Paphiopedilum repot help

[Nicolasdperez]

Hello,

I have had this paphiopedilum for about 2 years. I have kept it in a 4 inch pot for a while; however, I noticed recently that the new growth had begun to slow down rapidly and some leaves have begun to yellow. The healthy roots could also be seen on the side of the pot, so I decided to repot into a 5 inch pot. I want to make sure I did not replant this pahiopedilum too low or too high. Does this repotting look like it will suffice?

(P.S. I know it has some salt burn; I have started flushing every month with distilled water)

Thank you for your help and time,

Nicolas Perez

[estación seca]

They're dying of old age, and the nutrients are being passed to the new growth.

Normally a fan that will be large enough to flower grows for a while, then flowers. It may make new growths from the base before or after the flower. If the plant has had enough water and fertilizer, a fan destined to flower does not drop many, if any, leaves.

The older fan may still go on to flower.

I suggest the dying of the oldest leaves while the new growth forms means you should have watered and fertilized this plant more than you have in the past. I would increase the water and fertilizer.

[Nicolasdperez]

Thank you so much for your help. That makes a lot of sense. I used to fertilize my paphs once a month during the growing season with a 20-20-20 solution. Now I have moved on to fertilizing with a 10-10-10 solution twice a month. Would you recommend that I begin to use the 20-20-20 solution twice during the growing season?

[estación seca]

Much depends on your growing conditions. It would be best to fertilize at every watering with a concentration that is reasonable for your temperatures and light. It's hard to provide a more definitive answer.

If I lived in metro San Diego and had the time to fertilize at every watering, I'd use a half teaspoon of 20-20-20 plus micronutrients per gallon of tap water at every watering, except one good watering a month with RO water to flush out minerals. This is a lot more than most people would recommend, but you have a long and warm growing season.

I water my Paphs with my local water, which probably has more dissolved minerals than yours. I don't have a problem with tip burn unless I let them dry out too long. I don't have time to fertilize as much as I want to. They are not nearly as sensitive to minerals in water as many sources claim.

[Nicolasdperez]

I see. So as long as my environment is bright and warm, I should be generous with fertilizer given I flush every month?

Reflecting on your comment about dried tips, I realized that I tend to let my paphs dry out briefly in between watering. But given your early comments, should I water paphs like they are terrestrial? I have heard that paphs can be terrestrial, epiphyte, or lithophytes so I have been somewhat unsure about watering. That makes sense since they have no pseudo bulbs, but I’m still worried about root rot.

Thanks again for all the help

[estación seca]

They have no water storage organs. Most should be kept always moist, without drying out, during the growing season. Some do come from areas with dry winters, so it's good to read up on ancestry.

[Ray]

My paphs get about 75-125 ppm N every week.

Divide 8 by the %N to get the teaspoons/gallon for the middle of that range, giving you The ability to round up or down for measuring convenience.

For example, your 20% N fertilizer would be 8/20=0.4 teaspoon, so you could use 1/2 tsp/gal, giving about a 120 ppm N.

The 10% N fertilizer, being half the concentration, would require twice as much to achieve the same concentration, or you could use 8/10=0.8, rounded down to 3/4 teaspoon/gal, giving you a 94 ppm N solution.

[Nicolasdperez]

Perfect thank you for all the help

[Paphluvr]

Nobody has commented about the planting depth. My own preference would be for it to be a tad deeper, maybe another 1/8-3/16". I wouldn't bother to repot this one again, though.