I think the growth looks healthy, cute little orchids! The roots looked kinda firm but still brown? Does that type of orchid not have white/green roots? I'm a novice still, i only know phals and oncidiums. Hopefully some day i can get to a point where i can propogate them like that. I want to share orchids with everyone :)

Nice plants TM, healthy looking seedlings. I bought 3 groups of seedlings from Spangle Creek Labs last spring. They over wintered fine, nearly all are growing new shoots. One has 3, all the others have one, a couple have two. How old are your seedlings? They seem to have many more shoots than mine, is there a trick to growing them or do they just need time.

The adults (one kentuckiense and 4 hybrids) have also initiated, the Cyp kentuckiense is showing 3 shoots, had one last year which bloomed. Can I expect 3 blooms or not necessarily so, I'm new to these guys. Right now I'm growing them in a bright, warmer spot of the cold greenhouse. Should I take them outside? We already had numerous days over 80F and will get into the 90s regularly from July on. Unless I get other advice I plan to keep them where they are.

I ordered some more blooming sized plants from Raising Rarities, should be here Friday. Nice plants which are a seldom seen in SOCAL, no one seems to want to bother with them. When I brought the blooming kentuckiense to meetings, it generated a lot of interest but not a single member bought some plants. Oh well, their loss.

Nick

Hi Nick, I got my seedlings, a year old, May 5, 2010. So I would guess that they are about 4 years old.
Do you feed your plants? I would tend to think that feeding promotes the growth of buds along with adequate watering and soil aeration.
Cyps demand special treatment that alot of orchid growers are not interested in dealing with. Refrigerator space can be dear, that is why I have to depot yearly.
So I am not really looking for flowering for another year or two. Need to snag some larger styraform cups for growing them. The white color and the tendency to not heat up are what I like over the plastic pots.
The kentuckinese occurs down into Texas and even in the shade it can be quite hot!! I think it would do well outside but be sure to supply humidity, like a gravel bed that is kept moist onto which the pots can be placed. In your area in broken shade for an hour or two each day. Just watch on the first attempt to protect from the leaves getting scorched. I prefer to move my plants outside when it is cloudy for a few days. Also check to see if the plant need watering daily in your hotter weather.

This is only their second year, I think they are doing OK. One has 3 shoots. I have them in a cool GH, outside conditions in SOCAL are not conducive to Cyp growing. They get watered every 2 days and fed a very dilute mix of MSU fertilizer with every watering.

Nick

Sounds good Nick! At the moment the buds are slowly developing and once the first leaves make their appearance I may start a very dilute feeding using Miracle Gro Liquid Plant Food. I did not mix in any additional nitrohumus into the mix this year but will probably add some to the depotted mix and let it rot so it will be perfect at the next repotting.
Once the new leaves are up I may do a short video showing them and will post on this thread.

I bought a BS C kentuckiense last year, 2 stems, one of which bloomed. This year it has 4 stems developing and at least 2 of them have buds, too soon to tell about the other 2. Hope it keeps motoring along at this rate, should make a nice colony in 3 to 4 years.

Bought a jumbo BS C californicum from Fraser's Thimble Farm this spring. It has 6 shoots developing but a long way to go before I can tell if it will bloom. About 3" to 4" tall right now. Have a C formosana in bloom right now, that one came from Raising Rarities in OH. These Cypripediums are addicting, too bad they are so expensive.!

Where have you bought Cypripediums from?

Nick

My notes only go back to 2004.
Looks like Cyp Haven is the only other one that I got cyps from besides Sprangle Creek.

Cyp Haven is no longer in business but they list other supplies at their website.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cyp Haven

Cyp Haven also was my starting point although i never got plants from them because they were no longer selling by the time I got interested. The list 6 vendors, I found that Raising Rarities seems to have to biggest strongest plants. Fraser's Thimble Farm in Canada has the largest selection. I also got some seedlings from Spangle.

Carson Whitlow is going to talk to us on Cyps this July, he still does society talks.

Nick

The 'Vermont Ladyslipper Co' has the lowest prices but they make you buy a minimum of 2 plants per clone. Unless you want 2 of each that actually makes them the most expensive. Weird.

Nick

By this time 4 plants have reached full size, kentuckiense, formosana, Phillip and Victoria. Formosana has bloomed, Phillip and Victoria are in bloom and kentuckiense is in bud. I will be most happy if this trend continues as a few more are growing in that direction. As with Pleiones, once one gets the hang of this genera they seem to be easy and willing.

I grew up in Calgary, Alberta,Canada and my weekend journeys, upon the discovery of the opposite sex, often took me to a place called 'Bragg Creek'. There I remember marveling at a group of plants with pouches part of their flowers which grew in colonies in a boggy area. 40 years later, now living in California and having been infected with the orchid virus, I remembered them and on one of my visits actually returned to the spot. They were still there and I dug up a couple and took them back to California where they promptly died as I had no idea what I was doing.

Today I unpacked a few from Fraser's Thimble Farm and one of them is Cyp passerinum (http://www.orchidspecies.com/cyppasserinum.htm) which only grows in Alberta and northern Montana. Hopefully I now know what I'm doing and am looking forward for them to bloom and take me back to my youth.

Nick