This article is about that strange group of orchid growers known as hybridizers. They are very easy to recognize, they’re the ones running around the orchid house with glassy eyes and a toothpick in their hand.


First why hybridize at all? Why not just grow species as there are so many beautiful ones? I think the answer is human nature. We always seem to have to improve on things…even perfection.

Collecting the pollen from a Paphiopedilum orchid.

Now some new growers think that you can cross any two plants and get a crop of great new plants. Unfortunately you usually get worse than either parent. And some think that its just luck, do enough crosses and you’ll have lots of good plants. Again that’s not the answer, though luck does play a role of varying degrees depending on the skill of the breeder.

Removing the pouch of a Paphiopedilum prior to pollinating the flower.

What makes a good hybridizer? Glazed eyes…yes, absent minded…yes, talking rapidly…sorry, just visualizing.

You could make a long list of what makes a great plant breeder but it really boils down to one thing: The Ability to look at a hybrid and see the parents and to look at the prospective parents and see the unborn sibling. This comes from experience and looking at thousands of crosses.

Want to see how good you are at it? Next time you’re ready to visit your favorite orchid grower, first go to

International Orchid Register – Search by Grex or Parentage

New Hybrids Lists

and look up all of the crosses he has recently registered. The New Hybrids Lists work best for finding this information.

Placing the pollen on a Paphiopedlim flower.

Find out what you can about the parents (hopefully you know something about them already). Now make a prediction on the outcome of the cross and write it down. Take this list with you on your visit and look at the progeny. Did you call any of the results correctly?

If the hybridizer is available and is willing to talk, ask a few questions about the crosses. It’s a humbling experience.

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The Orchid Hybridizer: Zany Inhabitants of the Orchid World is a post from: Orchid Magic

The choice of fertilizers is nothing compared to your choice of orchid potting mixes. Anything is fair game for a potting mix, even old socks according to Phalaenopsis guru Bob Gordon. If one ingredient doesn’t make you happy, add another and another and another…


Most orchid potting mix is a combination of several ingredients. You’re striving for the proper combination of water retention and aeration.

The Orchid Potting Mix for Beginners

If you’re new to orchid growing or haven’t had a lot of success let me recommend a potting mix for you. Try fir bark. If you’re not sure what size to use, go for the medium size.

Why? It’s cheap and available almost everywhere. But use it because it’s the most forgiving mix you can obtain.

The Secret Ingredient

You’re growing your plants well not having problems with root rots. Now you want to grow the plants a little lot bigger and a little faster. You think you’re ready for the secret ingredient.

Well it is a secret. Ok, I’ll tell. Add something fine, something that holds on to water a little better. Some fine bark or a little peat moss…What! You expected something out of a bottle? Hey, I’m not a snake oil salesman (I do have some little seedlings…).

If you’re a good grower you can push the envelope. If you cut down on the drying cycles and keep a little more water and fertilizer around the roots you will get faster growth and large plants (and flowers). But remember you’re walking on the edge. One mistake and the plant is gone. Oh, but you should have seen it before it died!

The Right Orchid Potting Mix

There is no right potting mix. You have to find the potting mix that matches your growing practices. If you water heavily or have a humid growing area use a well draining mix that dries out quickly.

If you under water (na nobody under waters). If you can’t water as much as you should, use a more water retentive mix.

Putting it all Together

If you’re new to orchids start out with a basic mix like fir bark. Don’t think of it as only a beginner’s mix, some of the best growers out there still use it. Why, because it fits their growing practices. If you get bored, experiment, kill a few plants. Hell, I have lot more to sell (sorry, it must have been the snake oil comment). I’m sure you get the ideal.

Orchid Potting Mix: A Few Choices from Hundreds

• Fir Bark: Medium size fir bark is a great potting mix used alone or as part of a mix. The biggest disadvantage is that it breaks down quickly and really requires repotting about once a year. Make sure you wash and screen the fines out of the mix, also soak thoroughly before using. Fine fir bark holds more water and breaks down more quickly.

