLOSEST I CAN SEE WITH THAT LEAF PATTERN + matching the blooming 50$ orchid in the store. MINE MAY BE A BIT LIGHTER THOUGH nice eh?? lol! thanks for reading. Orchid experts here.... can u tell me if I can mount a paphiophedilum?? cheers, V
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Post by vraev on Jun 16, 2008 3:07:12 GMT -5
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Post by insectivore on Jun 16, 2008 22:11:18 GMT -5
Hey! Cool! Nice plant! I'm in the end of the year exams (finals period for high school) and I'm getting ready for my pron with my G/F so we went to get her flower bracelet thingy lol and its Dendrobium Orchids!!! Can't wait! Its Friday Night! Orchids are Expensive to buy but Vraev, when I see my moms, its worth it! Cya
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Post by vraev on Jun 16, 2008 22:40:20 GMT -5
I like orchids for the fact that they can be mounted on drift wood and they look at home near the nepenthes. The blooming can take an year or so...but they last for a while and are very unique. I agree...orchids can be very expensive..but some are just marvellous and soo delicate that they are irresistable. Just considering that orchids are probably the oldest and the most varied genus of flowering plants is mind boggling. They have been around even before the dinosaurs. It shows their adaptability. Good luck with exams man! I was done with my uni exams in april. Infact I even had my convocation ceremony last week. ;D Proms are fun man! have a great time.
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Post by lloyd on Jun 17, 2008 10:33:05 GMT -5
I have about 10 orchids now and I've hardly paid a cent. Once they've flowered people throw them out or give them away.
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Post by Rick Hillier on Jun 17, 2008 11:36:39 GMT -5
Don't try that with a paph - they're terrestrial and won't be very happy mounted on a piece of wood. Phals and cattleyas, among other similar orchids are okay though, but they become higher maintenance that way, as you need to be more diligent about watering them.
One trick I've seen is to insert one of the roots into a test tube and fill the test tube with water once per day. The root will generally absorb it all. You can put a dilute orchid fertilizer in each watering as well.
>>> Rick <<<
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Post by vraev on Jun 17, 2008 14:09:20 GMT -5
oh wow! well....I keep the mounted phal in my nepenthes enclousure and whenever i mist my neps with the sprayer, I give it a shot as well. Hey! It seems to like it very much. It has finally started growing after 6 months of NO GROWTH and has come back from its ultimate demise. thanks for the warning about the paph Rick! dammit.....I wanted to mount these orchids on driftwood. I guess I got to look for such varities more. I am hoping that my next purchase will be a dracula vampira.
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Post by Rick Hillier on Jun 17, 2008 14:27:50 GMT -5
VRAEV: You want to have an easy and fun orchid to grow... look into the family "cycnoches" (I think I spelled that right)... they have wicked looking flowers that look somewhat wasp like (the mud dauber type) where the male flowers have spring loaded pollenia that are actually shot at the insect trying to mate with the flower. The insect goes off looking like someone had adhered the pollen to it with Lepages Bondfast glue. Some of the types are ugly, but some are quite attractive in a strange way.
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Post by kd on Jun 17, 2008 23:34:01 GMT -5
vraev: I'm getting more and more into the 'slipper orchids', and generally, yes, they should not be grown mounted, but I want to try one. If you see pictures of in-situ plants, some do actually grow directly on vertical rock faces, although they are constantly wet. That's the big challenge. Nice plant, though. It's what is called 'Vini-colour' breeding. Mostly intermediate to warm growing. If you prefer species, and like the look of the one you have, go for callosum, barbatum, farrieanum and the like. I believe those and others are in the breeding of this cross.
Just a tip - I would check the roots and media of your plant just to see if it is not rotted - who knows when it was last repotted? And, by the way, if you are into orchids, I, and probably others here can guide you to much cheaper plants of the same type. Big Box stores are way over priced sometimes.
If you ever get a Dracula, let us know how it does - not one of the easier genera to cultivate.
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Post by Rick Hillier on Jun 18, 2008 6:18:29 GMT -5
The first thing I usually do when I get a new orchid is to repot it. That way, I know where it is in terms of needing repotting in the future.
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Post by vraev on Jun 18, 2008 13:19:13 GMT -5
thanks guys! You know what....the media actually seems kinda old. But its very very free draining. from what I see from the surface it seems mostly charcoal. I will take some pictures of my own plant and post them up later today. Then you guys suggest me if I should repot or not. I prefer not to...I would like to leave it alone...but apparently orchids need constant repotting every year.
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Post by lenynero on Jun 18, 2008 13:43:40 GMT -5
Hi Vraev,
I have a dracul vamp and a dracul Hirtzii.... the hirtzii has spiked and the flower should be fully formed within 2 weeks... once it has gone through it's cycle probably around August I will be splitting it into 2 or three plants.... the Hirtzii is very close to the dracul in both size and colouring. I will post a pic of the current flower and when it finally opens up. If your interested I can trade 1 Dracul Hirtzii in August. Also Draculs should have there roots constantly moist... no mounting and you need a mesh pot that you dip 1 to 2 times a day.. plus misting. Masdevallias are a bit less fussy.
Leny
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Post by vraev on Jun 18, 2008 16:22:56 GMT -5
Hi guys, here are some pics of it: here is a closeup of the media...as u can see....very very open Wow..... I like both Hirtzii and vamp. Do keep me posted. I am interested in a plant trade. Do keep me posted when u make a split. We can arrange something. cheers, varun
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Post by kd on Jun 19, 2008 0:26:57 GMT -5
good pics, but I really need to see the plant unpotted to tell what condition the roots and the media are in. Since it isn't blooming, it is a good time to repot, or at least check the roots. Here are some good pics of what healthy Paph. roots should look like www.ladyslipper.com/paphrts.htm . notice the white roots tips? Paph roots are usually kind of a tan colour with white tips, and are very hairy. If they don't look like that, you need to give your plant some TLC in order to get a flower from it. I like to use straight moss for a potting mix, but you can use fine bark too. Charcoal is an interesting choice for a potting media, but, I guess it worked. Let us know how it goes. You can PM me if you want more help.
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Post by lenynero on Jun 20, 2008 13:14:51 GMT -5
Dracul Hirtzii - about 3 weeks ago Behind it is the Dracul Vamp Same flower last night ... about another week before it starts to open should be about 5 to 7 inches when it does.
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