# Paphiopedilum Supersuk



## Ed Martin (Mar 25, 2004)

I saw a couple of these in Trader Joe's and they were really cheap but I cannot find any care information. Any one know about them? 
Also has anyone tried them in a vivarium?
Ed


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## mbrutger (May 23, 2004)

In my expirience most paphs tend to to pretty well in vivariums. I have 8 of them in my tanks and all have bloomed again and are growing well.


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## Homer (Feb 15, 2004)

Paphs are terrestrial orchids, but I grow paphs in a coarse coconut husk chip substrate that also contains ample amounts of horticultural charcoal. They are kept evenly moist all the time and have grown very well. I started from seedlings, so I haven't produced any blooms yet, but they are easily 5x the original size.

As for the species "supersuk," I think you either got a stockboy with a labeling device that was trying to be funny or a worker in Thailand that mixed things up. :lol: Maybe the species exists, but I am dubius.


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## Ed Martin (Mar 25, 2004)

Thanks for the replies! Homer, I thought the name was a goof too, but I googled the name and did find some hits for the species. unfortunately there were no care instructions on any of the sites, just pics of the flowers. 
Ed


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## Michael Shrom (May 20, 2004)

My paph does o.k. in my display tank. It hasn't bloomed much but I'm pretty light on the fertilizer and have it up in a pot that gets a little dry. I find the equitant Oncidiums, Stellis, and Restripa are the best repeat bloomers for the way I take care of the terrarium. You should make the jaunt up to Parkside to get some plants or go to the SEPOS show when they have it a King Of Prussia


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## mbrutger (May 23, 2004)

I grow my paphs with little fert. and lots of water. One i had to take out recently because it has doubled in size in the last 9 months. It is down to one bloom right now as the other three died. There are three more buds working on blooming. Each offset only gets one bloom by the way.


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2004)

Are you people keeping your paphs in vivs? Maybe they meant P.sukhakulli?
Mark W.


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## mbrutger (May 23, 2004)

all except one of mine are in vivs, and the one that isn't was untill it got to big. They all are doing great, and have been in there for quite a while.


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## lambdlth (Oct 22, 2004)

*Paph supersuk*

Paph supersuk is a complex hybrid whose parents are William Matthews (lawrenceanum x mastersianum) x sukhakulii. Personally, I think that a vivarium would be too moist to successfully grow paphs, but experimentation and feedback would be very helpful. If you can find a drier area in the viv, they will probably thrive. Air movement and an open substrate are critical as paphs are prone to crown rot.


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## TimStout (Feb 16, 2004)

I wouldn't consider Supersuk a complex Paph hybrid. Look at the parentage of Paph. Winston Churchill sometime ...now theres a complex hybrid. Supersuk is as you stated combining three species and interestingly you can see components of each of the three in the hybrid.
One half of the cross is sukhakulii and you get the overall shape, wide spotted petals and some color from it. The size of the dorsal sepal and some color comes from the lawrencianum and the laquered finish comes from mastersianum.
Sorry for being a bit blunt but I've raised and bred orchids and more specifically Paphs for many years.


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## Homer (Feb 15, 2004)

*Re: Paph supersuk*



lambdlth said:


> Paph supersuk is a complex hybrid whose parents are William Matthews (lawrenceanum x mastersianum) x sukhakulii. Personally, I think that a vivarium would be too moist to successfully grow paphs, but experimentation and feedback would be very helpful. If you can find a drier area in the viv, they will probably thrive. Air movement and an open substrate are critical as paphs are prone to crown rot.


I have a seedling of Paph. ('Starship' x 'Voodoo') that has been growing in my terrarium for about 2 years now. It is located right next to the bog water feature, and is in a coco husk chip/charcoal mixture (not very deep in this particular area, so the roots are probably all over the place by now). It has grown from a seedling with 1.5" leaves to a plant with 9" leaves in that time, and would probably do better if I took out some of its competitors for light (which I plan on doing soon).

The plant is under two vents for the terrarium, so there may be some air movement. It isn't far from a Dendrobium 'Emma White' that has really taken off in this terrarium as well.

I grow paphs under lights in my home as well (outside during the summer), and plan on using more in my terraria, as I think they make good terrarium plants (as long as your terrarium is large enough).


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## littlefrog (Sep 13, 2005)

As long as the roots aren't sitting in water, shouldn't matter much. I've grown paphs in everything from damp sphagnum to coconut chips to baskets... Trick is to keep them moist but not soggy. I have a few in vivariums. Sticking with the Maudiae types (Supersuk I call Maudiae type), for now. One is planted high and in straight hydrocorn, some others planted low and in moss that stays above the water line. Seems to work.

Paphs (and phrags) are my specialty... I don't have many, only a thousand or so *grin* So if anybody has any questions or needs a few cheap plants to test out (I always have some extras), just drop me a line. I think these are under-utilized in vivariums, so the more people trying paphs the better.

Rob


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## nyfrogs (May 1, 2005)

i also use paphs in my vivs and do well i use the aqua pots the black ones with large slits in them and use CHC coconut husk chips then i just stick it in the dirt! i use short blooming paphs like: bellatulum,concolor,godfroyae,leucochilum and they work well
also littlefrog (rob) is a super information portal for paphs! i bother him constantly!!!(thanks rob  ) his plants are also nice!


