Pic now posted in the 'gallery'. Thanks so much for looking.

Telly, there is nothing to stop you posting pics on "discussions".

Agree, that is one sad looking Paphiopedilum. It looks overpotted (in too big a pot). What are the humidity levels in that room and is it a constant 68F?

Probably needs more light too... The only paph i have growing inside is on the kitchen windowsill hard up against the glass. It is shaded there (western aspect) by a blind but gets a little bit of late afternoon sunlight. Eastern aspect would be better but am not about to grow orchids in bedrooms.

Maybe a dose of lime or dolomite would be beneficial (Does anyone know the correct rate of application?)

Hi Telly. I haven't looked at your pic, but I'll tell you how I grow mine. It's planted in a med size bark with some small coconut chips added. It is in a South facing window that is partially shaded from afternoon sun, but does have additional light from a CFL. It gets watered twoice a week. I set the pot in a shallow bowl of water for about 10 minutes. I use rain water. It gets fed once a month, flushed once a month. This is the same regimine I use with all the paphs and I'm finally having good success growing/blooming them. This one was purchased last Jan. in bloom and has never been out of bloom. A third growth is now sending up a spike/bud.

I think your plant probably needs more light & more moisture. I would gradually add some of both a bit at a time. Have you checked the roots? I'll have a look at your picture. Good luck with your plant. This one is a beauty and a bloom machine if you can make it happy.

Sheila :)

Thanks for your reply, arthurm. I did wonder if the overpotting should be corrected, and I can do that easily, so I will try that. My paph was in a room with more light, but I assumed that it's paleness could have been caused by too much light, so I moved it. I will say that it still hasn't perked up much, although it's only been in it's new location about 2 weeks. I do have a western facing window I can place it near, where it will get more indirect light than it does now.
The humidity levels throughout my home are pretty decent, as we have not had to have the heat on too much yet, but I will make a humidity tray for it if you think that might help. The temp in the room probably fluctuates between 60 and 70 degrees overall.
I can't help feeling that there is a watering issue too, since it seems as if the medium stays too dry. Should I experiment with a different mix ?
Thanks so much for your help. By the way, I couldn't figure out how to post my pic in the body of the post, so I just stuck it in the gallery. A little inconvenient, I know.

Telly, I leave a wooden skewer in the medium, and withdraw it every few days to see how wet the medium is. The skewer shouldn't dry out completely for your paph. I water mine every 4 - 6 days, depending on the size of the pot etc.

venividi, that's a great idea ! I think I'll try that as well. Thanks for your reply.

Telly, you may enjoy the FAQ at the top of this page. There are a lot of tips there, including that one. Some of them will be relevant to your situation, and will help you with future orchids.

Thank you, Sheila, for describing your whole paph regimen. My paph hybrid (speckled leaves) seems to be growing fine, but hasn't bloomed in two years. Compared to what you are doing, I suspect I'm keeping it too dry.

I hope Telly2 saw your post. It really helps to compare notes.

Sweetcicely

I too want to thank Sheila for her post. I really appreciate it, since it gives me a regimen to follow that I think my paph might benefit from.
Does anyone here think there might also be a nutritional deficiency going on as well ?

Sweetcicely, I have two paphs that haen't bloomed for me yet, but I expect them to produce soon. This IS the season for a lot of paphs, early spring producing for many also. Be patient. Paphs can be very slow.....then there's the non-blooming variety ;) unfortunately I think I have one or two of those! With finally having some success with paphs.....I'm falling in love, sighhhhhh. I currently have Paph St. Swithin, a multifloral that has two spikes and a total of seven blooms. It's incredible. I've tried photographing it, but it's just been difficult to get a good photo. I'll have to post one of the pics in the gallery.

Happy growing from a 'soon to be paph head'.
Sheila :)

Telly, I am fairly new to Paphs and am still learning too. I can only refer you to some of my own information sources.

