Paph leucochilums - start of 2009 flowering season.

This is the start of the flowering season for brachys. The picture shows several Paph leucochilums that have flowered to date. Several are still in buds. Typically the flower can last between 6 to 10 weeks.
The two back row flowers NS are between 84 to 87 mm whereas the 4 plants from the front row are slightly smaller (NS between 65 to 72 mm). However these 4 colours are much darker and spotting is more compact.

Doi Tung Garden - Part 2

The 2nd part of the pictures was taken at Doi Tung Garden.

A normal form of Paph callosum.

Another form of Paph callosum var viniferum. This form has very dark maroon colour on its sepal and petals. This clone was an award winning clone.

An alba form of Paph venustum.

The good old big top of Paph charleswaorthii.

Doi TungPaph Garden - Part 1

During my recent trip (Feb 2009) to NE Thailand I revisited the Doi Tung Garden again. My last visit to the garden was in 2006.

Over the few years, the paph collection has improved tremendously. Many of the species as well as hybrids are being tissue cultured in the Garden's Lab.

Several plants from their collection were awarded FCC. The Paph armeniacum (picture above) was one such plant.

Flask as well as seedling of paph can be bought at the Garden's Shop.

Paph from bud to full bloom

When you see the plant (top left), you must be very excited. Yes it is and began to wonder how the flower is going to turn out. Will it have the features/characteristics of the parents? Keep your finger crossed and wait.
The pictures show the various stages from bud to full bloom of Paph leucochilum.
Typically it takes about a month for the full bloom to develop. This will greatly depend on the growing conditions (water, light etc).
Once the bloom is fully developed, the flower can easily last between 6 to 10 weeks.

My Paph concolors

Paph concolor is one of the easiest paphs to grow and do not require much care. It's a beginner's paph. Just need to keep them on the dry side and fertilise them weakly (1/4 strength).

Here are 3 of my concolors that I have selected.

My first Paph concolor - this plant was bought when I started to grow paphs. It was purchased in 2004. It has never failed to flower year after year. The record that this plant had bloomed for a single stalk was 4 flowers.

My darkest Paph concolor - this plant produces the darkest yellow of all my concolors. It is not very clear from this photo. This clone is from NE Thailand.

My largest Paph concolor - look at the size of the leaves. The leaf shown measures 2 inches across and 6 inches long. Very showy plant.

Can you grow Paph in hydroponic?

Have you ever thought of growing Paphs in hydroponics without flouting the law of mosquito breeding?
Here it is a plant that has been growing in the same pot for well over 2.5 years in the same old pot. It was grown from a seedling that was given by a friend when he deflasked it. The plant flowered after about 2 years.
This is how the plant is grown:
Growing medium - expanded clay (LECA).
Water level - between 1.5 to cm high.
Fertiliser - weekly at 1/4 strength, flush with water in between.
Note: Not all paph can be grown in this manner. The plant illustrated is a hybrid between concolor and liemianum.

Paph leucochilum TR136-3

The flowers from this flask have proven to produce pretty good quality bloom in terms of markings, colour and shape of the flower. The markings are very dark and very good spotting across both the sepal and petals. The sepal is almost covered by the dark chocolate marking.

This plant was awarded merit for OSSEA Feb 09 Table Display.

OSSEA Jan 2009 Table Display - 2nd flower

The flower on the left was the only flower that was on displayed during the above show.

The flower on the right is the 2nd flower that bloomed after the show. It is from the same inflorescene. Leucochilum with 2 flowers from a single stalk is uncommon. Normally 1 flower is produced from the stalk.

You may refer to an earlier posting for the 1st flower.