Paphs & Phrags...

[exasperatus2002]

When they say they like alot of light, is a window sill with a southern exposure enough? Also How do you handle their water requirements? Im not used to soggy plants.

[mayres]

Phrags take more water (some people leave their phrags in a sauce of water permanently) and more light (2000-3000 fc) than paphs - about the same or just under what you would give a cattleya. Paphs are more like phals in light requirements - low light.

[patlee]

Exasperatus, I think there is a sticky on Phrags by "zonepusher" under Orchid Care & Cultivation. I'm not sure if this will give you the information you want, but it would be worth a look...Good luck

[tom499]

Paphs just want to be moist. A skewer is a good thing to use. So is getting to know the weight of the pot. Heavy when wet, light when dry. They dont want to be too compacted in the media, i use bark so there is good drainage, i just water more.

Phrags are abit trickier. Some like to be treated like paphs, some like to sit in saucers of water. It depends on your plants related species. Kmarch or another phrag grower will help you there, there is also that post patlee mentioned.

MOST important thing with phrags, is they need rain water or RO water, or at least water very low in salts. Rainwater in cities can have too much salts too, so its worth checking if your worried. same goes for tap water.

[exasperatus2002]

Would they be ok to use in the hydro systems like hydro-orchids sell? I have one of theirs for my Psychopsis and Im going to get some more to converter my Cattleya's.

[kmarch]

Light & Water for Paphs & Phrags made SUPER simple

I’d like to take a moment here and answer a few of the Paph/Phrag questions that have been posed and clarify a couple of misconceptions about growing Paphs & Phrags.

First, the question of Phrags and light. In nature most Phrags grow on exposed rocky hill sides or along streams. They can actually tolerate quite a bit of light. It is not necessary to have Phrags in high light but my experience is that many of them, especially the larger species like Phrag longifolium and Phrags in the caudatum and reticulatum sections, bloom better and easier in higher light. I think the southern exposure will be ok if the light is not too intense or too direct. I have grown the caudatum-type Phrags in south and east windows with no supplimental lights. In the eastern exposure they received a few hours of direct sun at the earliest part of the day. The ones that grew in the southern exposure, received several hours of bright indirect sun daily….weather permitting. I have successfully bloomed several besseae hybrids and even the species in both lower light (specifically under flourescent lights - 2 40-watt tubes) and higher light (eastern ro southern exposures described above).

Next, Phrags and water. In nature most Phrags grow on rocky hillsides with nearly constant trickle of water or along streams where their roots often grow below the water line. It is nearly impossible ot over water them. With one exception I grow Phrags sitting in saucers in about an inch of water. I’ll get to that exception in a moment. Water quality is important for Phrags but it is a myth that they must have RO or rain water. In many places in the US where good city water is available (with relatively low solids) tap water is perfectly acceptable for Phrags. Phrags will do well with good clean rain water or RO water to be sure, but it is not a requirement as they can also do well with ordinary tap water. Well water is a different story as some well water can be very high in solids. I lived in Michigan for a long time and I would probably avoid well water as Michigan well water is often really high in iron and other solids, but Ypsilanti city water was great for my Phrags. THE EXCEPTION: Phrags in the caudatum section (e.g. species like caudatum, walisii, lindenii, and a few others, and hybrids like Grande, Predator, and others) require slightly drier conditions. I water these just like I do Paphs; I keep them evenly moist and do not let them sit in saucers of water like other Phrags. Another unusual Phrag, Phrag xerophyticum grows even drier.

Paphs and Light: Earlier in the thread someone mentioned Paphs are low light like a Phal. This is somewhat of an overgeneralization and is not entirely accurate. Looking at Paphs from the “how much light” point of view, they fall into 2 categories: low light and medium light. Low light Paphs are the mottle-leaf varieties, the most common of which are the Maudiae-type species and hybrids. These are probably the most commonly found and are often sold as noid slipper orchids in chain stores. These orchids do not require much light at all, are often recommended for those with north window growing areas (northern hemisphere), and it is often said they can be grown with other orchids like Phals or with other indoor pants like african violets. This is entirely correct in my experience. I’ve successfully bloomed them grown under 2 40-watt flourescent tubes and along side african violets. The medium light Paphs are the multi-floral, green-leaved Paphs like P. philippense, stonei, rothschildianum, and others. They’re sometimes called strap-leaf Paphs. They do better with the higher light levels, I grew mine in east and south windows (as described above).

Paphs and Water: Gently and evenly moist year round is a good rule of thumb. Some Paphs, the chinese Paphs for example, often experience a heavy rainy season in late autumn early winter so depending on the species or hybrids you’re growing, you may need/want to water heavier at certain times of the year.

In spite of what some folks here and in other places have said, in my opinion, Paphs and Phrags are extremely easy orchids to grow, far easier in my opinion than Phals.

[slippery_biscuit]

Thank you for that summary. I have just a few of these and although I've read how to care for each, I guess coming in bits and pieces... well it never quite stuck. I've printed this out, and now I'm out to shuffle some of these around.
happy holidays. jeff

[mayres]

Interesting comment Kevin about paphs and phrags being easier to grow than phals - I only need to water them every 2-3 weeks and they just bloom and grow and bloom and grow. I can't imagine anything easier to grow than a phal. My mottle-leaf varieties of paphs DO seem to be pretty easy and care free, but the plain green type and a single phrag seem to be just beyond my level of attention at this point. I guess we each somehow lock into a specific type plant that fits our comfort level for reasons that are unique to each of us? One thing that seems it would help is focusing on fewer types/genera of orchids instead of "playing the field"?

