Repotting seedlings (Paphs)

[Forever-mango]

My seedlings of Paph. Pulsar x Hsinying Redjo has an average of 12-14cm in compots. I was wondering, which size pots should I repot them to? I was thinking 50mm pots but have seen many flowering size Paphs with leafspan of 20cm in 80mm pots.

I also got some 20-25cm leafspan Paphs currently in 50mm pots which i deflasked in 2009. Should these be upgraded to 80mm pots? They seem to grow happily in the 50mm...

Regards
Stephen

[Ray]

I think your 20-25 cm plants are WAY underpotted in 50 mm pots! On my bench, such a plant would be more likely to be in the equivalent of a 120 mm pot or larger.

I know folks worry a lot about "overpotting", but I find that plants grow roots to fill the pot, and smaller pots limit that, leading to restricted vegetative growth. Granted, there are a few caveats:

1) Initially after moving to a large pot, the plant will seem to stall more than in a smaller pot, but I attribute that to expending its energy growing roots to "get a feel" for the new environment. Once it has, growth rate accelerates and more growths usually emerge at once.

2) The issue about the core of a large pot staying soppy while the rest dries rears its ugly head, but if you choose a good medium and use an airy-enough mix, it really isn't a problem. The use of semi-hydroponics eliminates the issue altogether.

I think one reason you typically see paphs in smaller pots is to allow commercial growers to maximize the use of bench space, while minimizing materials use. They're looking to grow 'em and move 'em out, not keep them.

[kmarch]

It depends on the roots. I recommend using the smallest pot that can comfortably accommodate the roots. For the 12-14cm leaf span seedlings I'd bet that would be 50-80mm and then larger pots for the larger seedlings..

[Forever-mango]

Cheers mate, first time repotting from compots. My speciosums went straight into 50mm pots, and now they are in 80mm.

[Ron]

Hi, if the roots system is good I would pot them into 80mm pots, personally at that stage I pot them 2 plants per pot, saves me bench space and also helps not over pot them as 2 plants take up a fair amount of space.
i would leave them for a year and then repot them into individual 80mm pots and they then should be flowering size.
Remember small root system small pots
Best of luck