Paph Not Potted Deep Enough?

[NiNiDazzle]

I was reading a thread earlier today and I'm thinking I may not have potted my paphs deep enough. I grow all my plants in S/H and they all have wet feet/dry buts.

I can't remember which thread i was reading earlier since I was out and about, but someone said that paphs should be potted 3/4 of an inch deep. Would this hold true in S/H also?

[orchidea]

The way I understand this - most if not all plants need to be potted deeper when in S/H. The reason why is - the top layer of LECA is dry most of the time. Assuming Paphs need to be potted deeper even if they are in any most common mediums like bark mix or similar, I think they have to be even deeper in LECA than any other plant...... That's my logic of course, not the rule of any kind......
I don't grow Paphs in LECA, so wait till someone who does respond. But I do pot them deeper into bark mix, at least deeper than Catts or Phals.....
Your paph looks a bit high to me......

[NiNiDazzle]

Originally Posted by orchidea

The way I understand this - most if not all plants need to be potted deeper when in S/H. The reason why is - the top layer of LECA is dry most of the time. Assuming Paphs need to be potted deeper even if they are in any most common mediums like bark mix or similar, I think they have to be even deeper in LECA than any other plant...... That's my logic of course, not the rule of any kind......
I don't grow Paphs in LECA, so wait till someone who does respond. But I do pot them deeper into bark mix, at least deeper than Catts or Phals.....
Your paph looks a bit high to me......

That's pretty good reasoning. I just started growing paphs and am learning on the fly. Hopefully someone who grows them in LECA will see this and share their wisdom.

[mayres]

I don't grow my paphs in S/H, but I do grow quite a few in mixed media - and all are deeper than you have this one.......

[NiNiDazzle]

Well, I went ahead and re-potted most of my paphs tonight. They must like something about my culture since none of them had rotted roots and all of them were making at least 2-3 new roots plus 1-3 new growths.

[ARodney]

Not to steal Linda's thread but why do you have to pot them deeper than regular orchids? I just started to collect paphs. I have about 5 or 6 seedlings. One of them I will have to repot in the next couple if months. Just gathering information. Guess I'm of the school, buy now, learn later =).

[orchids4me]

Originally Posted by ARodney

Not to steal Linda's thread but why do you have to pot them deeper than regular orchids? I just started to collect paphs. I have about 5 or 6 seedlings. One of them I will have to repot in the next couple if months. Just gathering information. Guess I'm of the school, buy now, learn later =).

Hi ,
Paphs are semi-terrestrial and like to stay moist, the roots start right at the base of the plant and new growths come from right there also and develop their own roots as well if up high as I understand it the roots dry out and can die. I don't know if you noticed when you buy them they always come in taller pots, and are planted. Down to the bottom leaves. When you remove the pot you will see they usually have between 2 to 4 at least really long roots hence why they also need the taller pots. But mainly they don't like to dry out completly and roots need to stay moist is why potted just a bit deeper because they are semi-terrestrial plants....
Hope that all made some kind of sense (its late lol)

[Ron]

Originally Posted by orchids4me

Hi ,
Paphs are semi-terrestrial and like to stay moist, the roots start right at the base of the plant and new growths come from right there also and develop their own roots as well if up high as I understand it the roots dry out and can die. I don't know if you noticed when you buy them they always come in taller pots, and are planted. Down to the bottom leaves. When you remove the pot you will see they usually have between 2 to 4 at least really long roots hence why they also need the taller pots. But mainly they don't like to dry out completly and roots need to stay moist is why potted just a bit deeper because they are semi-terrestrial plants....
Hope that all made some kind of sense (its late lol)

Emmaye coverd it pretty well, basically you need to have the bottom inch of the plant or so covered with potting mix.
reason, 2 really, first if the new growth come out it needs to come out of the old plant in a position were it s base is covered in potting mix.
Then, as it mature and grows it produces roots, these need to be under the mix so they can grow straigh down into the mix.

Second part is if the are not covered by the mix, most like they will be what is called air pruned, that is when the baby new roots come out and hit the air the dry out quickly and stop Growing.

Other issue Emmaye raises is very valid, they need deep pots so thier roots can go down into the mix a fair way before hitting the bottom and then twirly around the bottom of the pot and become root bound.

I hope this help but I do not grow semi H, all mine grow very successfully in CoCo nuggets as will many of my post testify.
Cheerio

[NiNiDazzle]

Thanks for the great explanations everyone. Guess I will need to re-re-pot again tonight. They are potted about 3/4 of an inch down now, but I will make then even deeper and use taller pots.

Good thing I only have 10-15 right now. (I don't count. It's bad luck. ) I'll stick with these few until I can bloom at least three of them. If I can do that, I'll be adding more to my collection.

[ARodney]

Thank you Emmaye and Ron. A few more questions. Do I put peanut foam in the bottom of the pot, like I would do a regular orchid? I purchased a paph and seedling mix that is supposed to be good for growing paphs. Also, if I got a seedling about 4 months ago, will I still have to repot in two months? I read someplace paph seedling liked to be repotted after six months. I'm also only fertilizing 1/2 strength once a month cause I read they are very sensitive to fertilize, and when I water I let the water flush thru so the salts for the fertilzer isn't damaging the roots. Do you think I should still repot? I'm sorry I'm asking so much questions but so far I've collected 4 species and 2 hybrids.

[Daethen]

Well, I have learned that I have a few repots in my future as well.

[mayres]

IMHO the only reason to use styrofoam in the bottom is if you have your pots placed in a location where there is a possibility of the pots wicking up some water over time - hence rotten roots/not drying out enough. I have an excellent hybridizer in my area and she doesn't use them with any of her large greenhouse full of paphs. What is your seedling planted in? I'm trying to figure out why you would think you need to repot in only two months? How big is the seedling now?

[ARodney]

Apparently the seeding has two or three brothers or sisters, so the pot looks a little crowded. I think I'm gonna have to separate them. These were seedling from flask. They are potted in a seedling mix of fine bark with what looks like charchoal and pieces of sphag. It's in a 1 1/2 inch round pot so I'm getting a little concerned. I'll try to post a picture of them tomorrow. Maybe that will help me out better.

[Ray]

While there have been a lot of good comments in this thread, they are a bit too narrowly-focused for my liking, and might lead the uninitiated into some incorrect assumptions, so if I may...

#1 - As a rule, plants should be grown to the same depth in semi-hydroponics as they would in a more traditional culture method.

#2 - Potting an orchid deeper should be avoided, as it can lead to more rots. Rhizomes should be AT the surface not under it. Yes, paphs have rhizomes.

#3 - Whether the LECA is moist to the top or not - and how far down the apparent "dry line" is - is determined by the physical properties of the brand of LECA you use, which controls the wicking rate, the distance from the reservoir to the top, as well as your ambient temperature, humidity, air movement, and light levels, all of which affect the evaporation rate.

If wicking beats evaporation, it's wet all the way to the top. If evaporation wins, then it's not. "Tuning" and improving your growing conditions is a better approach than compensating by potting depth.

Yes, minor adjustments in plant depth can be used to compensate for overly-dry conditions, but if your ambient humidity goes up for any reason, you're setting the plants up for issues.

[bumpman]

First off I want to thank Ray and all the SH pros for their excellent advice. My chids are either mounted or in SH and knock wood are doing well as evidenced by strong reblooming. At Xmas I got two warm mottled paphs as gifts and following this thread would like to put them in SH (Hydroton is what I have now). So here's my q; under current conditions my SH pots are dry on top - could I lightly dress the top half inch or so with a finer, moist medium to keep the rhizome moist for these paphs? Thanks!