Lady Slipper pot

[Jag]

Can a lady slipper orchid be grown in a african violet pot??
Also, what type of soil media would you recommend?

I have dried sphagnum moss, orchid bark, vermiculite, perlite, peat moss.
Any help would be appriciated. I googled for soil mixes but got different answers. I trust people from here more. thanks all.

-- Jesse

 

[seedjar]

I'm no orchid expert, so you should by no means take mine as the final word. I don't think an african violet pot would be ideal. Aren't those undrained? I wouldn't be surprised if you made it work, but I don't think that's when most lady slippers prefer. I'm sure someone smart like Tony will come along and give you better advice than mine, though.
~Joe

 

[uphwiz]

No violet pot paph's must drain well though, phrags.( Paph's cousin) can sit in water, like some cp's.
i have mine in a north window shelf,
not much sun this time of year, and i do have a flour. fixture two 24" grow lux bulbs just t-12's 10 hours a day , never direct sun on these, they could take a little morning sun but you would need to acclimate them to it.
medium humidity 35 55 % , any good orchid mix will do should have a little charcoal and perlite in the mix. water once weekly and 1/4 strength orchid bloom booster plant fertilizer. make sur to use something formulated for orchids/no urea .
if you feed all the time its just easier to keep up with the schedule.
i keep a fan near the shelf and mist a few nights a week slightly wetting the top of the mix and the leaves of the orchid , and run the fan at a pretty good force as to dry them out,its ok to leave the fan running all night of you want I don't leave them wet.
they like a cool down at night to help start the bloom cycle flower, the spraying and fan help with this.
also the ones i have like most house hold conditions , if you can take it they can.
and they like a little rest from say dec to feb or so to start the bloom cycle ( little drier , little less light, and little less fertilizer).
Lowii is blooming a little early this year, and i hope it keeps up this cycle, as the others havent even set buds yet. i'll try s and do some photos of them as ,and if they bloom this year.
These are my conditions , Im sure there are other waysbut this seems to work for my group
I just pasted this from another thread i posted ( paph. lowii heavy pic.)
I dont ues sphagnum in my paphs it keeps too much moister for me , but some do, just be careful not over water if you do use it.

 

[seedjar]

Violet pots are undrained but designed so that the roots never are exposed to standing water, if I recall. There's a reservoir in the bottom and moisture is wicked to the roots through an inner surface of unglazed clay. I just wonder if that would be too consistent and mildly moist for a Paph. My understanding was that they liked the transitions between wet and dry and wanted a good soaking periodically, so long as it drains away and the roots aren't allowed to stand in it for long.
~Joe

 

[swords]

Are you asking about the tropical lady slippers Paphs or Phrags or the actual temperate Lady Slippers of the genus Cyripedium?

I grew C. reginae in a pot for the spring/summer from a corm, it grew and bloomed fantastically but it died over winter (didn't come up the next year), got too cold in the container apparently. My lilies stay outside in a whiskey barrel year round but the temperate Orchid didn't make it in the same sort of setup.

 

[seedjar]

Paphs are tropical? I'm sure glad I didn't try moving mine outside last year.
~Joe

 

[uphwiz]

i think paph's are South American, phrags are for the most part Asian. think think

 

[SGcvn69]

One tip I got from a paph vendor...REPOT EVERY YEAR! I use a fine/med orchid bark mix w/ some aliflor for the large ones. for the smaller ones, just the small bark mix w/ aliflor. SOAK YOUR BARK before potting up for 24 hours with a drop of Dawn dish soap to break the water barrier tension on the bark! Make sure they are nicely anchored into the pot. DO NOT overpot any orchid. Use a pot that fits the root ball size. The easiest way to kill an orchid is by overwatering! Use 1/4 strength fertilizer w/o urea weekly weakly. Direct sun is OK, but not all day long. Morning sun or afternoon sun, never both!

African violet pots are a BAD idea! No air circulation around the roots!

 

[uphwiz]

if you do put in the sun make sure they are used to it or they could burn, acclimate over a couple, to three weeks,
some of can take more sun , the mottled (spotted) leaf paph's can take fairly low light.

 

[Jag]

thanks everyone for this helpful advice. The only reason why I was asking about the african pot is because I have managed to grow pings on them. I have now transfer them into regular pots and I have one african pot that is not in use. So I thought since the african violet pot keeps the media moist but never gets saturated I could maybe use it on a Paphiopedilum.

Uphwiz: Thank you for you personal experience it means a lot to me!

Seedjar: Yes you are correct. The pot has two parts to it. One is a reservoir where I can put the water and forget about it, and the other is unglazed clay where the plant and media goes.

Swords: From what I am understood my species is a tropical plant. The flower is mostly purple with black specks, with white and purple stripes. The plant is not in bloom but I can remember the flower.

SGcvn69: I have read in many places this instructions and you have confirmed it. I am using Orchid fertilizer w/ out Urea and I am misting every twice a week. As for sunlight, this is not an option. What I am using instead is 6-t12's 40 watt each. (Yes I am growing it next to my carnivorous plants) its about 18 inches away from the light source.

I was thinking of using the african violet pot and using some really airy media like 1 part sphagnum peat moss, 2 part orchid bark, 2 parts perlite. Or something to that matter. But it is true that no air whatsoever will go into the roots unless I put a fan right on top of it. Bad Idea! So, I am discarting this idea.
The only reason why I am repotting it is because couple of months ago it felt out of my hands and landed on the floor where most of the media landed. I threw the media away and left what was on the pot. Now the plant is giving three plantlets and is currently in a tall 3 inch pot filled with holes. So this the reason why I want to repot. The only thing I am scared of is overwatering it. I do have some orchid mix I had bought at Home Depot. Ill just buy another pot for my orchid. I do want to say thank you for everyone taking your time and trying to help me out.

--Jesse

 

[swords]

Yes, Paphs and Phrags are tropical lady slippers, the Asian species growing in some of the same regions as Neps. Sounds like Jag has one of these tropical types which makes caring for it a lot easier. Be sure the pot has drainage holes and pot the plant with fine diameter bark and you won't have to worry about overwatering.

You can grow the tropicals outside in good weather, mine bloomed well after spending the summers on the patio. Just don't leave them outside once temps get down to 50*F or so since they don't die back to a corm and come back every year like a Cypripedium does or is supposed to.