Just got these two from Piping Rock. They're both Phrag. kovachii 'Laura' x Phrag. Saint Ouen. From reading around the various forums and sites, I've gleaned that kovachii likes it cool, like 64 degrees F, limestone, moist, and low-ish light. But does anyone have any thoughts as to what the Saint Ouen crossed with it will mean in terms of culture? Just a guess-timate would be welcome :-) Oh, I'm putting these under my T8 fluorescents - good idea, bad idea, how far away? Thanks, JOHN

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Congrats! They look great. :clap2: Can't really give you any culture tips since I don't have one but I'm planning to grow my kovachii like my besseaes. I wonder what the flowers would look like.

I have one of these growing under a T-8 fluorescent in S/H and it seems to be doing okay. It is guzzling the water for some reason which in my experience with S/H is generally a good sign. Hopefully it will grow some more this fall when it cools down some.

e-spice

John, I have all four of the Kovachii hybrids from Piping Rock, and I grow under T-5 lights (about 900 foot candles). They are doing real well. I re-potted them in to fresh spagnum moss over the week end. The roots were nice and white, and well over five inches long. Just keep them moist and you will be fine. Rusty

I think your setup should do you just fine. I noticed that the species slow down during the summer since it is hot, but do best in winter when it is cool and dark. The hybrids, however, don't seem to care and grow just like any other phrag hybrid.. like a weed! If you are using sphagnum be careful of over fertilizing as it will raise the pH too high. I prefer using small bark mix (with charcoal and perlite) with 10% peat moss mixed in myself.

Nice looking plants!

Hi John

-First if the plants came potted in sphagnum moss. don't repot them into other media. Tailor your watering to this medium. This will be less of a shock to your seedlings. Don't experiment until your plants are much bigger

-I have my plants in pure diatomite, sit in water ,consequently, loss all the kovachii species seedlings but one. (I think this species use less water than besseae)
-I also lose all the roots & side shoots from the hybrids seedlings of kovachii x wallisii (planted in clay pebbles, also sit in water) It could be because the wallisii parent does not like to sit in water either.
-After consult with others SOF members, I decide to repot the worse ones without roots in sphagnum . The rest of the seedlings do not sit in water anymore. I bottle-spritz them just enough for moisture (Adult plants, or plants in good greenhouse , or with perfect culture conditions maybe ok with hydroponics & a lot of water, but in my case, too wet for seedlings is risky)

:confused:

Guys, I kind of agree with Hien - I've learned that, at least for me, transplating right after I get a plant can be trouble. It's just a gut feeling, but I feel like they need some time to adjust to my conditions. I really don't grow anyting in sphag, so I was a bit worried that they were in it - but i worry about transplating them now, especially when I use the paph medium every recommends from Tindara (I think) and it seems to start off kind of dry for the first few months. Anyway, I'm just kind of thinking out loud, but considering the time of year, is the consenus I should repot into my medium, or stick with sphag until at least the spring? The sphag looked to be decently fresh. Then again, as Jason mentioned, maybe these guys perk up more in the winter (though I grow inside, so winter is actually probably warmer than summer - I have good A/C and my apartment is one big sunroom in the winter). Ok, I'm confused now :-)

One more thing, regarding Jason's comment about fertilizer. I thought sphag generally gave a low pH, and that fert gives a low pH. So if I fertilize in sphag, how does that risk the pH getting too high? Don't I risk the pH getting too low? Speaking of which, what pH should I be shooting for for the water?

Here are my roots - someone had suggested I check them, which was wise. They're good and firm - the white stuff is rootone i added. I decided to repot them in sphag since that's what they were growing in - just felt safer taht way for the time being.

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Nice fat roots.

Very nice looking seedlings, John! I usually leave my seedlings in their original potting medium, less stress for them. I ordered a Phrag kovachii from Glen (Piping Rock) a few months ago and they are not ready to be shipped and I can hardly wait for mine to arrive!:Party:

You're brave, Peter. The kovachii species is apparently a bit more difficult, and slow-growing. Then again, you're a bit better at this than I am. We should all definitely keep in touch about the culture, etc. as we slowly determine what works and what doesn't.

You're brave, Peter. The kovachii species is apparently a bit more difficult, and slow-growing. Then again, you're a bit better at this than I am. We should all definitely keep in touch about the culture, etc. as we slowly determine what works and what doesn't.

I like challenges :D . Yes, I heard the species is harder to grow and are slow growers or at least that is what I heard from Glen himself. So we shall see how it does in my conditions. We should all keep posting here and compare our seedlings growth and culture.

I just ask Stephen to post the pictures along with the description for me.
Do look out for them.:eek: