Some Paph questions

[Elena]

A watched growth, be it spike or new leaves, will NOT grow while it is being watched!

Unfortunately I'm all too familiar with the phenomenon but then it's impossible not to look when you know it's there Just sat not doing much except mocking you and waiting for you to turn your back so it can suddenly triple in size.

[Kerry]

Unfortunately I'm all too familiar with the phenomenon but then it's impossible not to look when you know it's there Just sat not doing much except mocking you and waiting for you to turn your back so it can suddenly triple in size.

Um, Elena, I think that you might be getting a little bit too paranoid about your plant's motives! ...... But then again, maybe you are on the right track... it might explain why those Phals of mine keep growing new leaves instead of sending up a new spikes... if it was on purpose!

[Elena]

Oh trust me they do that on purpose. I was waiting for a Dracaena cutting to develop roots just recently - dunking it in KLN, watching it carefully and nada. I forget about it for 2 days, check it again and it has several fat roots almost a cm long

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Oh trust me they do that on purpose. I was waiting for a Dracaena cutting to develop roots just recently - dunking it in KLN, watching it carefully and nada. I forget about it for 2 days, check it again and it has several fat roots almost a cm long

Isn't this always the way it goes! It sometimes seems our plants are watching us. LOL

Cheers,
BD

[IdahoOrchid]

Thanks! Didn't mean to be thick...

Oh, bite your tongue, Steven, bite your tongue.

[Piper]

Bite it off, Steven! Those aren't thick questions, at all! Paphs behave a bit differently from some of the genera folks may be used to.

Sometimes a Paph will put out two new growths at once, but the larger multifloral Paphs need big leaves to generate enough energy to support blooms. So those new growths may take 2-3 years to develop to blooming size. That means they can skip a year or two. There's no one-bloom-per-year guarantee.

And while many orchid genera might do this, few Paphs will triple in size when you're not looking! Most grow 1/3 of what you'd expect! LOL!

McJulie

[Kerry]

Wow, I have so much to learn.

I have a number of new growths showing on my paphs, so it will be interesting to see how long they take to mature. I think Diane pointed out in another post that Phillipinense (?spelling) is a very slow grower, so I will be interested to see what happens, and compare it to how the other plants grow.

Thanks for the extra info

[IdahoOrchid]

Phillipinense (?spelling)

I had trouble with that one too. You got the doubles backwards:

philippinense

By the by, my previous comment had nothing to do with your questions. They were excellent and appropriate. You don't EVEN want to know what I thought about writing as my SOH is WAAAAY out there, just ask Julie.

[Kerry]

By the by, my previous comment had nothing to do with your questions. They were excellent and appropriate. You don't EVEN want to know what I thought about writing as my SOH is WAAAAY out there, just ask Julie.

I hadn't taken offense. I imagine it can get frustrating sometimes seeing the same sort of questions over and over again.

My problem is that I will search on the internet, and come up with massively contradicting results. So for me it is so much more useful to ask a question, (stupid or not) and get people who are actually growing these plants to give their own anecdotal answers. It gives you a much more rounded view, and whilst there may be variation, where the majority of people say the same things about what their plants do, you have a better idea of knowing what to expect. No doubt I will ask another question in a minute.

Here's one: When I bought my paph Helvetia (chamberlainium x philippinense), it had one fading bloom, one recently opened, one large bud and another teeny looking bud just starting up. Since the third bloom is now unfurling happily, the teeny other bud does not seem to have grown even a mm (or fraction of an inch for you undecimilised americans out there - I tell you when you start talking temp in °F, I have to go an get a thermometer to know what you mean!!). A picture is on post #27 of http://www.rv-orchidworks.com/orchid...me-paph-3.html

As it is a fairly young looking plant, should I not expect a lot of sequential blooms, and is it likely over and done with. Or could it be the change in conditions has put a halt to the growth.

How's that for a newbie question?

[IdahoOrchid]

Here's one: When I bought my paph Helvetia (chamberlainium x philippinense), it had one fading bloom, one recently opened, one large bud and another teeny looking bud just starting up. Since the third bloom is now unfurling happily, the teeny other bud does not seem to have grown even a mm (or fraction of an inch for you undecimilised americans out there - I tell you when you start talking temp in °F, I have to go an get a thermometer to know what you mean!!). A picture is on post #27 of http://www.rv-orchidworks.com/orchid...me-paph-3.html

As it is a fairly young looking plant, should I not expect a lot of sequential blooms, and is it likely over and done with. Or could it be the change in conditions has put a halt to the growth.

How's that for a newbie question?

What does that mm thing mean again? Is that like 1/8 of an inch or 1/4 maybe?

Your question is a good one. Sequential bloomers will do exactly what you have described. The tease you into thinking they will put out an additional flower and then the bud just sits there, waiting for its brothers and sisters to start fading and then start to swell. You see, sequential flowers like all of the attention and do not like to share the stage, so they wait for the current act to finish before coming out for the applause.