Lime? When to use? in regards to Paphs

[taradale]

I just rec'd another delivery of some Paphs (Paph Deperle's with multiple buds) and I've noticed with all of the Paphs that I purchased in the the last 2 months there is a strong "lime" smell.

I was just wondering what the purpose of the lime is and is something that I should continue to use? I've googled 'orchid lime' a few times and cannot locate a specific answer.

Thought I'd also clarify that I almost have to buy by mail-order - I live on the south side of Gatlinburg TN in the mtns, right on the border of Smoky Nat'l, and it's a good 2 hrs to civilization, much less a nursery that is knowledgeable in orchids. (I'm lucky to have mail delivery and high-speed cable access.) I've found 2 sellers on ebay that I've been purchasing from (altho Jerry I was thinking of shooting you an email .) Both of these sellers show a pic of both the plant you're purchasing and the expected bloom - so I like that, especially since I'm just learning names and how the plant itself looks. Plus they always seem to have affordable prices for a newbie just venturing into this hobby. Well anyway just thought I'd mention why I buy from ebay. Trust me, if there was a nursery in the area, I would definitely be visiting and harrassing them.

Ops, I digress again - cabin fever - back to the original question - purpose of lime?

[Ellen]

Taradale,

You might be interested in the Orchid Finders website http://orchidfinders.com posted in the Buy, Sell, Trade section of this forum.

As for the lime question, I'll leave that for Jerry to answer.

[Heather]

You also might be interested in checking out the Slipper Orchid Forum. (I tried to pm you that but you have your pm's turned off.)

my paphs do very well, maudiaes, by that i mean bloom once or twice a year watered with slightly acid well water and very little fertilizer. mine are not seedlings or NBS but plants that have bloomed for several years. seedlings may take a while to mature i have never used lime. there may be certain paphs that require it, i'm curious too.

[Ellen]

The terrestrial orchid forum is: http://terrorchid.proboards27.com.

[jerrymeola]

I do not raise paphs normally but have begun to holding a fair number that are no longer in bloom. Here in Floirda I almost can not sell a paph that is not in bloom. Fortunately I can get unlimited numbers in bloom at any time.

I have not hear of lime but my experience is limited. I will ask the next time I am buying from a nursery I trust.

since you bought on ebay you are almost certainly buying from a reseller rather than a nursery. If the plant is very small you are in for a long wait. Paphs can take 9 years to flower from seed. (they can not be cloned - at least not yet)

Even paphs that have flowered once are slow to rebloom. A large healty plant can do better as buhhdog's plants prove. Paphs are beautiful and rewarding but require patience.

[taradale]

Originally Posted by Heather

You also might be interested in checking out the Slipper Orchid Forum. (I tried to pm you that but you have your pm's turned off.)

Hi Heather,
Is the private messaging the same as instant messaging? I don't mean to appear rude, but last year I was wiped out by a computer virus and the secruity guys told me disable IMs. So when I signed up for this forum, I associated the PM w/IMs. I've got it set up to email me, but I may have thought that email was just a response to the thread. I'll read it next time

I work out of my home and my computer is my livelihood and I can't afford to keep some communication channels open. I'm still paying for losing 4 months of work from last year and turning off IMs is just one of the many precautions I'm taking.

Thanks for trying and letting me know tho.

Kath-

[jerrymeola]

Private messaging on this forum is an internal message box that is not visible by others on the forum. It can be used for a totally private message you do not want to share or more common a specific question that you do not think will be of interest to many people. For example, Dave and I use it for technical questions about the forum to each other.

It should have no effect on our computer as it is incapable of placing anything on your machine. In general it should be safer than email.

[Heather]

Right - it's just like posting a message on the forum, except only you and the sender see it.

The lime question for paphs is pretty involved. Certain species grow in their natural habitat on limestone cliffs, so you need to look up cultural habitat distribution for each species, take into consideration which species are involved any hybrids you have, etc. etc.

There are several good locations for this information - a site called slipper info.com (no space) has great distribution maps, and Antec's site has a good article on growing calceolus paphs. I'm sure we have articles at SOF also. This is a nice forum here, but it's pretty general, and if you really want specific info on growing Paphs, that's a great place to find a ton of info.

I treat my lime loving species several times a year with oyster shell to increase the calcium, others fertilize occasionally with calcium-nitrate.

At any rate - this is probably way more info than you wanted -if you don't have any paph species, I wouldn't worry too much, just fertilize regularly and they should in general do fine. Something to get more into when you become a true paphead and grow and think about nothing else!

One more thing regarding your digression - in general you're going to do better ordering plants online from specific reputable orchid venders than from a local nursery - better prices, better (cared for) plants too.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Some experienced Paph growers claim that the plants growing on limestaone aren't in contact with the limestone, but are in the leaf mold between the rocks, and therefore are not growing in a high PH, but in a low PH. Haven't tried experimenting yet to see if they are right, but have started raising my fertilizer solution to about PH of 9 to compensate for my low PH mix of about 5.2 or less. The first run off is about 6.5, so it looks like this is going to work. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