PAPHIOPEDILUMS

These orchids -around 60 - 70 species come from India, Burma, and S.E. Asia also the Phillipines. They are terrestrial orchids which do well in pots. Although I have had much better success when cultivating them hydroponically.

Light: Paphs like shady conditions and do well on a window sill in the home providing of course it doesn’t get a lot of sun. In the greenhouse they need to be well shaded.

Water: The plants need to be kept constantly moist but not soggy. Having found it rather difficult to obtain this happy state I now cultivate all my paphs by the hydroponic method and havebeen delighted with the results.

Temperature: There are some paphs that like it warm and some that do not. It is wise to find out which yourpaph is and treat it accordingly. A good guide is that the ones with mottled leaves like it warmand the plain leaved variety prefer it cooler. I tend to grow all mine together with few problems.

Optimum temps are:

Cool types: 50-60 F at night

75-80 F - day

Warm types: 60-65 F at night

75-85 F - day

Fertilizer: The plants need feeding regularly but some care should be taken. There are various ways of handling this. Some people feed a half or third strength feed for three successive feeds and then flush through with plain water to prevent a build up of harmful salts. Others continue with a week feed throughout the year. The beauty of the hydroponic method is that as the roots are permanently moist there can be no build up of harmful salts which only solidify around the roots when dry. Using this method it is possible to use a stronger feed. I have had great success with the paphs I have cultivated using this method.

As with all orchids it is important to repot before the compost breaks down. Paphs seem to benefit greatly from frequent repotting. If you cultivate hydroponically there is no need to repot until the plant is so large it needs to be repotted.