Question about re-potting a newly bought Cypripedium

[Beza]

Cheers, thanks for all the answers! So, I am going to get my hands on some pumice by thursday (I hope), and will use a mix of that with perlite, or failing that it'll be cat litter + perlite. I fear I haven't got super coarse perlite, just the standard stuff they sell in the garden centre. Will try to find a way to get the coarser bits out of it.

Also offered a new home to a bottle of general MiracleGro, which is 7-3-5 nutrient-wise. Plus I have some seaweed extract kicking about which I use on the roses for foliar feeding, that stuff is almost pure N plus lots of trace elements. It can be used for normal watering too, should I maybe alternate it with the standard fertilizer while the foliage grows?

[Beza]

So, I finally got hold of some pumice and re-potted into a mix of about 50% pumice, 40% perlite and a little bit of orchid substrate. I did use a slightly smaller plastic pot in the end, and that is sitting in the originally planned pot now, stuffed out at the side with some moss. I'll keep that moss moist once the weather gets warmer to hopefully keep the Cyp's roots a bit cooler. Fingers crossed it all works out, and many thanks to all of you for your input!

This is when I re-potted, I tried to get the original mix off as much as possible, but some bits just stuck too tightly onto the middle of the plant:


And moved into the new pot:

[TC]

I took a less technical approach.  I bought 3 Cyprediums, in flower, 2 years ago.  After flowering, I put the pots in a shady place in the garden, making sure they were kept moist.  When they had died down in late September, I moved them to a frame and put a thick layer of course, Melcourt composted bark over them.
 In March next year, I brought them into the greenhouse to flower in early May.  Back out into the garden again until September.  By this time repotting reared its ugly head. I chose much larger plastic pots and used MELCOURT composted bark in course and fine grades with a small amount of non peat based potting compost.  I established the compost mix by guddling until it felt right.  I partly filled the pots and then put the old pots in, with the plants and filled roundabout them.  When removed for planting, I teased the roots slightly and placed them in the hole - a snug fit  I had sprinkled some bone meal in the mixture because it seemed a good idea at the time.
 Put to bed in the frames, by December, I could see the tip of a shoot coming up through the compost.  I put another couple of inches of compost over it just in case frost nipped it.  By March, the growth was well underway in two pots with flowering about 10 days ago.  The other pot is about two weeks behind.  My problem now is to keep them from getting scorched in the current heat.

[David Nicholson]

"guddling"? That's a new one on me Tom.

[Maggi Young]

"guddling"? That's a new one on me Tom.

You're  not  spending enough time  north of the  border, David!  Guddling  is an old Scots word, used initally to describe  a method  of  fishing for trout  by  hand  - probably the  equivalent  of  "tickling" trout  in English - but also used, as  by  Tom, as a term to describe  mixing  something up, or  searching, fairly aimlessly and unsuccessfully through something. 
Who said you couldn't  learn stuff here ??!!

[David Nicholson]

I do like that, I shall use it a lot

[TC]

David
Guddling is a non-technical term for using your hands to mix the compost without exact formulas as to its consistency.  You just know it's right by its feel.  I will try a bit by pouring water on it to check on its porosity.  I don't measure any compost but just use handfuls.  It seems to work for me.

[Beza]

A little update to my first Cyp-try:

The plant did quite well and actually flowered on two shoots. The flowers lasted for about a month and even had an intriguing fragrance at certain day times. I had to sadly remove one of the 5 shoots at that time as it had caught some kind of fungus and was rotting. After the flowering was done I lost another shoot to the wind, it was kinda sheared off at the bottom. The remaining 3 shoots look quite happy, and while I took the plant indoors while the flowers where up, it is back outdoors again now in a shady spot which it seems to like so far. Fingers crossed I'll get it through the winter.

[Maren]

Hi, cypripediums like continental climate: hot in the summer, cold in the winter. In this country we cannot provide that consistently. It's not the cold that kills the plant, it's the cold and wet.

Also, cypripediums like to sleep in the winter, so when we have a little sunshine that warms up the pot they are in, it makes them think that spring has sprung and they do all sorts of irresponsible things like starting to grow, only to be knocked on the head by the next cold spell.

So give it a little hat or cloche in the winter to keep the rain off and make sure the pot cannot be hit by sun.

[Beza]

Thank you for the advice! I have put a cover of leaves on the pot for now, and it does not receive any direct sunshine where it sits. As it is in very open medium, it shouldn't suffer from being overly wet in any case, and the leaves should keep off the worst of the rain (I hope).