• Sphagnum Moss: Can be a blessing for nursing a failing plant back to health. Fantastic for small seedlings. Because of sphagnum’s great water holding capacity it can rot quickly taking the plant with it. This is especially true in areas of cold wet winters. How tight the moss is packed determines how much air and water are held by the Sphagnum, tight equals lots of water and little air, loose wrapped means lots of air and less moisture. Know what you’re buying as there is an abundance of inferior moss in the marketplace today.

• Peat Based Mixes: If your growing conditions are right this can be a miracle mix. Most are made with course peat and perlite. Fast growth and fast death if you don’t know what you’re doing. Again watch this mix in areas of cold wet winters. To succeed with this mix you will have to use fungicides on a regular basis.

• Rock Wool: Comes in two basic types, water absorbent and water repellent. Most growers use the absorbent type or a mix of the two. The dust can be a health hazard. Not easy to learn how to use.

• Coconut: Two types, chips and fiber. The chips can be used like fir bark and give excellent growth. There are two disadvantages with coconut chips. One the chips are usually loaded with dissolved salts that must be leached out. Second the product can breakdown very quickly in its second year of use. I would repot on an annual basis. Coconut fiber can be used just like peat moss and its long lasting. The only disadvantage is the high salt content in new coconut fiber that must be thoroughly leached out.

In Closing

Remember it’s the grower that makes the difference not the potting mix. Just find the orchid potting mix that matches your growing abilities and watering habits.

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Orchid Potting Mix is a post from: Orchid Magic

Why is it that beginners are so fearful of repotting orchids?


This is really one of the easiest parts of orchid growing. Slip the orchid out of the pot, knock away the old potting media, slip it in a new pot and pour in the new media. Slick and simple.

When you hear stories about how difficult it is to repot an orchid and not kill it or set it back badly the real reason is almost always a poor choice of timing in repotting the orchid.

Repotting Orchids Is Not A Difficult Task

Just finishing repotting a Cattleya orchid.

Here is a step by step guide to repotting your orchids. Most of the discussion below is explaining why we need to repot orchids and what you need to think about to make the process simple and successful. Ready? Ok, let’s go to it.

Viruses

Discussing viruses themselves is another page for the future.

Viruses can easily be spread from an infected plant to other plants in the collection while repotting.

If you have a collection of inexpensive plants for your enjoyment you may not be worried about virus problems.

If your collection has some meaning to you and you wish to do what you can to preserve the collection, taking precautions to prevent the spread of viruses should be high on your to do list.

This article assumes you want to prevent the spread of any possible viruses, diseases or pests. It is your choice to decide if you want to expend the effort in controlling these problems.

Why Do We Repot Orchids?

The orchid is growing out of its pot.

Perhaps the best reason there is for repotting an orchid. Giving it a little bigger pot and fresh media will keep the growth going.

The potting media is deteriorating

With the exception of a handful of synthetic medias you can expect the potting material to break down and cause the orchid to decline after a year or two.

A used clay pot that needs to be cleaned and sterilized before using again.

Not very many potting mixes will last two full years. I find it is best to develop a habit of repotting the collection once a year. This way you can repot your plants at the optimum time and not have declining orchids and emergency repotting when the potting mix starts breaking down rapidly at 16-18 months.

You want to divide your orchid

Dividing plants is really a subject for another day, just a couple of quick thoughts. Larger divisions are much easier to care for. Make big healthy divisions.

Large plants produce more flowers than the same plant divided-up. If you are looking for impressive floral displays divide plants only when you must.

The potting media is infested with pests

Sometimes pests like mealy bugs or fungus gnats can lurk in the potting media becoming a chronic problem. Often the easiest way to get the problem under control is to repot the orchids in fresh new media after giving them a thorough cleaning.

The roots are rotting

Most of the time the roots of an orchid are rotting because the potting media is breaking down. When you find rotting roots at the outer edges or bottom of the pot you can be sure that there is not much for roots in the center of the root ball. When this happens timing means nothing, immediately repot the orchid.

What’s the difference between dead roots and live roots? Dead and dying roots are slimy or dried out, maybe shriveled up and falling apart. The good roots are plump and firm and if you have timed your repotting right you should see glistening green or white root tips.

Salt build-up from fertilizers or poor quality water

Community pot orchids ready to be repotted into larger pots.

Fertilizer salts build-up in the potting mix over time. How fast depends on the amount of fertilizer you use and your watering habits. It is just going to happen and if you have “bad” water the buildup will be even faster.  Leaching the plants when you water will help hold down the salt buildup.

