In talking to a few expert slipper growers it has been hinted at that although most Phrags perfer slightly acid conditions, besseae does best if grown on the sweeter side. Can anyone comment? All 6 of mine await your reply!

In talking to a few expert slipper growers it has been hinted at that although most Phrags perfer slightly acid conditions, besseae does best if grown on the sweeter side. Can anyone comment? All 6 of mine await your reply!

I grow all my Paphs and Phrags in the same condition, bark mix, tap water and they are all doing just fine!

I also grow most of my besseaes and their hybrids in a bark mix. Initailly it was a pretty course mix of diatomite, chc, perlite and charcoal, but I had some trouble with the mix drying out too fast. That was before my recent besseae hybrid spree, which resulted in a bunch of new plants. All of these were repotted in a smaller size mix of small bark, perlite, and charcoal (a few may have a bit of diatomite also?) and they seem to be happier with this. I had a vendor tell me that they couldn't grow theirs in chc because of the salts, so that information also played a roll in my switching back to predominantly bark.

I think another member, Mr. Middleton, said he'd recently put a besseae and schlimii in straight diatomite and I wondered about that also.

I have all my Phrags in 100% CHC and have had absolutely NO issue with salts. I question whether the proper soaking was done prior to use...also what was the source...the CHC fron Crystal Co in St Louis has been very consistant in quality for me with no salt problems. I was just curious about whether anyone could confirm positive results using a non-acidic
substrate for besseae.

I haven't had any trouble with my other phrags in that mix with the chc either, was just passing on another slipper tidbit, that's all. I've no idea where the got their chc. It was just something mentioned in passing to me.

Well, I'm also still curious, so hopefully someone will speak up who has more experience regarding your specific question.

I gave up using CHC on phrags...they did OK in it, but they do so much better in bark.(The exact opposite of paphs)...but then again, I also find that most phrags love thoroughy decayed media that would kill a paph in a week. I find that besseae. mine at least...grows fantastically under lights with other phrag seedlings. It blooms reliably in the spring...more beautiful than any hybrid...then puts out a new growth. By the time the new growth is nearly mature, the old growth has died...so it remains the same size all the time. Take care, Eric

I gave up using CHC on phrags...they did OK in it, but they do so much better in bark.(The exact opposite of paphs)...but then again, I also find that most phrags love thoroughy decayed media that would kill a paph in a week. I find that besseae. mine at least...grows fantastically under lights with other phrag seedlings. It blooms reliably in the spring...more beautiful than any hybrid...then puts out a new growth. By the time the new growth is nearly mature, the old growth has died...so it remains the same size all the time. Take care, Eric

Interesting, that's what is going on w/ my besseas too. Thanks, and hi, welcome Eric!

It seems like my phrags are in a lot of differnet things. Straight sphagnum in a basket. CHC, charcoal, perlite, sphagnum mixes. Clay balls. CHC/sphagnum. I don't have any bessea though can't can't comment direct on that. One thing in common is that whatever the mix is (underneath) my plants start really taking off when the mix gets overgrown with live mosses.

Hi, I just bought a bessea - "Wings of fire" :-dance: I wonder if it needs more light than Cattleyas? I suppose it need extra light to present a spike. And I have got different messages about fertilizing. Some says it needs a lot, other says the opposite.
:D Milda :D

Hi, I just bought a bessea - "Wings of fire" :-dance: I wonder if it needs more light than Cattleyas? I suppose it need extra light to present a spike. And I have got different messages about fertilizing. Some says it needs a lot, other says the opposite.
:D Milda :D

Hi, Milda!

I give my bessies very bright light (HPS) but not as bright as a catt would receive. I also fertilize them weakly. Your conditiuons may vary because I grow all my slippers indoors under bright HPS without any natural light. They do go out in the sunroom in the summer for about 2 months. Hope this helps!

I've fried some leaves on mine due to my tap water...and I don't mean just tips. I have to get distilled for it. I chopped it up into 3 pots 3 growths each. 1 CHC mix, 1 Straight Diatomite...1 I hid at Al's (he's only 10 mins away, but has Well Water!...fertilizes 3 of 4 waterings...same as all his Paphs and Phrags...tips look great on that one so far!...same light as all other Phrags too...pretty bright).

The one in Diatomite is doing great and throwing out nice roots! I water it every other day and fert 1x a week. The CHC one is also doing quite well now. Both are under fl lights.

I had to seriously bury the 1st growth on each as the 2 newest growths didn't have any roots...they do now!

Bill at Woodstream puts his in bulb pans burying the old growths...kindof sideways....

That sounds like science to me. 8)

Oh, so Rob, you grow one of your besseaes in diatomite straight? How often do you end up watering. I'm tempted to try this with something but haven't decided what plant yet. Just as an experiment! ;)

Oh, I grow mine bright. Water every 2-3 days, mine like to stay pretty moist (NOT sopping!)

My besseae grows in my light garden, 6" or so under 4 40 wt bulbs.....When its outdoors in the summer I give it more shade than my other phrags...about as much as a typical paph. Take care, Eric

PG - typically every 2 days...sometimes every day if the mood strikes me. The beauty is I can't overwater it! It's fairly chunky stuff so lots of air gets in there. I like the hissing sound it makes when I water it. It is not sitting in a tray of water like Antec says...

I also have a Phal venosa growing quite well in it.

PG - typically every 2 days...sometimes every day if the mood strikes me. The beauty is I can't overwater it! It's fairly chunky stuff so lots of air gets in there. I like the hissing sound it makes when I water it. It is not sitting in a tray of water like Antec says...

I also have a Phal venosa growing quite well in it.

Thanks! So really not more than I in my mix. I may move one of my besseaes into it to try, just for the heck of it. I have a generic one I could play with. I'm curious about it.

I don't grow any of my Phrags sitting in water - except for the one I have at work, which got a little dehydrated while I was away (my co-worked didn't water enough but I don't really care as much about my work plants, so no problem really. ) I know a lot of people do, but not me. They seem to be fine on my schedule.

I just have a few phrags to play with as I live in the deep south where our summers are notorious for doing in things like phrags. I almost succeeded in killing them off before potting them in CHC mix like Antec recommends, in clay pots and standing in water. The clay pots wick up the water and cool the roots through evaporative cooling. I have a Cardinal-Schlim X besseae growing (finally) in a 6" clay pot and looks like it may finally become a really nice plant. I fertilize regularly and have it in low-end cattleya light in my greenhouse which also uses evaporative cooling pads. And yes, they're already on. Today was low 80's here in southern SC.