You ask whether there could be a nutritional deficiency as well:
I know that paphs do need regular weak fertiliser, and both the Canadian Orchid Congress and the AOS have online culture notes which cover this aspect.
Re lime: this is a new area for me, but one which we should perhaps be aware of. I don't know whether Pinocchio needs extra calcium or not. You might find the link below informative, and perhaps other people here could advise you.

I have just ordered my first Paph Pinocchio, along with a few other paphs. I'll be picking them up from the vendor at our Orchid Society meeting in the weekend. Next year I'll be able to swap notes with you!

Here is a link that might be useful: Supplementing Calcicolous Paphs

Venividi, thanks for that link. A lot of info there, and not too hard for a paph beginner to understand.
I sincerely hope that I still have a paph next year so that I'll have something to discuss with you; right now poor Pinocchio looks so bad that I'm not sure I'll be able to save it. Today I watered it extremely well but made no other changes to it's environment. Tomorrow I plan to unpot it and examine it's roots, and I dread doing that because I'm almost sure they will not look healthy. Then, assuming it has at least some viable roots, I plan to repot into a smaller, plastic pot.
If this were any other plant, I'd say by the looks of it (mainly it's limp leaves), that it's dying of thirst, and since I do tend to underwater, that would make sense here. But that leads me to another question: If it's just thirsty, wouldn't you expect that more frequent watering would perk it up rather quickly ? Please pray for me and Pinocchio that I will find some decent looking roots tomorrow !

Telly, nothing happens quickly with orchids, and I don't think they reverse their condition instantly. The limp leaves are often due to root damage, secondary to too much water or too little. Changes can take weeks or months to be noticeable.
Arthurm also suggested Lime, and I understand that Pinocchio is indeed a calcicolous paph. Perhaps get the roots sorted out first. Here is yet another article, this one from an Australian Orchid Society. I found this when googling yesterday, (I'm a compulsive googler) and it is full of information, including a little on using lime sparingly and infrequently.
Don't feel bad if your Pinocchio goes to orchid heaven. I seem to remember reading on one of these orchid forums that you can't call yourself an orchid grower until you have killed about 100! We can't win them all, and this is all a learning experience. I believe there is a high mortality rate in the wild.

Sheila, your posts are very encouraging! It is helpful to hear from someone who has been so successful. My Maudiae is in bloom, but my Delenati hasn't done anything yet. I understand they can be a bit temperamental. I have a St Swithin too, and am eagerly awaiting the day it blooms for me. My other paphs are probably not mature enough yet. I was concentrating on phals, but soon a third of my collection will be paphs.

June

Here is a link that might be useful: Bankstown Orchid Culture

June: Your post made me feel a little better in case I can't save my paph. However, I guess I'm not an orchid grower yet, since I think I'm only up to about 4 or 5 deaths so far, and one of those was caused by a cow that ate it. I hope I don't have to kill 100 though, since I don't buy orchids often; I don't think I'll live that long!

Anyway, I did re-pot today, and as I suspected the roots are very puny. Certainly not mushy, but just the opposite; dark brown, kinda shriveled, not fat or healthy looking at all. Add to that the fact that this poor plant only has about 1 and 1/2 roots total --- and sadly, the biggest,fattest root I found was not even attached to the plant anymore. Not real sure how that happened, since I always re-pot with fear, trepidation, and extreme care. Also I came across a small bag of crushed oyster shells (35% calcium) that I bought for my birds and never used, and I thought it wouldn't hurt to add a pinch of that to the medium, so I did.
I will now be watching Pinocchio like a hawk, but if I can't save him, I will try to look at it as an excuse to buy another.

June, thanks for letting me know that I cannot expect quick results from the increased watering. And after looking at all the links sent by you and Sheila, I now want a St Swithin too ! What a beauty !