This buildup of salts in the media will start effecting the orchid’s growth in time. The simple cure is repotting the orchid in fresh potting media.

While some orchids resent potting and will sulk for a while after repotting others like Paphiopedilums are very sensitive to salt buildup in their growing media. You can repot them two or three times a year and see a burst of growth after each repotting.

What Is the Best Time to Repot Your Orchids

The best time for repotting orchids is usually late spring to early summer, just as the plant starts forming new roots. For many species this coincides with the end of flowering season.

When the plant is in active growth it is better to hold off until next year unless there is a pressing reason to repot right away.

When the potting media is turning to mush or the orchid plant is going downhill you just have to throw timing out the window and repot. What is worse a dying orchid or one that is suddenly set back rather hard but placed on the road to recovery?

Preparation Before Actually Repotting Your Orchid

Water or soak the plant

Either water the plant or soak the orchid pot and all in a tub of water for 15 minutes or so. Do this at least a few hours before repotting.

The water softens the roots and makes them more pliable. Wet roots are also easier to detach from the pot.

A Paphiopedilum orchid in the pot ready for potting media to be added.

Soak the new potting media

The new potting media should be soaked and well drained in advance of repotting. Dry media is dusty and more difficult to work with. Dry media also steals moisture from the roots of the newly potted plant.

Watering dry media in after repotting just doesn’t work, you end up with many dry spots and it takes weeks to thoroughly moisten the media. In the mean time you have a stressed, declining plant.

Soak clay pots in advance

If you are using clay pots soak these and allow them to drain in advance of potting. Moisture holding pots like clay pots if used dry will steal moisture from the potting media. Again this can lead to stress on the freshly potted orchid.

Gather the tools and supplies needed

Besides your orchid plant, pot and new potting media you will need a few additional items.

Other items that will make the job easier are shears or disposable cutting tools, kitchen knife, disinfectant, disposable gloves, newspaper, paper towels, stakes and maybe pot clips.

The disinfectant, gloves and disposable tools are to reduce the risk of spreading viruses to healthy plants.

Pots should be new or washed and disinfected in advance. Same for stakes and pot clips.

A simple disinfectant is common household bleach. Diluting with 9 parts water to 1 part bleach makes a very good disinfectant.

Adding potting media. Note how easily the bark and lava rock mixture flows into the pot.

Better yet is Physan or the other quandary ammonia compounds. Organic compounds (like plant parts and ordinary dirt) don’t deactivate them as quickly as bleach. And the best part is if you get some on your clothes…no bleached out spots. Yes, of course Physan is more expensive than bleach and worth every penny!

The cheapest disposable cutting tool I know is the single edged razorblade. Use one per plant and stop spreading problems around your orchid collection

Good quality shears work too but need to be disinfected between plants. The disinfectants above will work with a long soak, alcohol will not work. The best disinfectant for soaking tools in is TSP. It needs to be used with care and if you don’t clean-up your tool after use it will rust them away. It deactivates viruses almost instantly. You can find in the paint section at the hardware store.

You can either change your gloves with each plant or give them a wash in the disinfectant you are using.

Prepare the Work Area

A counter near a sink is great but any convenient work area is fine for this job. The newspaper can be used for protecting the counter and the paper towels are great if you are a mess maker like me.

Now for the quick and easy part, the repotting

The demolition

A freshly repotted Paphiopedilum orchid.

nock the plant from pot, if the roots are holding it in just run a knife around the inner surface of the pot. Ok you have the plant out and in the process damaged a few roots. Don’t worry you will most likely damage a few more; it is expected especially the first few times you try this.

Remove old potting media. This can be as simple as shaking out the old media to carefully picking it out of the roots. It just depends on what potting media was used last time.

Trim any dead, damaged or rotting roots. Judgment is required here. Just don’t get carried away. Shears or heavy scissors work great at root trimming.

Remove any old growth that is dead or shriveling up. Plants like Phalaenopsis don’t usually need much work here but orchids that grow like Cattaleyas, Cymbidiums and Oncidums will require some effort here especially if they have been neglected.