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## littlefrog (Sep 13, 2005)

nyfrogs said:


> i also use paphs in my vivs and do well i use the aqua pots the black ones with large slits in them and use CHC coconut husk chips then i just stick it in the dirt! i use short blooming paphs like: bellatulum,concolor,godfroyae,leucochilum and they work well
> also littlefrog (rob) is a super information portal for paphs! i bother him constantly!!!(thanks rob  ) his plants are also nice!


Sweet! I never thought of using the brachys. That is an excellent idea, Stan. I'll put some in the next tank. I bet delenatii would do well, too. 

I don't know if anybody has tried any of these species (let me know), but things like barbigerum, helenae, tranlienianum, henryanum, charlesworthii, and spicerianum are also pretty small growing (in that approximate order, even). Maybe a few other species in that group. Of course two of those you can't purchase (in the USA, anyway), but that shouldn't stop some of the EU types from trying them out.


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

I am growing roughly 10 or so paph's in my vivs right now. I generally make a half cork tube, and silicone it to the back wall, then plant the paph in that with new zealand spagnum. They have done extremely well for me, sprouting plantlets all around them, and their massive roots have even attached them to the back wall. One plant I just wrapped the roots in sphagnum, and secured it to the back wall, and it is doing very well also. I have found that they do best when they are constantly moist, and in a fairly well lit spot. I have one right now that went from about 4 inches from the end of one leaf to the end of the opposing leaf which is now 12inches 3 months later. I am going to throw a Paph. pinnochio in after it stops blooming (the wife loves the blooms and wants it in the kitchen), as well as an attempt on a phragmepedium if I ever do another large viv . 

Other orchids i have found that do very well are various pleurothallids, zootrophions, minitature catteleya's, vanda's, miniature dendrobiums, maxillaria (species dependant), some bulbo's, and some dracula's. I am ordering a whole load of dracula's this week, and I will keep an update on which species work well in the vivs . Another good place for all of you orchid hobbyists to check out is orchidboard.com if you haven't yet . Take care,

ed parker

_Pleurothallis solium_ blooming in viv









_Paphiopedulum pinnochio_ hybrid (destined for viv)


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## Guest (Dec 16, 2005)

littlefrog said:


> Sweet! I never thought of using the brachys. That is an excellent idea, Stan. I'll put some in the next tank. I bet delenatii would do well, too.


Paph delenatii is not a member of Brachypetalum it is a member of Parvisepalum. I personally would advise against using brachys in a terr.
These plants are not like any old Maudiae, their cultural requirements are much different. Aside from the fact that most of them grow on Ultra Basic rock naturally and thus require copious Ca and Mg supplimentation compared to most other paphs, they also prefer to be kept drier thoughout the year. Mine prefer to be kept more like a Cattleya throughout the year.
I would suggest P. moquettianum or any of it allied species.
P. spicerianum was mentioned earlier and I will second that.


Matt


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## littlefrog (Sep 13, 2005)

Rubisco said:


> littlefrog said:
> 
> 
> > Sweet! I never thought of using the brachys. That is an excellent idea, Stan. I'll put some in the next tank. I bet delenatii would do well, too.
> ...


Actually I know that delenatii isn't a brachy (although before rest of the parvi species were discovered it was often placed there, for lack of a better home). I was suggesting it in addition to brachys. In my hands, delenatii is a weed, and doesn't much care where or how it is grown, which is why I threw it out there. I would definitely avoid other parvis, especially armeniacum or micranthum, those would almost certainly fail in a vivarium. 

Good point about brachypetalum requiring dryer conditions. Although I still want to try them. I think they would do well if kept in a slightly dryer location, perhaps mounted. Perhaps they wouldn't bloom as well as some of the other species, but I suspect they would survive. And they have interesting foliage. I wouldn't put my show or stud plants in vivariums, but it is probably worth trying with some cheap hybrids. Worst that can happen, they don't do well and I replace them with something else.

I think something to be kept in mind with plants in vivariums is that what we are really growing is frogs... If we want perfectly grown specimen orchids (or pothos, or ferns, or bromeliads, or... anything), then we need to grow them in specialized environments, not vivariums. A vivarium is a little ecosystem of sorts, and every plant can't be perfectly happy. I think a large portion of the fun is figuring out what can tolerate growing together under those conditions. Maybe we won't have excellent flowers, but that is OK, what we want is healthy frogs and a reasonably attractive setting to keep them in.


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## Guest (Dec 16, 2005)

littlefrog said:


> Good point about brachypetalum requiring dryer conditions. Although I still want to try them. I think they would do well if kept in a slightly dryer location, perhaps mounted. Perhaps they wouldn't bloom as well as some of the other species, but I suspect they would survive. And they have interesting foliage.


I was actually thinking the same thing, mounting would be ideal as long as it was in a dryer portion of the viv. Now that Im thinking about it you could easily supply Ca and Mg by mounting the plant over a nice hunk of diatomaceous earth stuffed into the cork or whatever backround.

Matt


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## TimStout (Feb 16, 2004)

Look at the pics of brachys in situ in Burkes book on paphiopedilum. If I remember correctly, there is a picture of hundreds of bellatulum plants growing up and down a cliff face. I bet it would do well mounted as Ed said.


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