Paph culture help!!

[Tobi]

I need all you Paph expert's help (Kevin). I have only a couple of Paphs left in
my collection. A Paph delenatii and 1 hybrid mottled. I lost 2 to probable root
rot (the roots were wet and not growing). I have the remaining 2 potted in
a mixture of fine bark, perlite, some small pea stones and a bit of NZ sphag.
They are in the north east window of my 4 season room. They get the right
amount of light, good air ventilation (large ceiling fan). My concern is the
humidity. I get about 50% - 60% max in the room. All the other "Kids" are all
doing great. (Catts, Dends, Oncidiums & others). What kind of culture media
are you guys using to grow your Paphs and is there anything else I can do
to encourage their root and new leaf growth?

[kmarch]

Tobi,

The mix I use for my Paphs is:
medium bark
medium perilite
medium charcoal (for freshness)
medium coir chips
chopped sphagnum
ground peat (or coir peat)

and if i have it available:
coarse, clean sand
shredded oak leves

It is difficult to say for certain why your roots rotted. Common reasons include:
1) getting too dry (and thus killing the roots) then getting too wet;
2) watering too heavily (medium too soggy)
3) combination of being cold and wet (too heavy watering in winter)
4) stale, broken down mix (Paphs like annual repotting)
5) too heavy fertilizing (burned roots)

Your humidity, light and air circulation all seem like they're probably fine, which leaves us with temperature and water possibilities. Are you fertilizing them?

[Tobi]

Thanks for responding Kevin. I'm using a fertilizer which consists of:

Nitogen 19.0%
Phosphate 4.0%
Potash 23.0%
Calcium 2.0%
Other assorted minerals (Fe, Mn, Zn, B, & Mo) total < 1.0%

I was fertilizing every other week (Even in the winter)
The temperature in the room runs 70-85% during the day and 55-65
at night. I repotted annually. Maybe too much fertizer in the winter?

[kmarch]

Because there is organic material in the mix I use, I have stopped fertilizing my Paphs completely. I've been thinking of using some wormm tea, I think it would be nice and weak, but it can't be found here in Australia.

[Tobi]

They just opened a worm farm not to far from me. I pretty sure they will be
selling worm tea. Will check it out. Maybe I can send you some. Shipping
might be alittle problem though, not sure