Replant the orchid

Where do we position the orchid in the pot? If your orchid plant has a single growth like a Phalaenopsis you would position the plant in the center of the pot. If the orchid has multiple growths you would position the oldest growths near the edge of the pot, allowing the plant to grow forward towards the opposite edge of the pot.

With a chunky potting media just poor in handfuls while hold the plant with the other hand. Firm up the media by shaking the pot and carefully using your fingers. If you are using something stringy like moss wrap it around the spread out roots until the plant will slip nicely into its pot.

When you are done the orchid must be stable in its new pot. An orchid the rocks around in its pot will not be able to establish itself. Sometimes you will need to use stakes or pot clips to accomplish this goal.

Ok, water the orchid in. Do a thorough job of it; this is where the sink comes in real handy.

On to the last step, my least favorite…clean up the mess.

After care

A potting box in a commercial orchid nursery.

Because new media does not hold water well you will need to water the orchid more often.

Placing the plant in an area of lower light levels will help to reduce the stress on a newly repotted orchid as will increasing the humidity around the plant. While reducing the light is usually easy increasing the humidity is much harder.  You don’t need to do everything, just help it along where you can.

Summing-Up Repotting Orchids

Believe me orchid repotting sounds much more difficult than it really is. After repotting just a few orchids you will become much more relaxed with the process and start to wonder why repotting orchids ever seemed difficult.

This webpage covers what most of us need to know about orchid repotting.

Have I covered everything about repotting orchids? No. Many details and special situations have been left out. Any good book on orchid care will cover more ground than I have here.

My suggestion is stick with this until you are comfortable with the process. Then you can start adding details, that is, if you want to.

Orchid Repotting – The Videos

This first video is on repotting Paphiopedilums and Phragmipediums. Don’t skip this one as the basic steps for repotting any orchid are shown very clearly here. Running time is 5 minutes.

Click on the image above to open the video in a lightbox on this page.

Below is a video on repotting orchids with a poor root system by the American Orchid Society. The video is packed with information but details are sometimes difficult to make out because of the distance of the camera from the subject. This video runs three plus minutes.

Click on the image above to open the video in a lightbox on this page.

The most asked for potting demonstration video is on how to repot a phalaenopsis orchid. The phalaenopsis repotting video here is by a local production company that specializes in garden videos and is one of the best I have seen. Running time is just over 5 minutes.

Click on the image above to open the video in a lightbox on this page.

Repotting Orchids Conclusion

Put away your fears about repotting orchids. As you have read and seen in this article repotting orchids is a simple process. After repotting your first orchid you will wonder why you were ever concerned about it.

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Repotting Orchids is a post from: Orchid Magic

A championship golf tournament at the Royal St George’s Golf Club at Sandwich in Kent is shining a spotlight of attention on the little known Lizard Orchid, (Himantoglossum hircinum), rare in England.


The St. George Golf Club’s enlightened management also acts as a steward for several other species of orchids, as well as some other rare plants including the Clove-scented Broomrape.

Lizard Orchid Painting by Jonathan Tyler Botanical Illustrator

The Lizard Orchid is one of Britain’s tallest native orchids, standing about 24-inches (60 cm) tall on average, occasionally as much as 30 inches or 75 cm. The one shown here stood 22 inches (56 cm) The flowers are pale gray-green with purple spots and streaks. The lower lip (labellum) of the flower looks like the tail of a lizard that is diving headfirst into the flower, giving the plant it’s common name. The fragrance of the flower as been described as rancid or goatish.

The plant is widespread, across Europe and into Western Asia, but never common. It is one of Britain’s rarest plants. Seed blown across the English Channel from Northern France, where it is more abundant, is also though to play a part in the increasing occurrence of this orchid in southern Britain, which is at the northern edge of it’s range.

The Lizard Orchid has also been popping up on other golf courses in Britain. Speculation is that the almost weightless and nearly invisible seeds have attached themselves to golfers and their equipment.

Cypripedium calceolus Painting

Between the St. George Golf Club’s thoughtful attention and this ‘mysterious’ appearance at as many as 18 other golf courses the plant may soon be removed from the endangered plants list.

We may have to take back some of those disparaging remarks about golfers.

Just a comment about Jonathan Tyler’s work. If you are as impressed with his work as I am please visit his website at:Jonathan Tyler Botanical Illustrator. Here you will find more of his wonderful paintings. Yes, you can purchase limited edition prints from his website. Here’s another sample of his work.

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Golfers Rescue Rare Lizard Orchid in England is a post from: Orchid Magic

What is a rare orchid? What makes an orchid rare? These are tough questions and there are as many different answers as there are people asking the question. What is rare today can be extinct or in abundance tomorrow. The definition of a rare orchid is as elusive as the subject.


Rare orchids that occur in a limited geographic area can disappear overnight. A fire or a bulldozer can put an end to many of our wild orchid populations, completely eliminating a species in mere minutes.

Taking the Rare out of Rare Orchids

Beautiful Pristine Tropical Rain Forest

When a rare orchid is placed in the hands of a good grower and hybridizer abundance is frequently (but not always) just around the corner.

Usually a good hybridizer not only erases rare from the plants name but can also produce easier to grow plants with better quality flowers. These two traits are not always wanted in populations grown to expand or replace wild populations. But us hobbyists love this part.

A very beneficial side effect of the hybridizer improving the flower quality of a species is that it reduces the demand for the wild version of the species. Most hobbyists will want the better-looking flower from the hybridizer thus easing the demand for the wild species. A good example of this situation has occurred with the species Phragmipedium besseae.

There are some orchids that have such specialized requirements it can take years of research and experimenting to find success. And unfortunately we are still looking for success with some species as the wild populations continue to disappear. Will we win the race and promulgate the species?

Government Conservation of Rare Orchids

Many countries are attempting to control their wild orchid populations today. The main method of control is restricting trade. This can only help a little if there is demand for a species. And it does nothing to help protect wild orchid populations from development. Only a handful of countries are addressing the issue of protecting orchids from the effects of development.

Destruction in the Jungle

While CITES can help control the commercial exploitation of wild orchid populations it can also cause massive losses of endangered orchids. How? Sometimes when a dam or major building project will cause the destruction of a group of endangered orchids, the orchids are allowed to parish because of the fear the someone might take advantage if the restrictions are temporally lifted and collect plants from a non-threatened area.

This is a real but short-sited fear that must be overcome if rational conservation of the wild orchid species is to be practiced.  As individuals, a man’s greed can cause massive destruction. But at the same time government’s strange methods of trying to protect can and does cause the same massive destruction. A balance must be struck if there is to be any true long-term conservation program.

Conservation of Rare Orchids – As an Individual

What can I do?” You say, “I am just one person out of billons, my lone efforts can’t accomplish much.” Not true. A few simple things that you can do are, don’t collect or buy wild orchids. Patronize growers that are breeding populations of rare orchids. Give them a reward for their efforts and an incentive to continue.

Harold Koopowitz in his book Tropical Slipper Orchids uses a few pages to look at CITES from a Paphiopedilum growers perspective. Harold is an excellent writer and gives a fascinating look into the strange ways government entities enforce (or ignore) CITES. You can learn more about Harold’s book on the Paphiopedilum Care page or you can read other reviews at Amazon. (Opens in a new window).

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Rare Orchids is a post from: Orchid Magic

Yep, That's Us

Sorry, the drawing is all you get. While Diane takes a great picture, I just couldn’t risk another camera on myself. No, I already tried one of those cheap throw-a-way cameras, now the photo processor company is mad at me (it costs lots of money to fix those fancy machines). Besides I don’t want to scare you off.

Ok, enough silliness. Orchid Magic does not grow any orchids nor do we sell any orchid plants. Orchid magic exists only in cyber space to provide you with information about orchids and maybe in the future make a little money with advertising or commissions for recommending something good (not a real concern of mine at this time).

Lets back-up a bit. I am John Swart and the other character in the drawing is my wife Diane. The two of us have been involved in horticulture for the past 30 years (ouch, NO I didn’t tell them how young you are). Diane is a licensed landscape contractor. Me, I sell anything that grows. My first sale was at age nine when I went around the neighborhood selling a wagonload of fuchsias that I grew. Ten cents each in quart milk cartons. Sold them all! I was rich!

