I just read that paph malipoense grows in monsoon conditions where it gets a
cool dry winter. Would it be a good idea to give a paph malipoense a dry
rest period, or at least to reduce it's watering? Currently I water my paph
malipoense once a week. Would it be a good idea to water it only ever other
week in the wintertime for example? I have read this as a suggestion for
paph bellatum culture, and now after further reading it seems to me like a
similar strategy might be applied to paph malipoense. Has anyone tried
giving this paph species a drier winter? Is there anyone out here who has
gotten a paph malipoense to reflower in less than geological time -- I
remember when I first got the malipoense someone suggested that it only
flowers in geological time, and I wonder whether this might mean that it
should be treated somewhat differently from other paphs to get it to
reflower.

The other suggestion that I have read was that paph malipoense likes
calcium-rich fertilizers. How much of a difference do you think that would
make?

My paph malipoense has a healthy new growth that is currently growing a new
leaf, so at this point I think the plant is healthy, and I would not want to
jeopardize that, however I would like to consider adjusting its culture to
encourage reflowering, if possible.

Thanks,
Joanna

Hi Joanna,

I have pretty good luck with malipoense, but I am not sure how helpful any
of this will be since I grow in a greenhouse. I do not change the way I
water, watering when the mix is lightly dry. But, the time required for the
mix to dry does change with the seasons. Late spring/early summer it dries
in as little as four days. Midwinter it may take 10 days or more for the
mix to dry.

Most of my Paphs, including malipoense, have a blooming season. I do not
remember when malipoense season is here, but my plants were just a couple of
weeks ahead of when yours bloomed last. Do you remember when that was? I
put a pod on one and did not date it because I was sure it would not take.
The 'pod' is looking about ready, but you know about looks being deceiving.

Around here fertilizer is a binary thing, you get what is in the tank or
not - no special diets. I do use a calcium-rich fertilizer in the
fertilizer rotation. To get extra calcium to the Paphs I add crushed oyster
shell to their mix and when ever I am spreading dolomite I try to throw some
their way.

Paph are pokey. Watch leaf sizes, it is not ready to bloom until the leaf
span on the new fan is at least as big as the span on the fan that bloomed
last. If the last blooming was a first bloom, the new fan will most likely
be bigger than the old fan before blooming. No need to try to make it bloom
before its time. I have never forced a Paph, but I expect its clock is
timed to length of day or temperature.

Pat

"J Fortuna" wrote in message
news:3YG%e.3215$kl3.1525@trnddc08...
I just read that paph malipoense grows in monsoon conditions where it gets
a
cool dry winter. Would it be a good idea to give a paph malipoense a dry
rest period, or at least to reduce it's watering? Currently I water my
paph
malipoense once a week. Would it be a good idea to water it only ever
other
week in the wintertime for example? I have read this as a suggestion for
paph bellatum culture, and now after further reading it seems to me like a
similar strategy might be applied to paph malipoense. Has anyone tried
giving this paph species a drier winter? Is there anyone out here who has
gotten a paph malipoense to reflower in less than geological time -- I
remember when I first got the malipoense someone suggested that it only
flowers in geological time, and I wonder whether this might mean that it
should be treated somewhat differently from other paphs to get it to
reflower.

The other suggestion that I have read was that paph malipoense likes
calcium-rich fertilizers. How much of a difference do you think that would
make?

My paph malipoense has a healthy new growth that is currently growing a
new
leaf, so at this point I think the plant is healthy, and I would not want
to
jeopardize that, however I would like to consider adjusting its culture to
encourage reflowering, if possible.

Thanks,
Joanna

Pat,

Thank you for your reply, and good luck with the pod on your malipoense.

According to my orchid database, my malipoense started blooming on February
11, 2005, but it was in spike in mid-September last year, so if it were to
rebloom this year, this would be the time to respike. (However, I bought it
in spike, and I am sure that the conditions that it lived in at the vendors
were quite different than mine, i.e. greenhouse. So maybe the last time it
spiked is not a good indicator of when it will spike again.) The new fan,
which the malipoense acquired in my apartment, is bigger than the previous
fan already, so that's good, and it is currently growing an additional new
leaf in this new fan -- but it is clearly a new leaf not a spike.

