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.

Repotting Paph noid

Noid Paphiopedilum

     I'm not sure what to do with my noid paph.  Last year's new growth keeps growing ever taller, and ever farther out from the media.  The stem on the growth keeps producing little root nubs which fail to grow.  Meanwhile, it keeps producing more leaves, making the whole thing ever taller and more unstable.

     My biggest worry is that if this year's newest growth appears high up on this stem, then there will be no way to bring its roots anywhere near the potting media.  

Paphiopedilum roots

     Although it hasn't been a year since the last repotting, I was a little concerned about the media taking a long time to dry between waterings.  Fortunately, all the roots were healthy.  They were also completely unchanged from last January.  I don't know what it would take to get this orchid to grow new roots into the media.

      I cleaned out the pot with a lysol wipe and a good wash, added fresh media, and put the paph back in, much as it was before.  The orchid shed one of its bottom leaves during the process (it had been only losely attached), but there is yet another new leaf growing from the crown.  To try and help promote at least a few more roots to grow from the stem, wrapped some sphagnum moss around the base, which I'll try to keep evenly moist.    

Repotting Paphiopedilum sanderianum

Young Paphiopedilum sanderianum plant

    It is a testament to the Paph sanderianum's slow growth that this is the first time I am writing about this orchid since I introduced it when starting this blog.  I've had the orchid for about 6 months now, and all it's done is finish growing a new leaf.

Another leaf?

     Now there is a hint of something new pushing out from the crown; it is almost certainly another leaf.  Bolstered by the new growth and the incipient Spring, I decided to finally repot the orchid for the first time.

     I was immediately struck by how dark the paph's roots are (much darker than those of my noid paph).  Most of the roots seemed healthy, but I didn't notice any new growing root tips.  There were however several broken roots, which I trimmed off before returning the paph to its pot.

Paph sanderianum roots after trimming

The old paph potting media

     I noticed that the old paph media had rocks mixed in with the bark and perlite.  I guess the rocks help increase the drainage of the media.  Since rock doesn't degrade like bark does, I picked out the pebbles and mixed them in with fresh media, and used that to repot the orchid back in its original pot.