I have worked at foliage, bedding plant and orchid nurseries. As well as spending 10 years as a wholesale florist. But the best jobs were working in the orchid nurseries and working at the Orchid Zone was truly a great pleasure (Thank you Terry).

I have been addicted to orchids for 30 years and along the way have managed to hook Diane with the addiction also.

And the twist in all this is I am sitting in a nursery on 17 acres in Oregon with over 40 greenhouses and not an orchid in sight.

We obtained an old almost abandoned nursery and for the past several years been cleaning out old overgrown plants and berry vines, slowly bringing the nursery back to life. The greenhouses are old water pipe hoop houses and I would go broke heating them for orchids (might go broke cleaning out the berry vines anyway…they never end and I have to keep checking behind myself). What do we grow? Perennials mostly, for sale to the local garden centers in the Portland, Oregon area.

The website was restarted to bring back some of the pleasures that we remember with the orchids. Working on the site makes for a pleasant evening after a slow rainy winter day. During the hectic days of spring and summer don’t expect much for changes on the site.

What is Orchid Magic? Simply said it’s a vehicle for providing you with information about orchids. The plan is to keep adding to the site, providing you with more and more information about orchids and orchid care. The goal is to make Orchid Magic your starting place for online orchid adventures.

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Who Are We is a post from: Orchid Magic

The inhabitants of the Paphiopedilum world are a varied lot growing under many different conditions. This Paphiopedilum orchid care sheet tries to strike a happy medium of what works for all the members of the Paphiopedilum Alliance.

How Much Light

Paphiopedilums live on the floor of the jungle or in rock outcroppings where the light is filtered through the trees. While most Paphs prefer low light levels they will do just fine in the same amount of light that makes your Phalaenopsis happy. The strap-leafed (multiflora type) varieties can stand more light, up to about twice as much.

Mottled-Leaf Paphiopedilum Orchid Zone Hybrid Z4974

For those of you that want numbers most Paphs will grow well with about 10 to 15 percent of full sun, or about 1000 to 1500 foot candles. Strap-leaf varieties will grow and flower better at about 30 percent of full sun or about 3000 foot candles.

Temperatures for Paphiopedilums

Paphiopedilum orchids can be divided into two temperature groups, the warm growers and the cool growers. You can grow the two groups separately or together. Either growing method will give satisfactory results.

One temperature for all is the simplest and will provide good results. Keep your day temps between 70 to 85 degrees and your night temps in the 55 to 60 degree range.

Paphiopedilum Gloria Naugle 'Black Beauty'

The second way is to divide the plants into two groups, warm growers and cool growers. The warm growers are the mottled-leaf type and the strap-leaf types (multiflora). The cool growers are the green-leaf types.

Give the warm growers 75 to 85 degree days, 60 to 65 degree nights. Give the cool growers 75 to 80 degree days and 50 to 60 degree nights.

Actually Paphiopedilums are a very tough group of plants capable of growing in much broader temperature ranges than given here. If your growing in a greenhouse and something goes wrong with your heating or cooling system, I would give odds that your last serving plants are the complex Paphiopedilums. They are as tough as nails, capable of going from just above freezing to over 100 degrees (not recommended).

Watering your Paphiopedilum Orchid

Orchid Zone hybrid Z3374 (Elfstone 'Green Gem' x Oriental Mystique 'The Best')

Never, never never let your Paphiopedilum dry out. A dry Paph is a dead Paph use a good draining potting media like fir bark and water the heck out of it.

You want a rule of thumb? Ok, I’ll stick my thumb out but remember that a rule of thumb is just a rough guide and you have to do the fine-tuning. Water twice a week in the summer and once a week in the winter. Water somewhere in-between during the spring and fall.

Here is an even easier rule of thumb. If you are successful with Phalaenopsis water your Paphiopedilums twice as often.

Use fertilizer at every other watering at one quarter to one-half strength. Do not apply the fertilizer to a dry plant, be sure and water it first. This is especially important for members of the Paphiopedilum genus.

Potting A Paphiopedilum Orchid

Paphiopedilum sanderianum - The petals of it's flowers can grow up to 36 inches long.

Attention all you potting nuts out there this is the plant for you! Paphiopedilums are strange in more ways than one. The more often you repot a Paph the happier it is. Paphs are sensitive to salts in their growing media and putting them in fresh potting mix usually causes a good spurt of growth. Why? Repotting with fresh mix removes the salts that have accumulated in the old potting mix.

There are growers that repot their Paphs two, three or even four times a year. But a word of warning avoid potting during the late fall or winter, you could get a nasty surprise come spring, a very dead orchid.

That’s all there is to taking care of a Paphiopedilum orchid. This group of plants really is easy if you just remember to water well, kept the salts down in the potting mix and you should have great success.

Paphiopedilums: The Book

Tropical Slipper Orchids by Harold Koopowitz

Tropical Slipper Orchids by Harold Koopowitz is a book for those who love Paphiopedilums. And for those of us with a love of Paphs it has everything…except enough pages. Oh, did I mention it also covers the New World Lady Slipper Orchids, Phragmipediums.

While the real focus of this book is on Lady Slipper hybrids and breeding there is something for everyone, like all the gorgeous pictures that just litter the book from front to back.

The cultivation chapter is what most of us are interested in, while only 24 pages long is packed with information. Good information from a true expert.

Included is a chapter is titled Selecting Plants for a Collection. This chapter alone makes the book worth acquiring. Most of us could sure use help in selecting a healthy plant of good quality. Harold takes the time to explain what makes a good quality plant and what to look for when plant lust sends you on a buying spree..

Then there is the section aimed at those who are just beginning to grow Paphiopedilums, here you will find recommendations for beginners and a short list of mistakes to avoid when acquiring your first plants.

Most of the rest of the book is about species, hybrids and breeding by one of the top Paphiopedilum breeders in the world. Don’t forget the pictures!

If you are fascinated by Paphiopedilums or Phragmipediums this book should be in your library, dog eared and worn but in your library. Can you tell that I like the book?

If you want to know more (i.e. better reviews). Use this link to check out the reviews at Amazon. (Opens in a new window.)

Paphiopedilums: The Video

Paphiopedilums in the wild. This short video shows Paphiopedilum stonei growing in its native habitat. While the video is mediocre at best it does give you a glimpse at a Paphiopedilum growing in the limestone forest of western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

Only 44 seconds long! Surely you can afford 44 seconds?

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Learn the secrets of Phalaenopsis orchid care. Don’t let your lack of success with Phalaenopsis orchids get you down. Success is usually just a few tweaks away. Here is a simple overview of what to do and a few things to watch out for.

Moth Orchids Love Warmth

An exquisite example of modern Phalaenopsis breeding

Moth Orchids aka Phalaenopsis orchids make ideal house plants because they love the same temperatures as we do. If you’re comfortable so are your Phals. Cold drafts are not healthy for us or our Phals.

For you detail nuts, they love 75 to 85 degree day temperatures and 58-65 degree night temperatures. In the fall a drop to around 55 degrees for a week during the night helps to set the flower spikes. See, Phalaenopsis orchid care is easy!

Potting & Repotting a Moth Orchid

You just bought an orchid from the garden center (or was it the big box store), you see a few roots hanging out and just can’t wait to repot it. Don’t. Let the plant bloom; let it grow a year and flower again before repotting. Thereafter repot once a year as soon as the plant has finished blooming. If you bought a struggling orchid off the clearance table, go ahead and repot it. Leave the healthy happy one alone, please!

The stately white Phalaenopsis

If you insist on repotting (you can lead a horse to water…) do it after the poor plant has finished blooming. Unless you have had great success with your plants, use only medium bark for a potting mix…NO wonderful additives. Bark is the most forgiving potting media you can use and the medium size is perfect for a blooming Phalaenopsis.

When you reach for a new pot please reach for a small one. Use the smallest pot that the roots will fit into. Also use a shallow pot like an azalea pot.

Water a Phalaenopsis Like you Wash a Cat

Not often. But when you do make it worth the trouble, drown the sucker (sorry, bad memories).

Take the plant over to the sink and run water all through it or set the plant pot and all in a container of water for a minute. Let the pot drain for a few minutes and you’re done.

A Modern Spotted Yellow Phalaenopsis

A couple of rules of thumb. Water your Moth Orchids about once a week in the summer and every 10-14 days in the winter. No, it’s not cast in stone. You have to adjust for your house, where you live and the potting media you use. You’re on your own for spring and fall.

Watering for most of us is the toughest part of Phalaenopsis orchid care. Once you gain control of your watering habits the rest is easy.

As you gain experience you can tell a lot by sticking your finger down in the potting mix to feel for moisture (the moister level is where your finger suddenly feels cool). Or you can heft the pot. The difference in the weight of a freshly watered plant and a thirsty plant is significant in a plastic pot but more difficult to tell in a ceramic pot.

Use fertilizer at every other watering at half recommended strength. Do not apply the fertilizer to a dry plant, be sure and water it first.

Why Won’t my Phalaenopsis Orchid Bloom

“My Phalaenopsis is growing great but it just won’t flower,” states the frustrated grower.”

My usual response to this statement is a question asking if the plant is a nice rich green. To which the reply invariably is, “Yes, it looks beautiful.”

A Purple Spotted or Splotched Phalaenopsis

A well-grown Phalaenopsis is not rich green. But when grown to perfection the plant is a medium green with a hint of yellow or red lurking in the background. Using leaf color is a good simple way to tell if your plant is getting the correct amount of light. Rich green, more light! Keep trying for that hint of red or yellow if you want lots of blooms.

If you need to move the plant to more light please do it in small stages until you reach the right amount. Sudden increases in light levels can really set a plant back.

In the house an east facing window is best and a north facing window usually doesn’t get enough light. South and west facing windows can work but be careful that the heat build-up and higher light levels in these windows does not burn your plants.

For those of you wanting the gory details, Moth Orchids like 10 to 15 percent of full sunlight, about 1000 to 1500 foot candles. To us ordinary folks, bright indirect light or about half again what your African Violets like.

Phalaenopsis Orchid Care: The Books

It seems like just yesterday that there were a pile of good books on phalaenopsis orchids. But for the last few years finding a quality book on phals has been difficult without resorting to the used book market.

Author and orchid enthusiast Steven Frowine has stepped into the breach with his book Moth Orchids: The Complete Guide to Phalaenopsis.

Moth Orchids: The Complete Guide to Phalaenopsis

I recently picked-up a copy and was pleasantly surprised. I know I shouldn’t be after reading and recommending his dummies book Orchids for Dummies.

Here is a little information about the book…stolen from the great folks at Amazon.

Most flower lovers are familiar with the elegant white, pink, and striped hybrids, but a revolution in phalaenopsis breeding has resulted in an entirely new, diverse, and wonderful array of flower colors and patterns previously unimaginable. Professional horticulturist and orchid expert Steven A. Frowine, author of Miniature Orchids (Timber Press, 2007), focuses on these new stars while also providing a detailed look at the classic hybrids and species. Readers will be enticed by the book’s 365 lavish color photographs and gratified by the wealth of practical advice on selecting and buying moth orchids. Most importantly, Frowine shares his secrets on how these glorious plants can be grown to perfection, with recommendations about light levels, potting media, watering, and feeding. Especially useful are his clearly illustrated step-by-step directions on how to repot, trim, and propagate moth orchids.

If you’re a novice orchid lover, this book will arm you with all the knowledge you need to enjoy moth orchids’ magnificent blossoms in your home. If you’re a phalaenopsis fanatic, you’ll be thrilled to see just how exciting the world of moth orchids has become.

Phalaenopsis Orchid Care: The Video

Phalaenopsis Orchid Care: The VideoPicking this video on Phalaenopsis Orchid care turned out to be easy. It is just leaps and bounds ahead of any others I looked at. While titled <strong>Orchid Care</strong> it is all about Phalaenopsis Orchids. Meghan from AskTheDecorator.com is interviewing Dick Wells about orchid care. If you want to learn about Phalaenopsis orchids Dick is a man you definitely want to listen to. The video runs about 4 1/2 minutes an is packed with information.

Meghan’s description of this video is:

Orchid care is easy according to award winning orchid breeder, Dick Wells, and he should know. Wells owns the very successful company Hilltop Orchids where he grows and breeds thousands of beautiful orchids each year. One step into his greenhouse, and you’ll be amazed by the seemingly endless sea of orchids in front of you. As you look closer, you’ll notice that every one of Wells orchids are incredibly healthy and vivacious. How does he do it?

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