Phragmipedium Red Lightning

[mauraec]

Because I'm an idiot, obviously.

Do you have any to recommend? I could always sell the schlimii to someone who could give it a good home.

No, you are not an idiot - just an orchid hobbyist - you should see all the ridiculously inappropriate orchids I bought at the beginning (and killed).

You can't go wrong with either Phrag. Eric Young or Phrag Don Wimber. Both are established Phrag. besseae crosses, both made at the Eric Young Orchid Foundation in the Channel Islands at least a couple decades ago. I'd get them from an established slipper specialist nursery, though, and if you like, pm me and I'll recommend some.

I'm sure there are other slipper people on the Forum who'd be happy to chime in.

[mauraec]

it is revived Maura and I think I'm to blame. almost exactly a year from the last post to my reply last week. I have this habit of rummaging through older threads.

I'm delighted to relive having this blooming under my care - it may be blooming right now in its vacation home at the greenhouse where my orchids have been boarding since October.

[OrchidAddict]

No, you are not an idiot - just an orchid hobbyist - you should see all the ridiculously inappropriate orchids I bought at the beginning (and killed).

Thanks for the encouragement, hehee!!

Well, at least I learned something from the experience, and that's to ask the people who know before buying anything that I'm uncertain about! I definitely should have popped on the forum here and asked around to see which Phrag people thought would be a good "starter Phrag."

My problem is that I'm a big impulse buyer. I'll see something online and decide I have to have it, then spend two hours trying to locate one. Then when I finally find one, I snatch it up because I'm worried someone else will buy it if I wait too long to make a decision. I need to learn to do my research a little better before buying something I'm not familiar with.

Oh, and the other reason I bought the schlimii is because I have a "thing" for species plants. I don't consider myself a species snob; just someone who likes the simplicity of the basic species plant. And since I knew I probably wouldn't be buying a ton of Phrags, and I read online that the schlimii was compact and (I thought) easy to grow, I figured it would be a good plant to represent the genus in my collection. Ah, well...the road to failure is paved with good intentions, right?

You can't go wrong with either Phrag. Eric Young or Phrag Don Wimber. Both are established Phrag. besseae crosses, both made at the Eric Young Orchid Foundation in the Channel Islands at least a couple decades ago. I'd get them from an established slipper specialist nursery, though, and if you like, pm me and I'll recommend some. I'm sure there are other slipper people on the Forum who'd be happy to chime in.

Thanks for the recommendations! Are these both compact-growers? I'll have to think about whether I want to try a different Phrag, or if I want to wait a bit. I'll definitely PM you if and when I decide to get one of those hybrids!

Oh, and I just checked on my schlimii...two of the bottom leaves are yellowing and there's no sign of any new growth on the horizon. I moved it off of the windowsill and onto my Paph hybrid shelf (the shelf that gets Catt light or slightly less, depending where I position the orchids). I think it might have been getting too cold on the windowsill where it was.

*sigh* Ah, well, I always say I like a challenge. I'm not ready to give up on my schlimii just yet, but it may be heading for OrchidBids if it doesn't do anything worthwhile in the next year! Perhaps I should give it some pep talks and threaten it with deportation if it doesn't fall in line... hehee!

[King Kjeldz]

Lovely Phrags...I just love them all!!!
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