Mike stated things perfectly well about the differences in culture between paphs and phrags....I must say that for a beginner, phrags are much easier than paphs....they thrive on overwatering....the beginner's biggest problem (and maybe my biggest problem...and I am far from a beginner so I have no excuse.....). They even thrive on what would normally be considered a totally deteriorated mix...as long as they have aeration, in the form of spongerock, aliflor, styrofoam, what ever your favorite is, they will thrive with what would normally be fatal amounts of water and degrees of decay. I have repotted phals after 4 years in the same mix...virtually no mix left, just slimy perlite, yet loads of healthy live roots. The drawback to phrags as compared to paphs...well, the blooms rarely last more than 2 weeks, although with successive bloom, a plant can bloom for the better part of the year...repetetiveness...nothing can compare to the intense color and beauty of besseae, or the spectacle of a caudatum with nearly meter long petals....but the hybrids all tend to resemble each other. Have one besseae hybrid, you have nearly all of them. Also, out of bloom, all phrags look nearly alike...plain green, maybe varying shades. I vastly prefer paphs...blooms can last up to 4 months, far greater variety, and out of bloom, among mottled leaf types, no two will look exactly alike, and all will look great. They are more temperamental...the balance between damp and wet is a fine one...they must have, more so than paphs, plenty of aeration...and if you prefer bark, intensive repotting. Coconut husk chips, when properly soaked, are far better, and can last more than a year...but again, spongerock or similar additives are an absolute must. Paphs are more sensitive to pH also...phrags love an acidic pH, but paphs will do poorly at pH's below 6.5...and most fertilizers are acidic, especially those with higher amounts of P...it is supplied by phosphoric acid.(Note- delanatii is an exception...it does better in acidic conditions, and I treat it as a phrag, with bark and some sphagnum in the mix,except for the heavy watering.) Regardless, all slipper types are great plants, and I highly recommend them to everyone! Take care, Eric Muehlbauer in pleasant Queens NY..waiting for micranthum bud to make it! _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids
