How do you grow your Phrags?

[Cewal]

What indoor temperature is too cold to repot them in SH?

[Kelly Lee]

mine stay in a clay dish with rain water full time. a little fogger in the tray and fountain pumps hooked up for flow.

Having a hard time getting enough good water as I change it out every week.
I just started adding some fertilizer to the water like 1/10 strength as I'm getting some yellowing on the leaves(phrag andean tears). I take them out a few times a week and just let them breathe some air.

[phraggy]

All my phrags including caudatum species and hybrids are grown in NZ sphagnum and large perlite or medium bark ( original as bought ). They are watered with our soft tapwater 24/7 and fed just twice per year with a teaspoonful of blood and bone as a top dressing. My adult plants are not repotted. This system seems to work very well for me -- the tapwater is cold as phrags thrive on cool roots.

Ed

[Katherine]

I acquired 2 Phrags one a Caudum type and the other a sargentum. they are both in an oyster shell/ gravel medium. after reading about them I am not so sure they are in the correct medium.

[Katherine]

What! No one uses Diatomite? Mine are in pure Diatomite following Ed Merkel s lead who has great Phrags. Mine are growing well now too/

I have never heard of ths, how is it used?

[Ron-NY]

"Diatomite is a porous rock that is made from fossilized remains of diatoms. It is high in silica, very porous and lightweight. Diatomite is very absorbant and has uneven shape and size which resists over compaction. As reported in the September 2006 Issue of the AOS Orchids Magazine, diatomite absorbs salt and salt can be injurious to orchid roots. If diatomite is used, be aware that it will retain fertilizer salts and is reported to not respond to conventional leaching/rinsing techniques. If orchid mixes containing diatomite are re-used, we strongly recommend that the mix be thoroughly soaked and drained repeatedly (minimum of 3 times) to make sure salts from fertilizing are no longer embedded in the diatomite."

I have used fine diatomite for dealing with slugs. It cuts their body and kills them, so a nice natural slug killer. I don't use it for potting.

[Dorsetman]

There are some phrag sopecies which grow close to rivers, and get covered by the water when the level rises after a thunderstorm , so the idea that they can stand being flooded has good basis ; but not all are in this category.
Here in a cool country (England) I have grown in bark/charcoal/perlite mixtures, and then stood the plants in saucers of water in summer only, keeping them dryer in the winter. One of our leading phrag growers uses rock wool, and waters morning and night every day ( he says ). Personally I have now moved all mine into S/H using Leca, and of course they stand in water all the time. Incidentally the caudatum with 24 inch petals I showed last week, is grown that way.

[coeruleo]

wow, this is fascinating, as i hope to get a phrag soon. i see a lot use a bark mix... is that because 'it's what you're supposed to use for orchids'??? i've tried paphs before in bark mix, grew some, no flowers (not enough light at the time). did better when i mixed in some moss. i was thinking of trying a phrag in semi-hydro, never tried sh yet. thought would be a good candidate. maybe i should avoid caudatum for now?

[raybark]

I have heard the same "avoid caudatum in S/H culture" thing before, but I'll reiterate that the pot/medium/watering combination does not fully describe the full "cultural conditions" needed to grow a plant. My caudatum is doing well in that culture.

I believe Dorset man already covered this, but "s/h" is not a medium, it is a culture technique. LECA is the medium of choice with S/H culture, but others may work, as well.

[kspalding]

I line the bottom of all my plants with cow manure (eewww).