Okay recently i have bought two orchids- don wimber in bud and a grande (caudatum x longifolum) BS (maybe in sheath?) my thing is i was told that the don wimber needs to dry out more between waterings then the grande does and to keeep the grande wetter. i water them both twice a week but keep the grande wetter. is this correct info?????? also there is a lot of chlorine and minerals (iron) in my water- will that hurt the flower??? anyone who knows about these two hyprids i would love to hear you expertise!!!!!!!!!!

Phrags, especially those with besseae in their background, are extremely sensitive to water quality. If you've got a high TDS (total dissolved solids) count in your municipal water, it could be very hard on the plants. And If I had to pick two things I wouldn't want in my Phrag/Paph water, it would be chlorine and iron....

Have you had any trouble with leaf tips turning brown and dying back?

--Stephen

no not yet (no leaf burning):( but i've only had the don wimber for a month. i should prolly collect rain water. do you think a britta would help??? what is r/o water?

i think maybe i should bring the don wimber to my house down at the jersey shore. the water there seems to be better. but i guess i should test the water quality in both places. prolly wouldn't be such a bad idea for my health too@!!!! also, do you know how often the phrag grande should be watered?

Phrag Grande is a very easy plant to grow and one can never overwater it to death. I use tap water and it grows like a weed and gets very big very quickly. Mine is now HUGE and I water it almost every other day.

Water quality is of utmost importance with phrags. I don't think the Don Wimber needs to dry out between waterings but I don't have one of those. If those are your only two phrags you should just buy distilled water at the grocery store and use that to water them. I rarely ever fertilize my phrags, they are very sensitive to it.

So Grande is relatively tolerant of poor water quality? I've been wanting to add some phrags to my collection, but the city water where i live is pretty bad--very high in chlorine and tds. I let my water sit out at least overnight to help with the chlorine but there's nothing I can do about the salts. Most of my paphs dont seem to mind.

Are there any other phrag species or hybrids that aren't as picky about water quality?

As for taking your plants to Jersey, BPMM, I wonder if they soften the tapwater there. I have the impression that a lot of beach communities use softened water, which I've read is bad news for slippers.

Justin

I have always used tap water to water all my plants without any harmful affects. I guess it all depends on your local water quality. Perhaps, I'm just lucky, I don't know.:confused: I do collect as much rainwater as I can for my plants. I think hybrids are more forgiving when it comes to water quality. For me, Grande has been the easiest Phrag to grow.

From my limited experience on slipper orchid, this is what I can add to others’ replies
Since I have too many plants and I do not have a greenhouse, watering becomes quite a chore. I decided a couple years ago to put all the plants in semi-hydroponic. I think this method magnifies any short coming in the quality of water. I have quite a few Don Wimber, they all sit in distilled water continuously like the rest of my plants without any problem. (So I am quite sure you would not have any problem about over watering them.
The only exception are the following two crosses: China Dragon & China Dragon X Twilight (both have Grande in the background). They do not seem to be too happy sitting in water distilled or not.
-That said, I think what Peter mentions is still valid. You could water Grande a lot , as long as you do not sit them in water all the time.
-I also agree w/ Stephen & Teresa about the quality of water. If I only water the plants w/ tab water (as in the past, before semi-hydroponic) , it is ok. I can also sit the plants in tab water (as long as I let the water evaporates the chlorine off for a couple day prior to using it. Tab water straight out of the faucet will yellow the leaves almost over night).
I can not leave the tab water in semi-hydroponic for a long time though. Even when the chlorine is already gone, as the tap water level shrinking, the concentration of mineral in the tap water will start to show the same effect of yellow in leaves.