[kmarch]

Point well taken about playing the field. Most hobbiests I know...in fact I can't off the top of my head think of one for whom this is not true...have very diverse collections until they get about 100-200 plants then they start zeroing in on what they like the most and/or what grows well for them in their conditions then their collections start to head in that direction. When I had about 200 orchids I had about 45 different genera. Now that I have 500, I have only about 15 different genera.

And yeah, practically from day 1 I have found Paphs and Phrags much easier to get to grow and bloom than Phals. It may be due to my conditions but I grow mostly in my home so I should have conditions similar to most Phal growers. Even now I have only about 3-4 Phals. One is big, has bloomed 3 times for me and is doing great. The others are slow and don't seem to do anything. Eventhough between my US and Australian collections I have owned around 500 Paphs (probably about 20 times more than thenumber of Phals I've owned), I have had fewer Paph deaths than Phal deaths, and I have never had a Phrag die in my care. I also get Paphs & Phrags to grow and bloom more consistently than Phals.

I often encourage people to try Paphs and Phrgs because they are so easy. Like allorchids I encourage folks to get a cheap noid to practice on then try more as they are more successful.

[tom499]

Phrags sound alot easier than they are often told to be. Just keep them in a shallow saucer of water, how easy can you get Even easier than Disa which need a cool period.

From reading their growth can be trick to keep potted though? The new growths sometimes grow into the air and then they cant root. I've seen photos of them growing up a slanted piece of drainpipe to keep the new growths in contact with the medium.

maybe a one off thing for a certain grower.

I would agree paphs are easy to flower for me too, they dont mind shade, and all mine are putting out multiply growths and flower for a few weeks at least, which i think comes down to their tolerance of a range of temps. I'll have to try some species sometimes.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Thanks for the culture notes Kevin. Phrags, Paphs, and Phals are relatively new to me. Killed every Phal I ever owned until recently, probably from too much light (in with Catts). Now I am up to about 2 dozen Phals, and doing well since: no cold water, low light, no neem oil. And I am getting them to bloom, just have to watch the amabile types to see if they need a bigger stress to make them bloom if they haven't set spikes by December (June south of the equator). I add higher light, cooler temps, and a little less water (all stressors).

A note on Phrag bessiae. I picked up a blooming plant on a raffle table a number of years ago, and had it in with the Catts. It continued to go down hill for a number of years and was the size of a very small seedling when I came across a reference that noted that bessiae was very much unlike other Phrags in that it was a very low light plant. It has now been sitting on the bench under the hanging Phals for a few years and is now nearly blooming size. I would think that primary hybrids with bessiae may be good plants to grow with Phals.

[Tommyr]

I kill phals but can re-bloom and grow Paphs fine. I tried another phal a few weeks ago and killed it although there wasn't many roots (if any) in the pot when I did the autopsy.

[kmarch]

Tom, Yeah Phrags are way, way, easier than Disa. Disa are not very tolerant of less than ideal water, temperatures, conditions, etc., etc. Our of all of the 70+ Phrags I grew, I only had one that "climbed". It was a Phrag St Ouen. The climbing habit comes form the Phrag besseae parent. Phrag besseae is often found growing on cliff faces and has evolved that climbing habit. I have not found this habit to be too much of a bother though since I repot every Phrag every year. The plant can be reset inthe pot every year and old, leafless growths cut away.

Cynthia, do you remember where you read about the besseae being low light? If I pause for a moment and think about the conditions underwhich I grew besseae, I grew them under 2 40-watt flourescent tubes, along with my mottle-leaf Paphs. That could be considered low light, definitely. But my besseae hybrids were grown in an east window (3+ hours of direct sun each morning) with supplimental flourescent lighting. I'd describe it as a medium light situation. The red's seem better with a bit more light just as they seem better with slightly cooler temps. In the wild, some besseae grow on these exposed cliff faces and receive several hours of direct sun every day. Maybe what we're discovering here is that Phrag besseae is tolerant of a rather wide range of light conditions.

[slippery_biscuit]

I was rereading the light/water notes and a question came to mind.... does temperature come into play significantly with these orchids? Range? Temp drop at night?

Santa was here!
Merry Christmas!

[kmarch]

Dear slippery,

Paphs and Phrags generally differ in their temperature preferences though there is a fair bit of similarity.

Phrags are all intermediate growers. While night time and seasonal demperature differences are typical, Phrags aren't like Phals in that they must have a 10-15F day night temp differential. Having said that, Phrags do seem to bloom seasonally. The vast majority of mine bloom in winter.

Paphs are different. Many of the hybrids bloom whenever they bloom: spring, autumn, just whenever. Others, especially the species, bloom seasonally and some of them, especially those in the Parvisepalum section (armeniacum, micranthum, delenatii, etc) must have a cold winter in order to bloom. So Paphs are a bit all over the map with respect to their need for cool temps.

At risk of slightly overgeneralizing, I'll summarize with this more specific answer to your question: Neither Paphs nor Phrags really need a day/night temp drop to bloom (they're not like Phals in this respect) but some (especially the species) do grow and bloom on seasonal cycles which naturally involve gradual decreases in temps in autumn and winter months.