Good luck Telly, and do let us know if Pinocchio survives. If you increase the light now, as Sheila suggests, I think you'll have probably done everything you can at the moment.
May I ask how a cow ate your orchid? Was the plant outside for the summer, or did the cow come up to the window and go "crunch!"?

Hey Telly2, we may have another link in common. One of our cows ate a dendrobium that I had just purchased, couple years back.....boy was I PO!!! My little GH and attached screened area back up to one of our main winter pastures. I had set this new plant on a table outside the GH, a beautiful day. Went back a couple hrs later, it was eaten down to the medium! Needless to say, no more plants get set down anywhere near a pasture fence!

Did you look into a root booster? I am NOT a paph-head (yet!) but I see wonderful things about Dyna gro K-L-N and Superthrive, etc. Plus, I wonder if people who really know paphs are specific about their fertilizers? Are you supposed to use a 20-20-20? I just read an article that ordinary Peter's 20-20-20 is just fine for growth and no need to get a specialty orchid fertilizer.

Perhaps you want to look at forums about encouraging paphs to root. There is one great one about encouraging phals to root by pcan where she literally SOAKS the leaves of the plant every day in water and fertilizer (and either the K-L-N or the superthrive, cant remember) by turning the plant upside down and placing it in the mix (then mopping out any moisture in the crown since that is quite fatal for the phals.

I have no idea if paphs could benefit, but it is worth a try to soak your cute Pinocchio leaves and get root booster on its butt!

June: The orchid-eating cow belonged to me when I lived in rural SW Florida, and he frequently would escape his pasture & wander into my backyard. It was wonderful keeping orchids there, where they lived outside under the trees year-round. I miss that, but not the cow.
I also wanted to mention that the link you included above ("Supplementing Calcicolous Paphs") gives some very good, detailed info on how to save an orchid such as mine, but the author recommends keeping the orchid in lower light levels until such time as the plant is starting to recover (( fingers crossed )). The method mentioned in the link is what I think is referred to as the "sphag & bag" method.

Granniek: I don't know about you, but my experience was that this cow seemed to know exactly what was most prized by me, and that's what he ate. Other, less common plants would be passed by without a glance, on his way to the "good stuff" !

Julietessler: I am a COMPLETE novice when it comes to orchid fertilizers. The only ones I have ever bought are the ones they sell at the big-box stores. I'm a total slacker when it comes to fertilizing them, & so it's probably no surprise that my orchids never go crazy with blooms. That's the one area that I really need to get up to speed on, but when I read about them on these forums, I get confused with too much information, so I keep buying (and not properly using) the same old stuff. I didn't even know there was such a thing as root booster. Is that the same thing as a rooting hormone ? I use the powdered kind on cuttings of other plants....is it the same ?

Telly, yes, you must miss being able to grow your orchids outdoors. Obviously orchids make a tasty tidbit for a cow!
I hadn't actually read the whole Antec site. There's a wealth of information there! It will be a valuable resource, and not just for the Calcicolous Paphs information. I might print some of it and keep it with my orchid books.
I've never successfully managed the "sphag and bag" technique. Yes, lower light is usually recommended for a while. I'm still trying to get my light levels sorted out, with some paphs under CFLs and some next to a large window. I seem to be able to give phals lots of light, but obviously mottle-leafed paphs are more sensitive.

June: I've only tried the sphag & bag method once before (unsuccessfully) but I really want to save Pinocchio so I'm thinking of trying it again. The author of the Antec site gives very good, detailed instructions, but I'm wondering why you have to put the whole plant inside the bag, then have to protect the leaves from touching the sides of the bag. Why can't you fasten the top of the bag around the base of the plant itself, thereby keeping only the pot/roots/medium inside the plastic ? Is it because you want the leaves to absorb moisture also ? Just woncering.........

Hi, Telly2. Yes, I think you want as much humidity as possible around the leaves too. Some people like to leave the bag unsealed or partially sealed - see the FAQ at the top of this page - but apparently it is a matter of personal preference. You still have to prevent the leaves from touching the sides of the bag.
I think you'll pull it off this time with your Pinocchio, and in a year or two we'll be comparing blooms!

