phrag fischeri

[kewpie]

hi all! its been a while since ive posted, but i have been lurking quite a bit.

i do have a question for those of you in the know:
how would you keep baby phrag fischeris? im expecting a compot of 5 or so plants in a few weeks. what are your cultural recommendations? what about medium? ive pretty much got it all -- diatomite, new zealand sphag, coco chips, hydroton/leca, charcoal, osmunda, tree fern.

as a point of reference, i grow under over-driven fluoros and a 250 watt hps. ive raised primary hybrid phals, neofinetias, and psychopsis albas from flask pretty successfully, with minimal plant loss (uncle louis saved them early on, when i wasnt fertilizing enough). i should probably say *am raising*, since these little guys are all still in their compots except for a few rock-star phals that have grown large enough to be in their own pots.

thanks in advance for your help!

[LJA]

kewpie's back!

Cool!

So, your compot. It's going to be *very* important not to let those dry out, at all. Personally, I'd put them in sphag if I had to unpot them for some reason (if they're large enough to go into their own little 2-inchers, say. I imagine they'll be in sphag already though, so you may not have to do anything. When they get big enough to repot, you can put them in fine bark, fine charcoal, and rockwool for moisture retention. I'd also keep them out from under your HPS lights until they get bigger, or just keep them at the edge of the light, otherwise they'll fry.

[kewpie]

well, i was never *really* gone....just not too chatty. and with mike and other uber-growers back here with all the great answers, there wasnt a need for me to speak up.

anyhow, ive had a stressful change in employment recently, and the months leading up to the change in employment wasnt a cakewalk either. so ive been quiet. *however* during that awful time, i got my first catt (pot. shirley moore 'newberry') to BLOOM !! ive also noticed a slow-growing spike on one of my odas (a first too). its the little things that are keeping me going at this point.

back on topic:

thanks louis! i will definitely make sure that these guys stay moist. so you think that they would be happy hanging out with the other compots (light-/humidity-wise)? any other important details? light fertilization every watering? or every other watering? ive got one other phrag at this point. its a mature phrag court jester that has bloomed. i water it with regular tap water....would tap water be ok for fischeri?

thanks, as always, for your help!!

btw: are those pictures of phrag fischeri on phragweb yours? the credit says 'river valley orchids', not river valley orchidworks. regardless, those are the pics that made me covet this plant in the first place. what a cutie!

[uncasteeb]

I have had 5 Phrag seedlings & they have behaved differently to my conditions.I wouldn,t risk tap water unless i knew it was of very high quality until the plants were well established.The plants will not require a massive amount of water so i,d invest in some distilled water for the little guys.
As for feed i,d go for just a little , i use about 1/4 the amount i give the adults
(mine are all in s/h).
In my growroom the seedlings get about the same as my Phal hybrids & i keep them partially shaded by other plants.They are growing well so i must have it about right.

[Jmoney]

i've never grown fischeri but, since it's in the same group as besseae and schlimii, i'd imagine that lower light (not catt level) and pure water will help culture. i'm sure you can grow it in anything if the rest of the conditions are tuned, but i've found that the vast majority of phrags enjoy sphag.

[kewpie]

thanks for the tips, uncasteeb and jason!

i was planning on sphagging the little ones, but then i saw the culture sheet from orchids limited. it said something about fisheri liking a ph of 8 - 8.5. doesnt sphag create a more acidic environment?

you guys are awesome!

[LJA]

LOL! River Valley Orchids is in the Ohio river valley. Our River Valley Orchidworks is in the Arkansas river valley. I can't seem to get on their website though--have you tried lately?

Jerry and Jason certainly know their stuff, so if they say the plants need a high pH, go with it. You can do that either by buffering your water / fert solution to 8.0 (8.5 sounds awfully high to me....) using a pH buffer from a pet or aquarium store, or you can pot up the plants in diatomite if you're willing to do the extra watering to keep them from drying out. That'll keep the pH high, though to what level, you won't know unless you test.