My new plant - P. besseae x caudatum

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/IMG_0247.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/IMG_0246.jpg

It is really a nice well grown looking plant. I'll post a pic of mine tomorrow weather permitting that is. How big is your RS again?

11.5" Pete, Much easier for me to fit in, w/ my besses and such than a 24" Susan Booth! :ohmy:

I also think it is a prettier slipper plant than Susan B.

I also think it is a prettier slipper plant than Susan B.

It was a good trade! :wink: (Thanks RonNY!)

Heather,

Do you put the additional holes in your pots & how do you do it? I'm thinking about doing the same & I wonder what media you are using?-mine are in a mix, since they've all been acquired lately, from different sources, & I'm considering trying to put them all in the same mix -or if I don't do that, divide it up equally & try different mixes-I have a generic bark mix, lava rock, & I'm doing a mix of CHC, charcoal, perlite, & pebbles(I'm just trying it, soaking the CHC)-what do you think has been the most beneficial for your plants & do you think the mix is a major factor in plant health?

Nice looking plant! One of my favorite Phrag hybrids. Can't wait to see it bloom.
Jon

Heather,

Do you put the additional holes in your pots & how do you do it? I'm thinking about doing the same & I wonder what media you are using?-mine are in a mix, since they've all been acquired lately, from different sources, & I'm considering trying to put them all in the same mix -or if I don't do that, divide it up equally & try different mixes-I have a generic bark mix, lava rock, & I'm doing a mix of CHC, charcoal, perlite, & pebbles(I'm just trying it, soaking the CHC)-what do you think has been the most beneficial for your plants & do you think the mix is a major factor in plant health?

Hi Linda
Yes, I use a cordless drill with about a 1/4" bit to drill the holes in my pots. I had some trouble with other pots that are a finer/thinner plastic, so I find the Aircone pots easiest to work with.

It is a little early to say what mix I've had the best results with since many have only been in my posession for the last year or less. Several of those that I have recently repotted from a bark mix w/ a little sphag I moved into my CHC/diatomite/perlite/charcoal mix because the bark really does seem to break down faster and I've read that Paphs may not like the acidity of a bark mix as much as something like Phrags will. That said, most of my Phrags, except the long petaled species are indeed in bark and doing well. I also put some of my younger seedling plants in a seedling mix of fine bark, charcoal, and perlite. Occasionally, I will look at the mix that the plant comes in from the vendor, and try to match it as best I can with something I have, thereby hoping to lessen the stress caused by a change in environment and repotting. In general though, I find my plants seem to enjoy being repotted.

Hi Heather!

Here is my Ruby Slippers. 1 growth only and the LS is about 12".
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze6o1l1/rs.jpg

Swweeet! 8)

Finally cleared up for you huh? Sunny here at last. :D
So....yours is not too much larger in ls than mine, but has a few more sets of leaves. Tres jolie, Pierre! :wink:

I had to remove the lowest oldest dying leaf before I took that photo. Nope, it is not very big right now (I think it is close to 13" actually) but it has doubled in size in 10 months. :D I can't wait to see it in bloom! Lets see whose RS spikes and blooms first! :lol:

Well, today was a repotting day, only not for my paphs & phrags, they are all fairly recent additions & purchased from great vendors, so I'm just keeping an eye on them-I must figure out how to post pictures!-the Paph. Supersuk 'Eureka' AM/AOS x Paph. Raisin Pie 'Hsinying'-is this now Hsinying 'Alien'? -has 2 blooms, opposite each other, with another bud, the hennisianum I got from Rob is blooming (I feel guilty, while unwrapping, I messed up the side sepal) & the Paph. Holdenii (Maudiae, AM x callosum, AM) I got from the Orchid House is blooming, too.

I can't believe it's just about 6 weeks since I purchased my first orchid (Macabre Pie, still blooming, from HD)-I've become possessed-the ones I repotted today were mostly 'rescue' phals from HD & the commissary, I had a lovely phal. from Rob (Dtps. Rendezvous x (Double Rose x Zada's Best) that I moved to a larger pot-the mix I'm trying is 50% CHC (soaked & changed for 3 days), 25% charcoal, 20% perlite, & 5% small aquarium pebbles. I also split up a compot I got from Al's of Dtps. (Orglade's Puff 'Snowball' x Phal violacea 'Gulfstream Blue', JC x AOS).

I've picked up 3 small dendrobiums from TJ's in baskets-Eima Pink 'New', new mao gold, & Thonchai Lai, as well as 2 NOID den. from the comm.-I think I will move these outside, unless the squirrels really mess with them.

Back to slippers, I did get a flask from Chuck Acker of Phrag. 'Lynn Evans-Goldner', deflasked & split them up, probably too much, most of them look very healthy, but the seedlings leaves are a little 'disordered', they're flopping all over the place, instead of neatly side by side, like my other phrag seedlings-should I be worried about this?

Since starting my 'orchid fever', I've taken a p/t job at a local garden center, they have phals & dends., mostly NOIDS, 'imported from Canada', I'm keeping an eye on them...Linda

Congrats on your new pt job, Linda! It will be fun to work with orchids, especially if they have slippers. :-dance: