2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Paphiopedilum extremely rarely grown in culture. Those plants that belong to this genus are sometimes also called venereal shoes, which is due to the translation from Greek. The word Paphos is the name of a Greek island, and the second part of the plant's name means nothing more than a slipper or sandals. The flower itself is very similar in shape to a kind of shoe, and this is the main difference between this genus and all other representatives of the orchid family.
Plants were first described at the very beginning of the twentieth century, and today more than seventy species of this plant are already known. It is worth noting that new species of this plant are still appearing. In natural conditions, plants grow in the tropics, subtropics and mountainous regions. All species of this plant are terrestrial.
Description of the plant
This plant is distinguished by a special flower shape, the vast majority of species have very large, dense and waxy flowers. The flowering of such a flower lasts a very long time. Actually, the shape and color of these flowers can vary greatly, some plants can reach thirty centimeters in length.
Caring for papiopedilum
It should be noted that this plant can be both thermophilic and cold-loving. Belonging to one of these species can be fairly easily identified by the leaves. Cold-loving species have green leaves. These species will require very cool temperatures at night, about ten to twelve degrees. Also, during the day, the temperature should not exceed twenty-four degrees, however, plants can eventually adapt to such warmer conditions. As for the thermophilic species, their leaves will be quite variegated. At night, the temperature for caring for such types of plants should not be below fifteen degrees Celsius, for this reason such species are considered optimal for growing under room conditions.
It is also important to remember that representatives of this genus are not demanding on increased lighting and can develop remarkably even in partial shade conditions. As for the substrate, you will need an air-permeable, moisture-absorbing and nutritious soil.
Paphiopedilums do not have a particularly clearly marked dormant period, for this reason, the plant should be watered in the same mode all year round. It is also important to remember that literally all plants do not tolerate drying out of the soil. Therefore, you will need to regularly keep the soil in a sufficiently moist state. However, with all this, you should not over-flood the plant. The plant should also be sprayed, but water should not remain in the leaf rosette, otherwise plant decay may occur.
Plant propagation
Most often, the reproduction of this plant occurs through division, but it is important to remember that each division must have at least three shoots. If you are going to propagate a plant by means of seeds, then certain conditions will need to be created.
The most common plant species
Pafiopedilum remarkable is a rather large plant, in which the leaves are painted in green tones, and the flowers are quite large - up to about thirteen centimeters in diameter.
The pretty paphiopedilum is a species with very beautiful mottled leaves and rather large white flowers that have purple specks. The peduncle of this plant is rather short, most often the flower does not particularly rise above the rosette of leaves.
Paphiopedilium sander is distinguished by its special decorative effect, this plant looks gorgeous, and it blooms quite a lot of flowers at one time.
