Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

Paphio niveum
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3131/...2f2f0bd5d9.jpg

Paphio barbatum
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3231/...375708e930.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3130/...bdbaec9c1a.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3129/...2a1f7e616b.jpg

these two paphios are suitable for beginner because they're relatively cheap and easier to grow/bloom compared to other paphio. In fact when I bought them, they only cost RM25 per pot.

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

That is nice slipper orchid!!! May I know where you grow them? What is temperature?

I decided not show yours thread to my wife... Else, my house sure will full of sliver!!!

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

hi casey,

i grow it in my orchid house as well, but i put it close to the floor because they only need 20-30% light intensity, if you give them more there is a tendency of the leaves yellowing and die. the most important thing about paphio is to know the original habitat. for example, niveum and barbatum usually grows in leaf litter close to rocky mountains. so, in your potting medium you have to include some mountain rock chips (i use granite chips), if not it is very hard to get them to bloom.

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

Great paphs, harris.. :) i just got 2 pots of barbatum, supposedly lowland kind... My niveum died bcos of scale attack.. sigh..

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

I think my niveum is lacking in granite chips. It's not flowering and growing extremely slowly. I grow it in perlite, rock chips and a bit of peat moss but still its' not helping I guess :glare:

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

I have a few pots of paphio and not all of them has bloom. It is quite tricky to trigger the flowering but when you managed to make it bloom, it is an achievement!

A friend of mine managed to get his paphio rothchildianum to bloom using this technique. In order to 'stress' the paphio, he made a box covered with paranet and use it to cover his paphio for 6 weeks. the cover is only opened for watering the paphio. After 6 weeks, remove the paphio from the box and expose it to 10-20% light and hopefully it will bloom.

I've tried this technique, and after 5 weeks out of the box this is the result!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3294/...897021b8_b.jpg

Left: barbatum, Right: Maudiae

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

Harris, your paphio maudiae is nice. Do you have javanicum as well? I have a soft spot for green flowered orchids :laugh:
Oh by the way, I got a bottle of pure calcium supplement meant for reptile consumption, as I have pet lizards. Can these be used as a subsititute for increasing the alkalinity and boosting growth and flowering other than the technique described by you as above? Just curious, please advise :)

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

Huisay.......Beautiful orchids or flowers :D.....They look so elegant

Ken

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

I'm not very sure about using calcium to trigger flowering but I understand that phosporus and potassium are needed to help blooming. That is why some people use banana as fertiliser for cymbidium! that's because banana has a high potassium contents.

I don't have javanicum yet, but it is in my wishlist together with kolopakingii, rothchildianum, jogjae and phillipinensis.

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

Wow!!!!!Beautiful orchids.

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

Interesting technique, harris... So you mean the sudden exposure to sunlight after kept in darkness (relatively dark) triggers flowering? BTW, niveum is a species which grows on limestone.. I use aquarium limestone for most of my limestone loving paphs like primulinum, stonei (and nep northiana)..

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

that is true paphioboy...
a sifu has use it for his rothchildianum and i tried for my barbatum and maudiae and it works. by covering and then exposing the plants to the sunlight, we're simulating the seasons the paphio usually bloom in their original habitat. they usually flower in hot season after monsoon/rainy season. so, by covering it, we're simulating rainy season where the sky is usually dark and there is minimal sunlight. then, when we expose it to sunlight, it simulates the hot/dry season where there are sunlight...

BTW, my maudiae has fully bloom...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/...36065549cb.jpg

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

Thanks for the info, harris.. :) I always thought it was a drop in temperature that induced blooming.. So its actually light intensity... i'll try with my barbatum, see if it works...

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

Great Maudiae album, BTW... :) I saw 2 plants for sale the other day but didn't buy them because they were rather pricey and a bit shaky in the pot.. When I asked the seller, he actually took them out of the pot and showed me the roots.. I didn't want to take a chance with plants with such few healthy roots..

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

where did you find them? as for myself, everytime i found a paphio i'll buy it because it is such a rare find i my area (but depends on the price as well :tongue:). both my barbatum and maudiae were bought when they're not flowering. but they're at a decent flowering size for RM20 each at my neighbourhood pasar malam. there's no tag or ID on the pot so it is my luck to get a maudiae since the leaves are similar to barbatum and i thought i'm buying anther barbatum . i have 4 pots of barbatum but the gene pool in Malaysia is so diverse and all 4 pos produce flowers with different purple and green intensity!

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

Oh, I saw the Maudiae albums for sale at Ipoh orchid show 2 weeks ago.. Oh, you can get paphs at pasar malam..? :p How lucky.. I have to get from nurseries and they're not cheap either.. Yup, I agree.. Barbatum is very diverse so we hope to get the lowland varieties cos the highland forms won't bloom here without nocturnal cooling...

