Cypripedium 2009

[Michael]

Freshly opened, and i rushed to take a picture. My very first Cypripedium. I will definitely try some more next year!!!

[Slug Killer]

Very nice Michael. What medium are you growing it in over there?

Another Cyp debile.

[Michael]

I am growing it on a clay pot. The potting mix is very airy and consists of a top layer of leaf mould, some  perlite amd loam. The bottom layer is made of grit to aid drainage.

For now it's still a single, but we'll see how it does next year

Is the Cyp. debile always nodding like that?

[Maxime_P]

Cypripedium are so much more beautiful than most of Paphiopedilum ...

Congrats ! 

[Slug Killer]

Yes Cyp debile always does come back under the leaf but most photo's don't show it because they are close ups of the flower.

Dave

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Well done Michael !
Always nice to experience a "First" isn't it !

[Anthony Darby]

Michael, how long did you keep the reginae in the fridge?

[johanneshoeller]

Michael,

is this the reginae which I sent you? What is the matter with the calceolus?

[Michael]

If you do not like Paphiopedilum, then go for the Parvisepalum section Maxime

Well done Michael !
Always nice to experience a "First" isn't it !

Yes it is Luc, specially when i have been hesitating growing them for the last 5, and then I get this success. But i must say that all the merit of this flowering belongs to Hans, and not to me, since he has grown the plant last year.  Now next year we shall see if it flowers too!

Michael, how long did you keep the reginae in the fridge?

I had it since October until February, inside the legume drawer. I am seriously thinking of getting a fridge just for me!!!

Michael,
is this the reginae which I sent you? What is the matter with the calceolus?

Yes it is! The calceolus are also in perfect health, the smaller one had no but this year, but the biggest one had one flower bud, that was damaged by a Caterpillar. Even though the damage was very light, the plant aborted the bud. Anyway, i am still happy that i killed it, before it started to chew on the leaves.

[Anthony Darby]

Cyps need 2 to 3 months at 4^oC or below, so your legume drawer must be cold Michael? A fridge would be OK in frost-free climates, but useless in a UK garage as temperatures below freezing knacker the thermostat. You'd need an environmental chamber which maintains a fixed temp regardless of the ambient temperature, i.e. can raise as well as lower the internal temperature. I think some American fridges do this?

[Otto Fauser]

Anthony and Michael,
 here we only have 2 to 3 weeks of minimum 4C. in winter , but I still manage to grow and flower a few Cypripediums , planted out in a cool , shady part of my garden ., so
do not make use of a refrigerater .Summer temperatures can sometimes climb into the
 high thirties . I enrich the soil with leafmould and some perlite and bark.
  I only grow a few Frosch Hybrids and the following 'easy' species : C. formosanum,
 parviflorum and p. var. pubescens .unfortunately no others are available here.
       Otto.

[Michael J Campbell]

My first attempt at Cypripedium.

Cypripedium formosanum

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

Do Cypripediums replace themselves each year, or does the growing "nose" from the previous year grow again?  My Cyp formosanum from Otto has produced 2 lovely little noses on little stems about 1.5cm away from the current growth shoot and I am assuming that these are next years growth and the old shoot then just dies off?  Never having grown these before I know very little about them.  I am just VERY happy that it has not only survived, but also apparently multiplied this year as well.  With our summer heat I wasn't sure it was even going to live until autumn.    Thanks Otto!! 

[Anthony Darby]

Paul, the old shoot just dies off and can be carefully pulled out when completed dead. New noses form like side shoots.

[Paul T]

Anthony,

Cool, I thought that might be the case.  At the moment there are 2 noses produced on "stolons" about 1cm long on each side of the original shoot.  I'm assuming that these are the side shoots for the coming year then.  I'm just so chuffed that it has survived.  It was definitely something I didn't want to lose.