I think the problem for me is that this paph is in a bark mix in a
non-transparent pot. I can tell when an orchid in moss approaches dryness by
touching the surface. I can tell when an orchid in a transparent pot
approaches dryness even if it is in bark (because I observe the moisture on
the inside of the pot). But after 4.5 years of growing orchids, I am
unfortunately still incapable of telling when an orchid in bark approaches
dryness unless it is in a transparent pot. I know the theory of how one is
supposed to be able to tell, but I have trouble with it in practice. So I
have been watering this malipoense once a week for a year now, and it has
been growing a new growth, so it's not bad, but I think that what I have
been doing may not be enough to get it to reflower. On the other hand two
other paphs that I have have reflowered for me under similar conditions and
also being watered exactly once a week -- and one of these paphs has been
reflowering twice a year (both fall and spring) and it is getting ready to
flower again. So while I know that my treatment of them is not what is
recommended, it seems to work fine for them. However, I suspect that it may
not be enough for the malipoense. We will see, if the malipoense does not
spike this year, maybe I shall repot it into a transparent pot in order to
be able to tell how to adjust the watering seasonally.

Crushed oyster shell and dolomite. Hmm. Maybe I should look into that kind
of addition to the mix. Thanks for the tip.

I look forward to the orchid show at the National Arboretum this upcoming
weekend. I saw that Brennan's Orchids will be there. Last year I bought a
Phal from your stand as a present for a friend, and she has been very happy
with it. When I told coworkers that the orchid show is this weekend, they
asked me whether I was going to behave, and I said that I will try hard not
to buy every orchid that I want. :-)

Thanks,
Joanna

"Pat Brennan" wrote in message
...
Hi Joanna,

I have pretty good luck with malipoense, but I am not sure how helpful any
of this will be since I grow in a greenhouse. I do not change the way I
water, watering when the mix is lightly dry. But, the time required for
the
mix to dry does change with the seasons. Late spring/early summer it
dries
in as little as four days. Midwinter it may take 10 days or more for the
mix to dry.

Most of my Paphs, including malipoense, have a blooming season. I do not
remember when malipoense season is here, but my plants were just a couple
of
weeks ahead of when yours bloomed last. Do you remember when that was? I
put a pod on one and did not date it because I was sure it would not take.
The 'pod' is looking about ready, but you know about looks being
deceiving.

Around here fertilizer is a binary thing, you get what is in the tank or
not - no special diets. I do use a calcium-rich fertilizer in the
fertilizer rotation. To get extra calcium to the Paphs I add crushed
oyster
shell to their mix and when ever I am spreading dolomite I try to throw
some
their way.

Paph are pokey. Watch leaf sizes, it is not ready to bloom until the leaf
span on the new fan is at least as big as the span on the fan that bloomed
last. If the last blooming was a first bloom, the new fan will most
likely
be bigger than the old fan before blooming. No need to try to make it
bloom
before its time. I have never forced a Paph, but I expect its clock is
timed to length of day or temperature.

Pat

"J Fortuna" wrote in message
news:3YG%e.3215$kl3.1525@trnddc08...
I just read that paph malipoense grows in monsoon conditions where it
gets
a
cool dry winter. Would it be a good idea to give a paph malipoense a dry
rest period, or at least to reduce it's watering? Currently I water my
paph
malipoense once a week. Would it be a good idea to water it only ever
other
week in the wintertime for example? I have read this as a suggestion for
paph bellatum culture, and now after further reading it seems to me like
a
similar strategy might be applied to paph malipoense. Has anyone tried
giving this paph species a drier winter? Is there anyone out here who
has
gotten a paph malipoense to reflower in less than geological time -- I
remember when I first got the malipoense someone suggested that it only
flowers in geological time, and I wonder whether this might mean that it
should be treated somewhat differently from other paphs to get it to
reflower.

The other suggestion that I have read was that paph malipoense likes
calcium-rich fertilizers. How much of a difference do you think that
would
make?

My paph malipoense has a healthy new growth that is currently growing a
new
leaf, so at this point I think the plant is healthy, and I would not
want
to
jeopardize that, however I would like to consider adjusting its culture
to
encourage reflowering, if possible.

Thanks,
Joanna

Joanna,

I checked my malipoenses and they are in very low spike. The pod is
cracked. I lose control of things in show season. I would guess the
trigger was some function of temp. This time of year nighttime greenhouse
temps get much colder than inside a house. Hopefully your is only 4 to 6
weeks behind.

Pat

"J Fortuna" wrote in message
news:2%m0f.214$yN6.38@trnddc04...
Pat,

Thank you for your reply, and good luck with the pod on your malipoense.