June

Telly2, I've never been successful with spag n bag. I've taken a plant that is in need of TLC and set it down into a deep bucket. Added a bit of water to the bucket (plant itself in a small plastic container, you don't want the plant sitting in the water). If the plant is really dehydrated I lightly cover the bucket. In the morning the plant comes out and goes on my kitchen window sill, later that p.m., back in the bucket. During all of this, I add 1/2 strength root stimulator to rain water. Watering only about once a week when the plant is close to being dry. The skewer method is good, I still use them in some of my pots/plants. This is an alternative to spag n bag. Of course it takes up more of your time. Whichever method you choose (and I'm not so sure you need to do either), be careful that you don't allow moisture to collect in the leaf axils...this can start rot and that is more deadly to a plant then having it starved for moisture & light. Good luck with your plant and give us an update in a few weeks. You will need to be patient, it will take some time.

June, I still don't consider myself a successful paph grower. I'm still learning! But, it is good to finally have some success at growing these beauties. I've sent two delanatiis to orchid heaven and I will purchase another as soon as I get back to Houston for a visit! I did bloom the second plant I had and it was wonderful! I loved the fragrance. I'd love to grow/bloom a malipoense too.....they say it's fragrace is like raspberries! Ah, my lonnnng wish list!

Hapy growing,
Sheila :)

Sheila, my delanatii didn't seem to have a fragrance. I bought it in bud a year ago, and it hasn't rebloomed since. This weekend I will also be getting Lynleigh Koopowitz (delanatii x malipoense), so I'll get the raspberry fragrance. I just hope I can give it (and the others) the right growing conditions. From what you say it's all trial and error!
Do you give your mottle-leafed paphs less light than the others? I notice that you water them with rain water. Our rain water is highly acidic, so I use tap water at room temperature. I also use Superthrive when I think of it and if I've got a sickly plant.

Oh dear, did you have to mention Lynleigh K, another sad ending here :(((

Light, like you said trial & error! The mottled leafed ones get as much light as the Pinocchio. But my other two solid leaved plants, lowii & the St. Swithin cross do get the very brightest light available in my home. The lowii put on a fabulous blooming too and I was soooo happy with it.

I have one mottled leaf that isn't happy no matter what I do with it! Sometimes I feel like putting it in a closet where I won't have to see it! LOL

It's nice to know that other people bump them off too, but now I feel challenged to keep Lynleigh K alive when she arrives, at least until she blooms in the next year or so! I've ordered three others, too, including Fumi's Delight and a seedling liemianum. I eyed the lowii but had some hard priority decisions to make!
I have several other mottle leafed paphs too, and I've just moved them from the window to the CFLs. There's no sunlight today, and probably won't be for at least another week. I've been scared to give them too much light, but the reverse is probably even worse. I'll make more permanent adjustments later, when I get the new babies. At the moment the St Swithin is my only solid-leafed paph.
Thank you for all your help, Sheila. It's so encouraging to hear from someone else who's been there and done that!

Sheila: your method sounds better than sphag & bag to me, and I think I'm going to try it your way......
Thanks for your input, it's really helping !

Stella

I just re-rooted a paph bellatulum using the sphag and bag method. It was a very small plant, and it must have gotten too much water while it was outside this summer. The roots were small to start with, and I think I watered it to death. Anyhow, after several weeks in a small pot of mix, inside a plastic bag, in a shady area, it grew 4 small, healthy, hairy roots. It is now rooting well and growing a new leaf in a pot under lights.

Re light for Pinocchio, they bloom best in a bright window with some sun (about 2 hours, coming thru a screen and tree trunks. I get maybe 12-15 sequential blooms on a spike, with a new bloom every 2-3 weeks. Try to keep them barely damp--don't let them totally dry out.

Even angels need orchids!