Cypripedium 2012

[Anthony Darby]

Hi Anthony,

Fortunately I don't have clay soil, but what's with the clay? 

My garden in Dunblane was solid clay. I had to dig huge pits and fill them with perlite to grow my cyps in the garden. Even then the worms would drag the clay in. With the rain we got - remember I could grow cyps in pots and rarely have to water them - would make my garden into a swamp. My lawn sloped 30^o, and even a week after rain, the grass at the top would still be water logged.

[Stephen Vella]

Anyone tried to import flasked seedlings to NZ? Shouldn't be a problem, except perhaps in the MAF imagination, as they are germinated on sterile media?

I don't know about NZ importation rules but in Aus you can bring in 12 flasks without excess fees. Phytos to prove they are flask grown. And a sight inspection fee. CITES is not needed for flask orchids. That's the easy part.
There's the risk of them dyeing even before they arrive, its all about timing. Flasks were available in April, August would be better but the labs in the northern hemisphere could not provide this. In April I had a batch overheat on arrival at Sydney airport when it was 30c. Cyps in gel media are very sensitive to temperature fluctuations.  I lost some to a bacterial rot when in growth the first year. Its a cheap way to import a lot but expect a lot of losses. I managed to keep alive 20% over the years and are all species so it was a challenge.

Best to do some research, speak to MAF officers and ask if your able to import flasks and the costs?

Overall I know of some importers that imported 2 yr old hybrids to Aus with exemptions to fumigation and thats where the losses were.
Good luck!

[John Aipassa]

My garden in Dunblane was solid clay. I had to dig huge pits and fill them with perlite to grow my cyps in the garden. Even then the worms would drag the clay in. With the rain we got - remember I could grow cyps in pots and rarely have to water them - would make my garden into a swamp. My lawn sloped 30^o, and even a week after rain, the grass at the top would still be water logged.

Thanks. Luckily I have sandy soil. The rain just poors through, but I have to be careful. Some tiny parts of the garden have a layer at a depth of 30 cm, which is highly compressed and does not drain very well. If I do not open that layer up, which is about 20 cm thick, I will have a tiny swamp there too. For every Cyp clump I dig down deep to be sure such a layer is not present.

How is your NZ soil? Better suited than in Dunblane?

[John Aipassa]

After three years in the ground and only showing leaves my x alaskanum is finally flowering now. Yee Haw!

[Hakone]

Cypripedium Gabriela

[Graham Catlow]

My first this year, and a new one for me from a very kind forumist Two flowers now and another to come. Rather bent over by the wind, rain and hail of the last few days.
Cypripedium 'Giselle'

Edit. Oops wrong thread this is in the garden not a pot.
maggi edit : it's in the right place now

[Graham Catlow]

My first this year, and a new one for me from a very kind forumist Two flowers now and another to come. Rather bent over by the wind, rain and hail of the last few days.
Cypripedium 'Giselle'

Edit. Oops wrong thread this is in the garden not a pot.
maggi edit : it's in the right place now

Thanks Maggi,
But I thought I'd gone mad I didn't see your edit at first and went looking in the Cyps in pots thead to see what I had done and was just about to edit my edit to remove it so I didn't look as though I didn't know what I was doing, and then I saw your edit and realised I didn't neeed to edit my edit.

[Maggi Young]

I often feel like that, Graham... sit down with a cuppa or a beer and you'll soon feel better 

[Graham Catlow]

Time for a cuppa then!

[Anthony Darby]

How is your NZ soil? Better suited than in Dunblane?

Solid clay, but I don't think we have a cold enough winter to grow them successfully?

[goofy]

hello,
today some species Cyps

Cypripedium calceolus


Cypripedium guttatum




Cypripedium pubescens


enjoy

[Anthony Darby]

I had a clump of calceolus which grew in the shade. The tepals were always washed out, greenish with very little of the dark maroon, so I moved it to full sun (actually, anywhere north of Yorkshire, full sun is regarded as light shade) and from then on the tepals were really dark and I was happy.

[Mavers]

Thought you might like to see my cypripedium 'Emil'.

It was my first foray into cyp's & it was a tiny thing when I bought it from Paul Christian. I planted it in free draining compost in a terracotta half pot as I read they were shallow rooted & needed sharp drainage. It didn't do very well at all just one stem each year for the next five or so years & the leaves were yellowish.

About two years ago I decided enough was enough, if it was tough enough to survive my learning curve then it should be tough enough to survive re-potting in to a deep plastic rose pot with better planting substrate. Since then it has romped away.

I picked up a tip from a grower of tropical orchids to use 'Orchid Focus' fertiliser as it does not contain nitrogen in the form of urea which he said orchids dislike.

Mike

[yijiawang]

Cypripedium sp3, maybe a form of tibeticum or macranthum, or tibeticum X franchetii. Anyway, very very beautiful!

[Anthony Darby]

Nice form of 'Emil' Mike. I grew it in the garden and it went from a wee non flowering plant to 60 flowering stems in just a few years.