Cypripediums in the garden

[mark smyth]

I bought some Cyps at the Loughborough show. During the recent heat wave I nearly lost them because I forgot to water them. Thankfully they were on the north side of the house.

I would like to plant them in the garden where they will hopefully do better.

Do I plant them if full sun or in the shade under my big birch? Plants under there get no full sun, when it shines, until around 3pm.

What planting mix? The soil under there is quite gritty.

Thanks in advance

Here are two of them
Kentucky and Pueblo

[Maren]

Hi Mark,

definitely not in full sun, under your birch trees seems suitable provided the ground is not too dry.
1) Improve the soil by adding grit and well rotted leaf mould,
2) dig a shallow hole, no deeper than 6 inches,
3) spread the roots horizontally, so that the new shoot will be just an inch underneath the surface of the soil,
4) fill gently and water well. Make sure you keep well watered until the autumn.
5) If the plants have long stems, stake them. The best way to do this is to get some very pointed sticks and gently push them into the soil without piercing the roots.

Good luck.

[annew]

I bought mine at the same time and they are doing well in my shade house, except for the terrible slug damage so take precautions!

[Anthony Darby]

If you are putting leaf mould into a hole with cyps you must have very little rain? I stuck to the maximum 20% organic material otherwise they just rotted, and that was in full sun.

[John Aipassa]

My soil is quite sandy so I put in a lot of organics (leaf mould, coconut coir, shredded bark, sometimes potting soil, etc) in the mix. I would say at least one third. The other parts are sandy humus rich garden soil from the hole (one third) and material to open the soil like Seramis, perlite, grit, coarse sand or whatever (also one third).

My holes are becoming more and more shallow when I dig them. Choosing a well drained spot my holes are now not more than 6 inches deep like Maren's. I started digging holes with a depth of at least 12 inches. When the soil is draining well, the hole doesn't need to be that deep.

When planting the Cyps I water them in with water and added beneficial mycorrhizae and bacteria.

[Maren]

I gave my allotment cyps a light lunch of dried blood today, mixing it by hand into the top of the soil. Didn't want to use a hoe for fear of damaging the stems.

The sun was shining very strongly but underneath the shading, the soil felt nice and cool. No wonder they like it. 

Washed my hands thoroughly but they still smell of the stuff.

The pictures were taken a month ago.

[Anthony Darby]

I used fungicide. Michael Weinert suggests they are not needed. In the garden the mycorrhiza are unnecessary and often kill the plant. Their use in nature is to break down organic material to make it available to plant roots. Using inorganic substrate and liquid fertiliser removes the need. http://www.cypripedium.de/English/know-how-e/know-how-e.html

[John Aipassa]

That depends which myccorhizae strains are used  .  Not all mycorrhizae are used only for breaking down organics.

The beneficial mycorrhizae strains suitable for garden orchids establishes a symbiotic relationship and increases the total surface of the rootsystem to take more nutrients and water. Here in the Netherlands a mix (endo and ecto mycorrhizae) is available for the use with garden orchids. The results are quicker establishment and quicker bulking up even with more finnicky plants like Cyp. calceolus. The mix also works with other garden orchids like Epipactis, Dactylorhiza etc.

For instance my Epipactis. These orchids are known for needing at least one or two years to get established. That is my experience at the least. Last year I planted several newly bought Epipactis royleana and added the mycorrizae mix. These plants are now already thriving in its first year in the ground unlike my older Epipactis plants planted years ago, which needed at least two years to show some healthy new growth.
 
The same goes with Epipactis "Catalina" and mairei.  Both almost didn't survive this last cold and freezing winter. The rhizome was clearly more dead than alive and all the buds have turned to mush and were dead when I checked them last early spring. Adding some mycorrhizae when planting it back it now results in three to four new healthy growths coming out of the ground, yeah!!.

Some newly planted Cyp hybrid clumps (last fall) even came up this spring with more growths than the buds I counted when I planted them. So, I am not complaining  .

[Maren]

Hi John,
sounds very interesting. I have lost several Epipactis mairei and would like to try anything to keep them going. Where can I buy the mycorrhiza you are using? and what are they called? any supplier information, please?

[John Aipassa]

Hi John,
sounds very interesting. I have lost several Epipactis mairei and would like to try anything to keep them going. Where can I buy the mycorrhiza you are using? and what are they called? any supplier information, please?

Hello Maren,

The mix is developed by two Dutch female plant biologists specializing in mycorrhizae and soil ecology. It contains 14 different species of European endo and ecto mycorrhizae and was initially developed for trees and shrubs, but the mix turned out to be useful for garden orchids too. The product is called "Wortelflora" (in English: Root Flora) and is available at their website:

http://webwinkel.servaplant.nl/43-orchidee%C3%ABn/98/wortelflora-500-g.html

The website and webshop is completely in Dutch so maybe you can contact them and ask them directly if you have difficulties reading all the stuff. Or I can be of your assistance and order for you and send the package from my place to your's. Just ask. I would be happy to help you out.

Mix the mycorrhizae with the soil and plant the Epipactis in it or if you have established plants just poke some holes with a screw driver or the like in the soil and add the mix in the holes. Or expose some roots and add the mix directly on the roots, but than you'll have to be careful not to add too much. The stuff is highly concentrated so too much might result in a non healthy biological pressure for the orchid. Add it with care and the orchid will thrive later on.

Don't use any chemical fertilizers. It will kill the mycorrhizae. Use only organic fertilizers to feed the orchids if you add mycorrhizae.

Epipactis mairei likes to be planted like a Cypripedium. Roots spreaded out and in the top 6 inches of the soil in a free draining Cyp like mix. After last winter I am going to give them sufficient winter protection with at least 4 inches of mulch (leaf litter/leaf mould) this coming winter.

[Maren]

Hi John,

thank you, that's all very useful. I'll come back to you if and when I need help. Let me read the website first, my Dutch should be good enough for that.

[John Aipassa]

Hi Maren,

Good luck and if needed just contact me.

I have taken some pictures this morning of the Epipactis mentioned.

The first is Epipactis mairei and the second is Epipactis "Catalina". Both lost their buds this winter and several roots. The remaining root systems looked very wobbly. I have planted them again with the mix the first week in March and look at them now.

The third is a group of my Epipactis royleana. All planted last fall with the mycorrhizae mix.
Three other royleana plants planted on a different spot in the garden and without the mix didn't come up yet.

[Maren]

Great. while you're online, I am just putting in an order for the mycorrhiza but can't see how to pay for it. What is iDEAL?

[John Aipassa]

IDEAL is a Dutch online payment system and I don't think it is available for foreign customers, sorry  .

[Maren]

OK, I managed to sort it out with the company.