A 'few weeks' is plenty of time for s#*t to happen as you can see. Why one and not the other is the real question. I do not believe in the common wisdom that gorgeous healthy plants can suddenly blow up on you when you get them home because the grower mistreated them. It must happen of course, once in awhile. Year before last I bought identically sized seedlings of P. 'Magic Lantern' and P. venustum. Within weeks the M.L. was clearly doing better than its stablemate. At the six month point the M.L. had doubled its size (roughly 8" leafspan) while the venustum had about a 1" leafspan. That is not a typo. I never did figure out why one took off and the other didn't but a consultation with the grower did turn up that the venustum needs a ton more light than the Lantern and I was lowballing things under 23W cfl alternated with 60W incandescents.

You have said that the two Paph's receive identical conditions but you haven't detailed what those conditions are. For me that is key to a diagnosis. As much detail as you can supply about all the various aspects of culture and then I'll probably ignore anything you said about watering, temps, fertilizer, etc. and home in on what you are supplying in the way of light.

H

Hi Howard-Re:Light conditions. Both are in the living room of my Tampa area home. Have a triple glass slider facing east w/ 4 windows above. Room gets morning and some afternoon sun-but nothing direct on the area where the paphs are located in the northeast corner. I grow many cat. alliances (over 100) and bring various flowering plants inside to this room on a routine basis. I place them in an area where they DO get the morning sun directly on them. All windows have a tinted hurricane film. The room also seems to be ideal for phals.Have moved the problem plant to an area with a little less light for past two days. Looks like the decline is continuing.The plant in question is a Supersuk "Eureka" X Raisin Pie "Hsinying" X Sib according to the tag. we all know exactly how accurate tags can be at times! Hope this info helps some as I am at a loss with this puzzle. Thanks!!

All Paphs are not created equal. This was my specialty genus some time ago, and I generally found that when a seemingly healthy plant went into a sudden decline it was more often than not a root problem (Paphs have specialised roots quite different from your Catt alliance plants).

For that matter, all orchids are not created equal. Your statement 'I know very little about Paphs' is perhaps telling. I'm attaching a link to the Antec Labs website homepage. Scroll down a bit to the 'questions about growing Paphs' section and start reading. Lots of beyond excellent information, mostly easy to digest, from basic Paph culture for the various types to more specific needs of various species. This is a great jumping in point for learning about this sometimes easy, sometimes challenging, always fascinating genus (there are some that don't regard them as orchids at all due to structural differences).

With that said, off the top of my head I would say that light is probably not the primary culprit but may be complicit in a watering issue (every aspect of culture affecting the whole). Overwatering is bad; SLIGHT underwatering much less so. Just a thought.

Good luck with your new kids, and I hope this info helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Antec Labs

I don't completely disagree, with you Orrin but I am completely underwhelmed by the description of the light situation for the paphs and suspect that even the paph that is not in decline hasn't done anything in the way of recovery or advancement from when it was first brought 'home'. In fact the location that is used for the Catts sounds ideal for the paphs(!) and IMO moving it to still less light is entirely the wrong response to its decline. What is a 'root problem' but a failure of the roots to do the job they are intended to? Without the energy from light running the various metabolic processes everything fails roots first. The cure is not to repot or root prune or water less or any of the usual palliatives it is to get more light energy into the plant so it can repair the roots and get on with things. I have looked over the supplied information source in the past and it is excellent but I lament the tendecy to look all over for trouble and employ all manner of potting materials and watering schemes while never mentioning the importance of good light. A great many of us are keeping orchids in light that wouldn't keep the buds on an African Violet. How do I know? Because many of the same people growing phals and paphs tried growing AV's in the same spot years before and when they wouldn't behave they went over to orchids. In the present case plenty of light is available but with the heavy glazing on the glass and the generally low angle of winter sun (even in FL) it does no harm to be generous to even paphs. Try it. Tell me if they do worse or better for being given an hour or two of actual SUN in the morning.

H

Thanks Howard and also thank you Orrin for your thoughts. the web site you sent me was excellent! I think I will try extra light for a couple of days and see what happens. If no change (or a worsening of the condition) I think I will remove it from the pot, check for root problems and re-pot to new mix. Will post results of what worked or didn't work as soon as the paph lets me know what it likes. Thanks again for all the info. You are both, obviously, very well versed in the culture of this great little plant.I'm just a retired cop from Vt. who is having a blast learning about growing beautiful things in Fl!

Howard, I entirely agree with you about the inadequate light given to a great many in-the-home grown orchids. But as I said before, every aspect of culture relates to the others. Inadequate light is a factor in overwatering, but the result is still rotten roots. I only suggested this as a possibility based on my experience of swiftly declining Paphs. Were it my plant, I wouldn't hesitate to check the roots and go from there. Yes, it's treating a symptom of an overall break-down in total culture, but when s#*t happens it can't always all be fixed in one fell swoop. Moving a rootless plant to higher light seems counter-productive to me (if the plant can't take up water...); regrowing the roots in a 'gentler' environment and then finding the optimum location for vigor makes more sense, by my way of thinking (which of course could be hideously wrong, but I don't think it is).

Of course now I want to know what the plain-leaved Paph in the same location is. They're generally the higher light guys; mottled-leaf guys usually do ok with Phal light (though they can take more, esp the Parvi/Brachy kids, but that's not the plant under discussion).

-O- (Oy....)

"I think I will try extra light for a couple of days and see what happens."

Your plant did not decline in a couple of days. What makes you think the recovery will be swifter than it's undoing? It really takes a minimum of 30 days to note changes in light adjustment, more time for paphs. They are the turtles of the orchid world where recovery is concerned, especially if they have been underlight.

I rehab a fair share of these. Most have been in some type of "water culture" and suffer from root rot from chronic water to the roots without any type of wet/dry cycle. Paphs take much longer than other orchids to recover from over-watering.

While it's an established fact that I am a "light devil" and I believe there is no such thing as "paph light", I do recover my paphs in slightly diminished light. However my healthy paphs and phrags are grown in full sun outdoors (z-5) and well above phal light. Increasing light will get the plant into a better wet dry cycle. The plant does not sound like it's on it's last leg. I also cut the blooms on failing plants. That's an energy zapper.

I generally use a " fluffy" mix. Seedling bark mixed with very small pumice and even a dash of potting soil. I wrap the pot with plastic wrap and sprtiz the media 1-2 times a day rather than a full water and wait.

Clara

I have a Paph. Supersuk "Eureka" AM/AOS x Paph. Raisin Pie "Hsinying" x Sib, which I got from Trader Joes. It has been a hardy trooper, surviving some large bug chomping on a leaf and not perfect conditions. It has bloomed faithfully for a few years, whereas my other paphs. have not been so happy with their care--and show it. It came in a TINY pot (~1-1/2 inch) and when I repotted I put it in a 2-inch pot; it seems to like the size. Besides Howard's advice, I would suggest taking a good look at the crown and make sure those droopy leaves are not brown in the crown area. Also avoid letting any water collect in the crown.
Ann