Paphiopedilum Adam Hausermann x Duncan York (#2) has really grown

Paph Adam Hausermann x Duncan York (6 years after purchase)

I repotted my two paphiopedilum seedlings today, and was shocked to realize that 6 whole years have passed since I bought these orchid seedlings.  While the growth on seedling #1 has remained rather stunted over (years of dehydration by neglect circa 2013-2015 haven't helped), the plant on the left has managed to establish a healthy root system, and has really grown up to what I think should be flowering size.

Evidence of damage on orchid

However, even this large and healthy plant bears multiple signs of past damage.  One leaf was half chewed off by my mischievous cat, when I had dared to try growing this orchid on a windowsill instead of safely within a glass terrarium.  Several of the longer leaves are bent and broken from being tossed around during multiple moves between apartments over the years.  Another leaf is significantly shorter than it should be--evidence that I had failed to sufficiently water this orchid during that period of time. 

Cat is sizing up opportunity to attack a newly exposed orchid

Even my presence is not a deterrent against attack

I decided to repot the paph because it has been a long while since I've refreshed its media.  Also, the plant was a little top heavy in its pot, and would frequently dry out too much between waterings.  I had noticed a new growth developing at the base of the main plant, and this seemed like a good time to switch up to a larger pot.

New growth on paphiopedilum orchid

The paph had a healthy clump of roots, which explains its great recent growth. I tried to be very gently in the repotting, disturbing the roots as little as possible.

Lots of healthy roots on paphiopedilum orchid

Paphiopedilum after repotting

Here is the paph after repotting.  The final pot is perhaps a little bigger than it should be, but I didn't have an intermediate size between the old pot and the new.  I had a problem with the orchid completely drying out between my weekly waterings when it was in a smaller pot, so hopefully this larger size will keep a better balance of moisture.  And if I'm really lucky, perhaps I'll see it flower by end of summer.  

Repotting Paph (Adam Hausermann x Duncan York) seedlings

Paphiopedilum (Adam Hausermann 'York' x Duncan York 'Good Show')

     The paph seedlings were drying out too quickly.  Even on humid muggy days, the pots would be dry two days after watering.  On low humidity days, they'd dry up within 24 hours.  Since watering daily is a pain, and paphs generally like more evenly moist growing conditions, I decided to transer the seedlings to slightly larger pots.

Paph (Adam Hausermann x Duncan York) 1

     I first repotted the larger seedling.  One of its original two roots had rotted away, so I cut it off.  However, it had one new root which had grown decently long, as well as a number of fresh root starts right at the base of the plant.

Paph (Adam Hausermann x Duncan York) 2

     The second seedling is my smaller struggling one.  It had originally arrived with just one root, and was completely rootless as of last October.  Now, it has a few short roots, and a couple new growing tips.  

Newly repotted paphiopedilum seedlings

     I repotted both seedlings into 3" plastic pots.  The paphs sit more securely in these larger pots, so I no longer need the stake supports that I had added to the old pots.

Paph Adam Hausermann x Duncan York seedlings: one thrives while the other falters

Paph (Adam Hausermann 'York' x Duncan York 'Good Show')

     When I purchased this paph cross in July, I was happy to discover that I had two separate seedlings in my pot, one slightly larger than the other.  In the 4 months since, the larger seedling has thrived, while the smaller struggles for survival. 

     Both seedlings shed one leaf each.  However the larger plant has since grown one new leaf, and is now growing another.  The smaller seedling is still struggling to push out the one new leaf it was working on when I first received it.

Paph seedling lost its roots, new root tip showing

     The reason for the disparate growth success lies in the roots.  The larger plant had two roots to begin with (while the smaller one had 1) and it grew two more roots over the last few months.  

     The smaller seedling, on the other hand, lost the one root it had.  My best guess is that the root died after snapping near the orchid's base soon after I first repotted it.  Both orchids were quite shaky in their pots due to their relative lack of root mass, and while adding supports helped stabilize both of them, I think I added them too late to help seedling #2.

     The rootless seedling does have one new root budding from its base however, so it still has a chance to survive.  I repotted it more securely back into its original pot.  The orchid will probably lose the lowest of its leaves before the new root can grow enough to support the plant.  Hopefully the other two leaves will hang on long enough for the root system to recover.

Added supports to paph seedlings

Paph. Adam Hausermann 'York' X Duncan York 'Good Show' seedlings

     My paph seedlings seem to be doing well.  They are both busily growing new roots and leaves.  Their tiny pots dry out quickly, so that I am able to water every 1-2 days, giving the little orchids plenty of water without risking rotting the roots.

     However, because they don't have many mature roots, these orchids are very unstable in their pots.  Every time I move the pots for watering, the paphs are liable to flop over at an alarming angle.  In an attempt to add some stability to the orchids, I added wire supports to the pots.  These are similar to what I used to prop up my vertically inclined paph noid, with good success.

     Also noticeable in the picture is the yellowing on the bottom leaf of seedling #2 (on right).  I expect the orchid to shed that leaf soon. 

New Orchid: Paph (Adam Hausermann 'York' AM/AOS X Duncan York 'Good Show')

Paph. (Adam Hausermann 'York' AM/AOS x Duncan York 'Good Show')

     This is a young orchid, probably far from blooming size.  I'm not really familiar with paph hybrids enough to guess how many years I'll have to wait to see it flower.  According to the vendor's description, this should be a 'red/mahogany complex hybrid'.  Finding large photos of the parent plants online proved challenging.  Follow the link below to "Waldor Orchids" to see a larger version of  a Paph. Duncan York cross.  Meanwhile, I found an image of Paph. Adam Hausermann, at a chinese website, which looks like another vendor, although I can't be sure.

Photo Source: Waldor Orchids
Paph. Duncan York 'Olympia'

Photo Source: Orchids.gr.jp
Paph. Adam Hausermann 'York' AM/AOS

     I expect to get big red flowers from the cross, which may or may not be spotted.

     When I went to repot the little orchid, I discovered a great surprise: instead of one paph with two growths, there were two separate orchids planted together in the pot.  Since these are seed-grown hybrids, the two orchids will produce different flowers if they both survive.

Two paph seedlings from one pot

     One of the seedlings was smaller than the other.  Both had a rotten root each, which I trimmed off.  Afterwards, the smaller paph was left with one good root, and the larger paph with two.  Both had nubs of new roots budding from the base.  Neither my noid paph nor my sanderianum seem to have very roots, so I am not too worried about the low root number.

     

     The larger seedling, (#1) has 5 leaves, while the smaller (#2) has 3 full-size leaves, and one new leaf just starting out.  The leaves are 3-4" long.  #1 seems to have fuller leaves, while #2 seems to have longer/thinner ones, but it's really too soon to tell if there will be a permanent difference in the growth habit of the two paphs.

newly potted Paph (Adam Hausermann 'York' x Duncan York 'Good Show') seedlings

     I repotted each of the seedlings into a slightly smaller 2" plastic pot, using the Paph&Phrag potting mix from repotme.com.  Both orchids were a little shaky in their new pots, but I'm hoping that with time, the media will compact a little bit and help with stability.

     Since the pots are so small, the media has been drying out fast enough that I'm watering the paphs daily.  Also, since I have so many new/newly repotted orchids, I am once again adding superthrive to the water.  I placed the seedlings on the top shelf where they are getting maximal light.  Hopefully these little guys thrive and grow well!  And if I'm lucky I'll see variety in the flowers.