Cypripedium franchetii cultivation help?

[Corrado & Rina]

Thanks Maren, very useful!

I apologise for the question about rainwater, I thought there was some intrinsic problem with rainwater and hose-end diluter. :-D

PS: One week in and still no answer on water quality from our beloved utility company. They must be missing inaction (misspelling intended).

[Corrado & Rina]

Hi Maren,

We received answer from our utility company with last available data over the year:

1) Calcium between 93 and 112 mg/L with an average of 102.5
2) PH between 6.99 and 8.05 with average at 7.45
3) Conductivity  between 456 and 669 microS/cm with average at 545.94

In other words hard water with alkaline PH. Your conductivity rue does not seem to work, becuse most of the time the water is already above the 500  .... what would you do?

Best,

[Maren]

Hi,
these values are similar to the ones we get in my area and my conductivity rule works perfectly (for me). I tried to explain this in my post dated 30th April.

The simple options:

1) if your tap water is very hard, use rainwater when feeding. 
    or
2) use whatever you like and gather your own experiences.

[Corrado & Rina]

Hi Maren,

I really apologise. I had overlooked that post!

I am wondering two things (mostly for the sake of arguments)

1) Looking at the quantity of trace elements in our water, I wander if watering from the tap is actually going to provide all the micro nutrients without using a fertiliser .... of course N and P would still be  missing ....

2) I wander if using a fertiliser with sequestered iron makes a difference or not ....  does anyone have experience of using it on Cypripedium?

Best,

[Maren]

No need to apologise, it usually takes me a few attempts to understand a new concept.
Question 1, you have already answered it yourself, plants do need N & P.
Question 2: I have not used sequestered iron other than on my blueberries, which require acid conditions. Most cypripediums require alkaline conditions, therefore I would not use it. Instead, I tend to put a little dolomite lime around the stems, they like that. And if the foliage gets too light in summer, I give them Epsom salts as prescribed on the packet.
All these items are available by googling on the web.

[Corrado & Rina]

Thanks Maren!

I have started feeding them with Maxcrop Plus Complete Garden Feed (NPK: 5-5-5.)

Now that they are growing strongly I am thinking of feeding at 50%, to then drop to 25% after flowering. I will then move to higher K for the last part of the season in preparation for the next year.

Best,