MOUNTED PAPH. & VENDORS"

[weiss]

I'm curious, has anyone ever grown paphs. mounted?
Also, does anyone grown their paphs. in spag.
Finally, who are your favorite top three vendors for paphs?

[Mahon]

Weiss,

I used to grow a single specimen of Paph. concolor as a mount, it did not like it, it was an "experiment" (see if it would stay alive kinda thing)... results were, it eventually died, though it got plenty of water, and was not hanging by the roots, it was a perfect mounting... by trying that out, I wouldn't even think about trying my Paph. dianthum on a mount, though it is an epiphytic species (which is unusual for the entire genus)... there may be some humus build up on the roots of this species in nature, not sure... (I succesfully grow P. dianthum in humus and charcoal in very hot weather)

Alot of Paph. hybrids come in sphag... they never lasted long with me... I repotted all my Paph. Ho Chi Minh from spahg into a course media and humus...

And as for top three favorite vendors, I would say that The Gore Conservatory (Matt Gore) sells great quality plants at a great price... otherwise, I have always been disapointed by other vendors, whose names shall not be mentioned... stay away from eBay's 'Orchidspeed', they rip off people... it's not just me...

-Pat

[bwester]

I agree, Matt Gore is by far one of the best and most honest vendors there is. Atlanta orchid company and carter and holmes are also excellent.

[Oscarman]

Great website for The Gore Conservatory, nice gallery, exc. pics in order catalog and online ordering.

[jags]

While on the subject of mounted paphs.. I would like to show what we experimented on Mounted growing of paphs.. I am enclosing a picture of the same.


It seemed to love the drift wood very well and throw roots and cling on to it like nowhere..
See another picture:

Hope to have your views.
JAGS

[Tikva]

WOW!!! Amazing!!! Gorgeous!!! Wonderful!

[Oscarman]

That is really neat! Do you find certain paph. species perform better than others?

[Gongora]

Unfortunately I can't find it now . I have seen a picture of a huge plant of Paph villosum in situ with about 20 flowers growing happily on the trunk of a tree!! It was Awsome

[justatypn]

Jags, so awesome, please give us a heads up on which paph are better than others...so cool.

[Ray]

I suppose one thing to keep in mind is that the huge majority of paphs (and slippers in general) are what I'd refer to as "semi-terrestrial", as they grow with their roots spreading broadly in the leaf litter and detritus of the forst floor. In order for them to thrive on a mount, you had better be willing to water them frequently and keep the humidity up.

Switching gears, I have used sphag to grow paphs, but their roots are really sensitive to air restrictions, so be sure to keep it loose.