Dear Forum members,

Does anyone have experiance which they would like to share on growing this cute little Cyp? It has been cited as 'very difficult' to grow in culture.

Any tips / advice would be very welcome.

Regards, Kevin

Hey Kev,

As you no doubt already have found out, it will be difficult to find any good information about cultivating these on the web. No doubt some people are growing it somewhere successfully, however quietly!

Being a member of the section Trigonopedia, I would imagine it would respond best to culture like its relatives C. micranthum, C. forrestii, C. lichiangense, etc. That would include:

1. A very inorganic substrate with excellent drainage. Most of the organics you use should be only in the upper few centimeters of the pot with the rest being inert.

2. Moisture should come from below somehow. Perhaps using some kind of wicking system to water the substrate from a reservoir below. I use a water conducting tape that does this quite nicely. The tape extends from just below the root system out the bottom drain hole into a tray of water that never goes dry. This system allows for constant moisture, but no water on the leaves.

3. These plants are subject to rots easily. In summer that means no water on the leaves, and even be careful about the leaves touching the top of the substrate. In winter you should protect the plant from winter rains by storing it in a cold garage or refrigerator. They should be evenly moist, but not wet, or your plants will rot.

4. Fertilizer can be applied as per other Cyp species, tapering off towards fall.

Having said all that, I've never attempted a species in this section myself. the summers are just to blindingly hot here for them. However, I'm sure Ron Burch can give more advice. He's been growing its relative C. lichiangense with success the last two years, so can give more hints.

In case folks aren't aware of this species here is a page about C. bardolphianum (http://www.w-frosch.de/Arten/bardo.htm) from Frosch's Cyp Page and an article on this species and C. forrestii (http://www.cypripedium.de/forum/messages/1920.html) in the wild.

Tom

That's one groovy looking cyp!

Hi, Kevin,

I dont have this species but Cyp lichiangense is doing well for me (once a number of European growers told me how!):

As Tom mentioned, species in this group do not do well with organics. I have mine potted in a mixture of 1 mm quartz (silica) gravel and turface at a ratio of about 1:1. In their habitat it is very rare that rain falls during the growing season, the leaves will rot if there much in the way of water touching them. They do, in nature have good access to ground water so their substrate is fairly moist. In culture they do well with watering from below. This can be accomplished by setting them into a dish containing water and letting it wick up. I keep a group of pots in an ebb-and-flow hydroponics setup so the water automatically fills to just below the top of the medium level every other day. I add fertilizer to the water once per week. I use Dyn-Gro hydroponics fertilizer with microelements but there are a variety of similar fertilizers. Since your media will be inorganic make sure the fertilizer has micronutrients.

Also as Tom mentioned, many growers place dry wood shavings or similar material under the leaves to assure that the leaves do not touch the media when it is moist.

When vernalizing, it is also important to keep things dry. There are some folks in Europe who grow them in the ground outside and keep a tarp over the site in winter to keep the ground dry. I water mine well, let the pots drain for 12 hours or so to make sure they are not too wet (and not to dry!), then place them into plastic bags over the winter in the refrigerator.

So far they are doing well going into their third year, increasing in size nicely.

To emphasize the dry growing season, Holgar Pernier, in the American Orchid Society magazine ORCHIDS in December 2006 presents a photo of a wild clump in full bloom and notes that no rain has fallen in the prior four months - but the groundwater is shallow so their substrate has remained most.

Good luck!

Ron Burch

Thanks to you all!

It's always good to find out how other people grow their plants. I'll have to try and find some sort of wicking substrate from somewhere, but I guess something like Seramis will do......?

Kind regards, Kevin