paphs in s/h

[Cinderella]

Well, I think that Maine has the best seafood in the country so maybe that is because they have the best water all around.

Do you Paph Phrag growers collect rainwater? How about everybody else?

[kewpie]

i dont use rain water, but its because i dont really have a good way to collect it. you want to be careful and not collect the stuff that drips off of the roof (especially if the roof is new) because there are chemicals that would get collected as well. also, some areas of the country get acid (if only slightly) rain, and that would suck for orchids.

[Heather]

Seriously - Pete and I just had this water discussion yesterday, so with it so close to the top of my mind, when the heaven's opened last night, I rushed around throwing all my pots and pans out on the deck. I'll likely use tap for the most part now, unless we have an abundance of t-storms and rain (hope not, plants need the sun!) My only trouble was that I got a fine layer of silt in the bottom of the pots which I carefully strained out before watering. Lol! I have more cooking tools that are turning into gardening tools...creme brule torch...chinois strainer...12 qt. multi pot... At least the last obsession's tools are coming in handy!

[Paphraguy]

Seriously - Pete and I just had this water discussion yesterday, so with it so close to the top of my mind, when the heaven's opened last night, I rushed around throwing all my pots and pans out on the deck. I'll likely use tap for the most part now, unless we have an abundance of t-storms and rain (hope not, plants need the sun!) My only trouble was that I got a fine layer of silt in the bottom of the pots which I carefully strained out before watering. Lol! I have more cooking tools that are turning into gardening tools...creme brule torch...chinois strainer...12 qt. multi pot... At least the last obsession's tools are coming in handy!

LOL!!! I can picture you running around in the rain with your pots and pans! LOL!! The things we do for our precious plants. That layer of silt won't hurt the plants, trust me but if it makes you feel comfortable and want to waste a few minutes of your time to do so, then that's perfectly fine!

We're getting new plants next week! Woohoo!!!!

[ncclimber]

I have 2 50 gallon rainwater barrels that came with my new house. Lucky me the woman who lived here before owened a nursery and put in the rain water barrels to use in the garden. So now...I exclusively use rain water. I have noticed new root tips on all of my plants since the switch. I think that the city water around here is too harsh for my orchids since many roots were burned while using tapwater. Since the switch, nothing but beautiful green root tips and happy plants!

[Cinderella]

How can you tell root burn versus root rot from overwatering?

[Jmoney]

I think the thinking on phrags requiring very pure water is more a reflection of their higher water demand than on the actual water itself. Plants that do not get their required amount of water will act like they got overfertilized (leaf & root tip dieback) even if the water quality itself is not an issue. My take on it is that if you keep it well hydrated, *most* tap water will be fine. If the plants will occasionally dry out for whatever reason, very pure water will help.

[Cinderella]

Thanks, guys.

[edcramer]

Has anyone repotted a paph into s/h? I have heard mixed results about paphs liking it as a medium and I wondered what results you have all had.

Thanks!

Hi , I have 95% of all of my orchids in s/h. I take all plants to be repotted including paphs. and soak them for about 3 hours in a solution of 10 drops of superthrive to a gallon of tap water along with a tiny amount of any fertilizer at hand for about 3 hours. In the meantime I take the Prime Agra and have it soaking in a solution of KLN two teaspoons per gallon of very warm water. After three hours of soaking I dry off the plants leaves and place it in a rather small s/h pot(First Ray Orchids). I make sure that the plants roots are above the holes in the pots so that the roots will not be sitting directly in the solution. I pour the remainder of the solution that the plant was soaking in into the pot and water once a week with the same solution until I see new root growth. Most ,but not all of my plants do very well. I grow under the lights. Most of my paphs. do very well with this method. I hope this helps. Try a one or two paphs this way and see how it works. Good Growing, Ed