Bloom Event - Phragmipedium sedenii

As many of my readers might remember, I have given away or sold the vast majority of my slipper orchids, so there are only a few plants left. I have held Phragmipedium sedenii back because although my two plants are very healthy indeed, the ink on the name tags has rubbed off and I can't tell what they are. Both are named cultivars of P. sedenii, but that's as much as I know. I originally got he plants on eBay so my first point of reference was to find the record of sale, but unfortuantely the records don't go back that far and I also couldn't remember who the seller was. As luck would have it, I can't tell the difference between the two flowers now both plants are blooming either so they will have to go by the name P. sedenii and nothing else. My two plants appear to be rather paler pink than I might expect from P. sedenii but this could easily be down to the temperature.

Whatever its called, its worth waiting for. Previously when this bloomed, the flowers were mis-shapen and didn't open properly. I never worked out why and this time round the flowers are perfect. I guess I'll never know. I used to grow these standing in an inch of water and they did fine. This year, though, I have been growing them slightly drier (by drier I just mean not standing in water) with my warm growing Cymbidium species and this seems to suit them even better as growth seems faster.

There are three flower spikes across the two plants and there seems no difference between the height of the spikes either. The plants are relatively compact (for a Phragmipedium) and clumpy with only a minimal desire to climb (P. schlimii hybrids have been terrible for this in my experience)

It is a pity that only one or two flowers are ever open at a time because this could be spectacular rather than just graceful and elegant (despite the atrocious photography). Once they get large enough to produce multiple spikes they should put on quite a show.

As a primary hybrid between P. schlimii and P. longifolium it is no surprise that there are a lot of cultivars out there and that no two plants are the same (unless they have been divided) so I'm not going to worry too much about the naming of them. They are growing in rockwool cubes, though I imagine there is no reason they wouldn't grow equally well in bark chips. I tend to use inorganic medium for these plants because the constant wet conditions would mean very frequent repotting if I use an organic medium like bark chips or sphagnum moss. The inorganic medium never breaks down and so should never need changing. It is advisable to be careful with feeding when using inorganic media as the fertilizer salts can build up in the pot. This is another reason for not growing them in water and watering instead from the top and allowing water to flow through the pots. Excess salts are then leached away before they can damage the roots and blacken the leaf tips.

All in all, this is a vigorous, flexible hybrid that seems well suited to a wide range of growing conditions. Highly recommended.

Bloom Event - Phragmipedium longifolium

Much as I'm no real lover of slipper orchids, I do still have a few Phragmipedium species and hybrids. I'm not the world's best grower of them, but they do OK for me.

At the moment, I have Phragmipedium longifolium in bloom. I have seen specimens of this plant that are very large indeed with flower spikes several feet high and branched, but my plant is much more modest than that. To be quite honest, I'm having trouble persuading it to bulk up so there is only ever one growth and a new growth. It grows and flowers regularly, so I'm in no hurry to change its culture. Although it is a green flower, I find it rather charming in a way that Paphiopedilum isn't.

Flowers are quite large (around 5 or 6 inches from tip to tip) and are produced sequentially on the spike with the present flower dropping just as the new bud is opening. As is typical with Phragmipedium in general, the flower drops without warning while still in perfect condition; without any process of 'going over' that you would see on any other orchid. This type of Phragmipedium often get called 'Mandarin Orchids', probably a reference to the droopy petals looking like a Chinese moustache. At any rate, it can't be a reference to the plant's origin as Phragmipedium all come from South America.

One major difference I have noticed between the flowers of Phragmipedium and Paphiopedilum is that the rim of the lip is always folded inside the flower on Phragmipedium (i.e. the rim you see is a fold while the edge itself is inside the pouch). On Paphiopedilum, the rim is not folded. Whether this is a feature intended to modify the aperture of the pouch while not impacting on its size or visual impact, I don't know but it is something which interests me.

