Silly question, right?

I'm not in America and there aren't any native Australian Phrags. Customs would probably take an extremely dim view on me if I imported seed/lings without going through the appropriate hoops. Therefore, we have a few (very few) nurseries which sell phrags (mainly crosses). I already have Caudatum and am just "musing" on what else I might buy if I get better with Phrags.

If any of you are bored :-) my list of prospective plants is at http://members.iinet.net.au/~ezi-gro/phragcat/phragcat.html

Any suggestions?

Regards
Stephan

I would suggest anything with P besseae in the cross to see the beauty of the pastels and form.

Hi Stephan,

Can't answer you on the easiest to grow, however, in terms of sourcing plants, make sure you email the proprietors of the nurseries. A lot of the times the catalogue online is a little outdated. I know that Ezi-gro have an updated list which has some interesting ones line a wallisii x bessae, Sorcerer's Apprentice, etc etc. Same with the Paphs. Oh and the proprietor of Ezi-gro is a real nice guy and the plants are well grown and sourced from all over the world.

Cheers
Tim

I would really ring Kevin see what he has now -I have lost very few plants Ive bought from him
He had the last time I was there some really nice size seedlings you couldnt go wrong -
a lot of them are Chuck Aker plants .
Another source here in Aust is K & H in Qld. -- he has nice plants too not a lot .
Glad others here are getting additted to phrags .-
Its not impossible to bring them in here - last Sept a freind and I bought 6 flasks in from Chuck Aker
we had them shipped to a American address then a freind coming to aust carried them in your allowed 6 flasks without papers .
Any good hunting ---------------Billie W.A

Hi Billie,

Interesting about the six flasks policy... is that including species?

Cheers
Tim

The only Phrags I have found to be a bit tricky are the besseae species (my fav of course!) and ecuadorense an caricinum, I just wasn't keeping them wet enough.

Any hybrid I've found very easy. Grande, longifolium, the species long petaled Phrags, all grow well for me. Mine like their bark mixes, but I have a few (the long petaled in my CHC/Diatomite/Perlite/Charoal mix that are doing fine also.

In my opinion, Phrags are the super easy version of slipper orchids. And the bloom for me. Not to say the Paphs don't, but the jury is still out on some that are mature enough. Need more light, Heather!

I get the impression that phrags are generally larger than paphs. Is there a relatively small, but easy phrag to get into? I am ok with hybrids to start with.

Marcus, there are many Phrag species that stay small and not get as big as some do. The smaller Phrag species are schlimii, besseae, ecuadorense, klotzcheanum, hirtzii and maybe more out there. If you don't have any Phrags, you should try one or two and most grow faster than Paphs.

I get the impression that phrags are generally larger than paphs. Is there a relatively small, but easy phrag to get into? I am ok with hybrids to start with.

Anything that's called pearcii, ecuadorense, or amazonica will be a fairly small species. Also, any hybrid with these as a parent would tend to be smaller. Ecuadorense has been a fairly easy grower for me. I try to keep it fairly wet, as Heather mentioned. My ecuadorense might still have a bloom. I'll try to post a pic with my 'cheapo digital'.

On the left for reference: Phrag. Meditation, see discussion: http://www.rainbowcomputers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1335

On the right: Phrag ecuadorense, in a 4 inch pot with multiple growths

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y94/paphreek/PhragMeditationandecudorense.jpg

I'm with Paphreek on the pearcei group. I've got bunches of them and they grow like weeds. Don't get big either.

Ive got a specimen plant with tons of growths, that has been in constant bloom for over a year now.

Thanks for the input from everyone. I will check out what ecuagenera has when they come to Miami next weekend.

I forgot to add fischeri to the list of small Phrag species and both fischeri and schlimii are fragrant. I have posted pics of my schlimii in the Phrag gallery, check it out.

Thanks all -

much food for thought which will help me in the contonuous quest for more and better plants :-)

Cheers
Stephan

Man I was gonna start a thread that listed all the great tiny phrags available, you could always get the mexipedium :)

Man I was gonna start a thread that listed all the great tiny phrags available, you could always get the mexipedium :)

Marcus can't get the Mexi...I want it! :twisted:

It's all yours, Heather. I'll start with a nice cheap schlimii, and see how it goes. :D

Species-wize, equadorense (= pearcei, at least with most taxonomists), besseae, and schlimii will be small...caricinum especially small. Keep in mind that equadorense and caricinum grw, and spread, like weeds. equadorense, in particular, will out grow most pots in a year or so.. not a bad thing, as they can be divided without loss of bloom, giving you plenty to trade away. On the other hand, hybrids of these species can be pretty large, even primary hybrids...I have seen primary hybrids of besseae and equadorense that were as large as the larger species parent. (For example, a plant I received as "Ruby Slippers" but was very obviously a cross between equadorense and a caudatum-type....) Take care, Eric

Eric, you meant besseae x caudatum right?

Marcus, I have that schlimiii and it has been a good grower for me.

No, the cross was "supposed" to be besseae x caudatum (China Dragon), and it was labelled as that cross. However, when it bloomed, as a very large plant...it was a fast grower, but it still took a while and got quite large...it clearly had no trace of besseae in the bloom. The flower looked like a perfect cross between (equadorense-caricinum-pearcei) x (caudatum-wallisii-warcswizeanum)....basically, that is the range of potential species...of course, the potential includes Grande or something similar as a possible parent. This is all speculation as to the exact parentage...the grower was contacted and agreed with me that the cross was not as advertised, but it had been sold years earlier...no offer was made for reimbursement, and I made no request for it..the money itself was a negligible consideration, it didn't exactly cost me an arm and a leg....I eventually gave the plant away, as it took up space, and basically, too many phrags look like too many other phrags.....I'd rather have more space for my paphs. Take care, Eric

No, the cross was "supposed" to be besseae x caudatum (China Dragon), and it was labelled as that cross. However, when it bloomed, as a very large plant...it was a fast grower, but it still took a while and got quite large...it clearly had no trace of besseae in the bloom. The flower looked like a perfect cross between (equadorense-caricinum-pearcei) x (caudatum-wallisii-warcswizeanum)....basically, that is the range of potential species...of course, the potential includes Grande or something similar as a possible parent. This is all speculation as to the exact parentage...the grower was contacted and agreed with me that the cross was not as advertised, but it had been sold years earlier...no offer was made for reimbursement, and I made no request for it..the money itself was a negligible consideration, it didn't exactly cost me an arm and a leg....I eventually gave the plant away, as it took up space, and basically, too many phrags look like too many other phrags.....I'd rather have more space for my paphs. Take care, Eric

Okay, I gotcha, that what you had that was labelled as 'Ruby Slippers' (besseae x caudatum) was not what it was sold as, however in the above post you mention that as 'China Dragon', which I thought was besseae x 'Grande'? So, now I am just a bit confused.
I have Ruby Slippers, which I thought was besseae x caudatum, just making sure!
Thanks Eric!!

Yes, Ruby Slippers is bess x caudatum and China Dragon is bess x Grande.

Woops! Sorry.....my mistake. I meant Ruby Slippers........Eric