Sue,

The deeper colour comes from growing phrags cooler. I get a darker
color when I gorw them in the gh with temps in the 50F during the
night and a lighter color in the house when I bring them in. They are
also growing in S/H, in my case perlite and all manner of containers.
Currently have Phrag Cover Field in bloom, with the bloom started in
the gh. Will post a picture in the next few days in the picture news
group.

Gideon


On Thu, 01 Jun 2006 14:19:09 -0600, Susan Erickson
wrote:

On Thu, 01 Jun 2006 14:09:47 -0400, Rob
wrote:

LISA HOLMES wrote:
Hi Folks,

I have bought 2 new phragmipediums and 1 paph.

Phrag. longifolium 'Green Vista'
Phrag. pearcei 'Birchwood'
Paph. rothschildianum 'Spot' x self

I have had good luck under lights with paphs and have tried the phrags in
the past with no luck. I live on the Gulf Coast close to Houston were it is
humid, hot, and wet most of the time. Do I need to keep the phrags sitting
in a saucer of water? Should I keep them inside under my light stand? I've
got good advice here before and thought I would try again.

Thanks,
Lisa Holmes



For those species, I personally wouldn't leave them sitting in saucers
of water. Actually you have some pretty tolerant plants, they will take
pretty much anything you give them, so do whatever is most convenient
for you. For phrags, err on the side of overwatering (when in doubt, go
ahead and water).

You might want to try Ray's semihydroponics method for phrags. I use
this technique for almost all of mine. http://firstrays.com

Not sure why you lost the first ones. I have not had the pleasure of
growing plants in Houston, just in the (quite tropical lately) great
white north, so perhaps somebody closer to your climate has better advice.

Rob

I would second the S/H method. It allows the plant to decide the
amount of water it wants and grow its roots to accommodate that. It
also avoids the messy saucers of slop. [Cat (feline) temptation and
child attractant] We grow in a gh in Denver - hot days and cool
nights - no wet walls. So no cooling except the humidity change of a
misted gh.

We also have the Phrags up to the west wall on the north end of the
house - but it is still quite bright against the glass. Phrags will
reward your extra light with better blooms. Some say to grow them dim
to get stronger reds... I can not say if it works. Ours are all quite
good color wise.

Have fun.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php