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.