According to my orchid database, my malipoense started blooming on
February
11, 2005, but it was in spike in mid-September last year, so if it were to
rebloom this year, this would be the time to respike. (However, I bought
it
in spike, and I am sure that the conditions that it lived in at the
vendors
were quite different than mine, i.e. greenhouse. So maybe the last time it
spiked is not a good indicator of when it will spike again.) The new fan,
which the malipoense acquired in my apartment, is bigger than the previous
fan already, so that's good, and it is currently growing an additional new
leaf in this new fan -- but it is clearly a new leaf not a spike.

I think the problem for me is that this paph is in a bark mix in a
non-transparent pot. I can tell when an orchid in moss approaches dryness
by
touching the surface. I can tell when an orchid in a transparent pot
approaches dryness even if it is in bark (because I observe the moisture
on
the inside of the pot). But after 4.5 years of growing orchids, I am
unfortunately still incapable of telling when an orchid in bark approaches
dryness unless it is in a transparent pot. I know the theory of how one is
supposed to be able to tell, but I have trouble with it in practice. So I
have been watering this malipoense once a week for a year now, and it has
been growing a new growth, so it's not bad, but I think that what I have
been doing may not be enough to get it to reflower. On the other hand two
other paphs that I have have reflowered for me under similar conditions
and
also being watered exactly once a week -- and one of these paphs has been
reflowering twice a year (both fall and spring) and it is getting ready to
flower again. So while I know that my treatment of them is not what is
recommended, it seems to work fine for them. However, I suspect that it
may
not be enough for the malipoense. We will see, if the malipoense does not
spike this year, maybe I shall repot it into a transparent pot in order to
be able to tell how to adjust the watering seasonally.

Crushed oyster shell and dolomite. Hmm. Maybe I should look into that kind
of addition to the mix. Thanks for the tip.

I look forward to the orchid show at the National Arboretum this upcoming
weekend. I saw that Brennan's Orchids will be there. Last year I bought a
Phal from your stand as a present for a friend, and she has been very
happy
with it. When I told coworkers that the orchid show is this weekend, they
asked me whether I was going to behave, and I said that I will try hard
not
to buy every orchid that I want. :-)

Thanks,
Joanna

"Pat Brennan" wrote in message
...
Hi Joanna,

I have pretty good luck with malipoense, but I am not sure how helpful
any
of this will be since I grow in a greenhouse. I do not change the way I
water, watering when the mix is lightly dry. But, the time required for
the
mix to dry does change with the seasons. Late spring/early summer it
dries
in as little as four days. Midwinter it may take 10 days or more for the
mix to dry.

Most of my Paphs, including malipoense, have a blooming season. I do not
remember when malipoense season is here, but my plants were just a couple
of
weeks ahead of when yours bloomed last. Do you remember when that was?
I
put a pod on one and did not date it because I was sure it would not
take.
The 'pod' is looking about ready, but you know about looks being
deceiving.

Around here fertilizer is a binary thing, you get what is in the tank or
not - no special diets. I do use a calcium-rich fertilizer in the
fertilizer rotation. To get extra calcium to the Paphs I add crushed
oyster
shell to their mix and when ever I am spreading dolomite I try to throw
some
their way.

Paph are pokey. Watch leaf sizes, it is not ready to bloom until the
leaf
span on the new fan is at least as big as the span on the fan that
bloomed
last. If the last blooming was a first bloom, the new fan will most
likely
be bigger than the old fan before blooming. No need to try to make it
bloom
before its time. I have never forced a Paph, but I expect its clock is
timed to length of day or temperature.

Pat

"J Fortuna" wrote in message
news:3YG%e.3215$kl3.1525@trnddc08...
I just read that paph malipoense grows in monsoon conditions where it
gets
a
cool dry winter. Would it be a good idea to give a paph malipoense a
dry
rest period, or at least to reduce it's watering? Currently I water my
paph
malipoense once a week. Would it be a good idea to water it only ever
other
week in the wintertime for example? I have read this as a suggestion
for
paph bellatum culture, and now after further reading it seems to me
like
a
similar strategy might be applied to paph malipoense. Has anyone tried
giving this paph species a drier winter? Is there anyone out here who
has
gotten a paph malipoense to reflower in less than geological time -- I
remember when I first got the malipoense someone suggested that it only
flowers in geological time, and I wonder whether this might mean that
it
should be treated somewhat differently from other paphs to get it to
reflower.

The other suggestion that I have read was that paph malipoense likes
calcium-rich fertilizers. How much of a difference do you think that
would
make?

My paph malipoense has a healthy new growth that is currently growing a
new
leaf, so at this point I think the plant is healthy, and I would not
want
to
jeopardize that, however I would like to consider adjusting its culture
to
encourage reflowering, if possible.

Thanks,
Joanna