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

I've always had a definite failure of trying to even grow pahpios, let alone make it flower. I wonder if it's the low humidity affecting my garden. If I put it in shade, it grows fast but it rots just as fast, offshoots and all. If I put it higher up, its growth becomes slow and stunted, only putting out a complete leaf in 3 months time. :crying:

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

hehehe, that is the only time i found it sold in pasar malam. i was in cameron highland last week and found a lot of paphio sold there, but the price is just outrageous and cut throat!!

funkychips,
i have a barbatum and niveum clump (about 15+ shoots) but they haven't flower yet. they keeps on producing new shoots but no flower, will try and use the same technique that i use for the barbatum and maudiae and hopefully, will give the same result.

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

:eek:!! How did you get your niveum so huge? From my own experience, its very difficult to grow niveum into a large plant, because as new shoots emerge, the old ones will die off, so it remains at approximately constant size.. How long have you had that plant? BTW, there's a nursery at CH that sells rather large plants of lowii at only RM30.. Pretty reasonable, I think.. But good luck trying to grow and bloom it well in the lowlands here...

funkychips, could your problem be with the medium instead of temp? You must bear in mind that paphs are NOT CPs.. Most paphs do not do well if just left in the sphag that they come in.. You must repot with a very open media that stays just moist enough.. Contrary to popular belief, paphs can stay dry for a bit rather than being kept over-wet... And barbatum is not the easiest to begin with either.. if you want to try again, try callosum.. its more forgiving and easier to bloom... :smile:

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

harris, niveum, godefroyae and angthong can take brighter light than most paphs.. Higher light levels triggers blooming..:)

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

paphioboy,

this is the niveum clump, they're in a 10inch pot!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3192/...5423cb62c0.jpg

angthong is another variety of niveum. and according to one book it might be another natural hybrid with godefroyae. i usually feed my paph with 1/2 strength of fertiliser.

may i know which nursery in CH is that? the one in kea's farm (next to equatorial hotel) is pretty expensive.

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

Thanks for the tips guys. There must be something about the medium then. However I am growing my niveum in cocofiber, pebbles, perlite and barkchip mix. On hot days the mix tends to become quite dry, but never on the wet end, but the growth is slow. The ones that I experienced rotting are the ones I kept in burnt soil + peat moss mix, but the paph is concolor and barbatum. I guess I may have to play around with the moisture retention level once more.

Anyway, Happy 2009 to you guys!!! :laugh:

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

OMG, harris, your niveum clump is huge!!! :2thumbup: :wub: Is it grown protected from rain? The leaves look gorgeous... I'm surprised that the old growths are still there, and not dying back to make room for the new shoots.. It always happens to me, for niveum and other paphs.. What medium are you using, BTW..? You mean it hasn't flowered even once despite being so large? i suggest you increase limestone in the mix. Niveum is one specie that needs limestone in the mix to grow and flower better..

The nursery is called Uncle Sam's Farm.. its quite big and is on the main road going upslope.. I forgot whether its near Tanah Rata, Brinchang or Ringlet.. BTW, I see you have Coel. ovalis in the background of your photo.. Wanna trade a division of your niveum for the rare albino form of ovalis..? :laugh:

funkychips, your choice of medium sounds okay to me.. I have the same problem of dryness too, especially with lithophytic/epiphytic paphs.. Don't worry. Some varities of concolor can be rather picky. My Yunnan variety shrunk to half its size after repotting.. :mad: The Thai ones are more forgiving.. Barbatum is also a PITA... :2thumbup: try callosum instead.. Happy 2009!

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

paphioboy,

most orchid lover who saw the clump are impressed. The medium used are granite chips and fern chunk. i'll add some more lime stone to the pot, hopefully it will help with the micronutrient needed. the pot is exposed to rain, and at an area with very high humidity that is why there are some fungal growth on the leaves. but the fungal growth has been cleaned now by wiping the leaves one by one with neem oil solution. and, i've moved it to a sheltered area.

yes, i'd be happy to trade the division with ovalis! in fact, i've divided the niveum about 4 months back and i have a pot with healthy 4-5 shoots. so, i can collect the gracillimum as well when i come back from my next offshore trip. i will be going to work in a fews days, so i'm very sorry that i can't collect it within this week.

wah, will check the goodies at uncle sam next time in CH. thanks for the info paphioboy.

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

Okay, harris... I'll be happy to trade the ovalis with niveum.. I've PMed you my num, so contact me when you're free.. :)

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

Harris, have to waltz to your place once I have some time. Hope you are land bound for some time.

Re: Paphiopedilum/ Slipper orchid
 

hehehe, unfortunately I'm leaving for work on Monday next week. Don't worry bactrus, everyone wil be invited to my house warming kenduri in may/june. my house is still not entirely completed and it is in such a mess, but when it is ready everyone is welcomed to visit :2thumbup: