calcium and magnesium

[jkhom]

I purchased a paph about a month ago and on one of the plants leaves would lose their pattern, turn yellow then brown. As soon as I removed the dead leaf, another leaf would start to turn. Over the course of about 1 1/2 weeks all of the leaves on this one growth died and now the entire growth is leafless. The other 2 growths seem to be fine for now.
I brought the plant to a nursery for expert opinion and was told that the plant sunburned. The plant is now in the most shady place that I have.
He also said that the plant needs magnesium and calcium. I've never heard that before. Do you guys add these to your potting mix? Do all paphs want these chemicals? And last is garden lime okay to use and how much?

[orchids3]

Hi,
All plants need Ca and Mg to some degree - some of the Paphs are known as Calceous plants because their natural habitat contains high levels of Calcium. The plants wont do well without high levels. Some of the best reading I have found about Paph culture can be found at Slipper Articles . If you want to be in the know about Paph culture you should read all the articles.

[Mel]

Great articles. I have 2 paphs that have put out new leaves, but the leaves have now stopped growing. I was thinking to changing them over to CHC anyway so now i am more encouraged to do so.

[orchids3]

My Paphs and Phrags do well in CHC. Have adopted the
information on the Antec web site and it works for me.

[Royal]

I'm a Paph idiot, but CHC has really turned them around for me! They're doing great for me now.

[Ross]

I use a mix that has a small amount of natural shell pieces. This seems to be fine for mine.

[John D.]

Garden lime will work, not the "burnt lime" just plain ground limestone. The dolomitic types supply both Ca and Mg. Because they are ground so fine they wash through the medium and out the bottom when you water so must be reapplied regularly. Some folks use clean crushed eggshell or crushed oyster shell for chickens which is larger and lasts longer.

[jkhom]

Thanks everybody for the information, it is very helpful.
I will try garden lime for now.
One question, what is CHC?

[Dorothy]

CHC = Coconut Husk Chips

[Ray]

Both garden lime and dolomite have dissolution rates that vary greatly with temperature, which tells me that you really don't know how much Ca and Mg you're supplying at any one time.

Be wary of CHC for some paphs. If you'll bop over to the slippertalk forum, you'll see a long thread on the subject:To Chc Or Not To Chc? - Slippertalk Orchid Forum- The best slipper orchid forum for paph, phrag and other lady slipper orchid discussion!

I have not seen the problem myself, but it never hurts to read of others' experiences, so you can be on the look-out.