One might describe the flower as dowdy, but the more one looks at it, the more intricate patterning and colour distribution is revealed. Note the red speckling on the base of the lip just below the staminode, the red stripe bordered by white on the petals and the delicate netting on the dorsal sepal. Notice also the apple green splodge just marking the opening to the pouch. All of this detail is easy to miss, even on a flower this large.

Although I have already said that this plant is not performing to its best, it still grows and blooms regularly and in this respect many Phragmipedium have an advantage over their Asian cousins, the Paphiopedilums, in that they tend to be faster growing and bloom more reliably. They can (and should) be grown a good deal wetter than almost any orchid I have ever attempted to grow (except maybe for Disa), and most species and hybrids are perfectly happy standing in a tray of water. They do not like to dry out at all and plants will suffer if they do. They probably prefer rainwater over tapwater as most orchids do, but my tapwater is very soft anyway so I'm not having any problems with water quality. These are the only orchids that I don't grow in bark chips although I see no reason not to use bark chips provided the plants are repotted regularly. My own plants are potted in rockwool cubes as they can be kept wet at all times and do not break down. The only issue with rockwool is that fertilizer salts can build up and cause problems. Regular flushing with fresh water and not overfeeding will help to sidestep this issue.

Bloom Event - Phragmipedium silver rose 'pick n mix' x schlimii

I don't grow an awful lot of slipper orchids. Having said that, there will be another post in the coming days. I got this beauty from Ratcliffes Orchids (who I hear are closing down, which is a terrible shame) at a show about a year ago. Being a Phragmipedium, this enjoys rather wet conditions, so I grow it in Rockwool cubes. Rockwool is basically glass fibre spun out to the consistency of candy floss (OK, OK, excuse the hyperbole) and cut up into cubes. It has the virtue of holding a LOT of water and air and never breaking down. Phragmipedium are generally not difficult to grow. I suspect that this particular hybrid (due to the amount of P. Besseae in its backgrownd) could do with being grown rather cooler than I can manage. Maybe I'll put it in the cattleya room which is usually a little cooler than the main growroom. 

The flowers on this hybrid are actually rather small and are borne once at a time sequentially from the top of the flower spike. The flowers drop without warning in perfect condition just as the next bud begins to open. I seem to get four or five flowers per spike. As you can see, they are an attractive colour and texture, and have the terrific bonus of being very fragrant. I have grown to never expect any scent from a slipper orchid. It took me ages to work out where the smell was coming from. One flower can be smelled from across the room at certain times of the day. A friend tells me this trait comes from P. schlimii.

This plant does have its negatives, though. Along with several superficially gorgeous hybrids involving P. besseae, this plant has a very annoying tenancy to produce new growth from a rather long piece of rhizome. This in itself wouldn't be a problem except that it insists on growing vertically upwards rather than along the surface of the growing medium. This means that it is very difficult to keep the base of new growths in contact with the growing medium and if you don't, they won't produce new roots. Cue frequent repotting. This would explain why we don't see these plants nicely clumped up with several flower spikes at once.

I should explain that the growth habit in Phragmipedium is at least superficially similar to that of the more commonly grown slipper orchid, Paphiopedilum. A fan of leaves is produced, which produces a flower spike bearing one or several sequential or simultaneous opening blooms. The fan then gradually sends its energy into new growth and eventually dies. It is actually no different to other sympodial orchids (most of them, don't ask), except that no pseudobulbs are produced. Usually new growth or growths are produced directly from the base of the existing fan of leaves, producing an attractive clump of foliage, but some species produce a length of rhizome first so the new fan is produced at a distance from the mother plant. "Why are these plants used in hybrids?" I hear you ask. Mostly, they have superior flowers in some way or another, or they might be good growers or strong rooters. Hybridizers can often breed these undesirable traits out. Sometimes they can't. In this case, since P. schlimii usually behaves itself, I hold P. besseae responsible.