CYPRIPEDIUM
Information
Sheet
Thank you for your Cypripedium purchase! The following intended to give you as much cultivation
information as we presently have about the cypripediums and to communicate what
we have found to work well for us. Our
intent is to leave with you an understanding of these orchids, such that your
growing experience will be a pleasurable one!
Your plants have arrived as bare root and they are dormant. You should plan to plant immediately either
by planting directly in a garden bed or
planting in a pot. When the maple sugar
season starts it is time to plant. We recommend planting in a garden bed so
that the plant may grow for many years without being disturbed. If you choose in pot, they should be well
mulched. If necessary you may keep the
plant in the refrigerator at a temperature between 36F and 40F in moss or other
media but do not freeze. For
spring planting
Pubescence our easiest to grow native yellow lip with
twisted sepals and petals that vary from yellow to brown with a yellow
lip. Sometimes with
multiple flowers per stem. I grow
mine in forest compost with 40-60% shade.
Planting near the edge of the
woods or near a building with mature trees can usually satisfy this
requirement. The soil in which the plant
grows should be kept slightly acidic in organic humus and very loose and aerated
Reginae, Showy ladyslipper. A
large flower with flat white sepals and petals with a pink to red lip. Often with multiple flowers
per stem. Grows naturally in fenns. Keep well watered but not standing in water requires 2 to 3 hours of direct early morning sun or
late afternoon sun and be in shade dappled with sun during the rest of the
day. Proper planting near the edge of
the woods or near a building with mature trees can usually satisfy
this requirement. The soil in which the
plant grows should be kept a neutral pH (i.e. pH 6.8 - 7.5), very high in
organic humus and very loose and aerated.
The mix can be kept neutral indefinitely by adding powdered lime to it
if needed. Powdered lime should be used
only when checking pH in the late fall. Showy's will
grow better in dry areas by growing them in a bog or fenn
and mulching them in the winter.
Acaule the Cyp most people
think of a very nice pink flower on a stem less plant. Needs acidic (4-6) low
fertility soil. Can be grown in a bog but it not its
preferred location. Does not bloom every year unless very happy. Needs mid afternoon shade. But too much shade will stop
flowering. Not for the beginner
Candidum a rare native white
lips greenish to brown sepals rarely multiple per stem; prefers full sun. Although slow to develop can form beautiful
close clumps. The soil in which the plant grows should be
kept slightly acidic and very high in organic humus.
Kentuckiense Our largest flower
long yellow and brown twisted side with flat overhanging top petal and a light
yellow lip. Flowers up to 4
x 6 in. Grows in sandy soil about 50% shade. Still learning here.
Montanum Small plants with
yellow lip and dark twisted sepals. Needs a well-drained mix.
With 50% shade. I am still playing with this
one for good growing. Not easy
For all cyps. media in which plant is
growing should be kept evenly moist yet never soaking wet in the spring . Media must be well drained with never any
standing water. Try to avoid watering
with hard or chlorinated water. If you must, collect rainwater or buy distilled.
After the plant has gone dormant in the fall do the following: mulch
with new layer (a maximum of 2 inches) of shredded leaves and/or rotten wood
shredded to a fine mulch and Dormancy normally occurs
around mid-September and is characterized by plant and stem turning yellow,
then brown and toppling over.
When growing in a garden fertilizer is not necessary. Just a good top dressing of organic mulch as
we have already recommended will do the trick in providing the necessary plant
nutrients through organic means. I use earth worm casings to supplement poor
growing areas.
Here is how we have been vernalizing Cyps. We incubate the cultures at about
70-75 degrees in the summer and about 60-70 in the winter. We check their
growth about once a month. We vernalize them
when growth noticeably slows down and/or the root tips start turning
yellowish/brownish. (Cyp. reginae is usually
more yellow than the other species, even in active growth. Keep this in mind
and look for the growth to slow down/stop.)
Vernalization is done for a minimum of 12 weeks (16 weeks for northern
species) at 35 degrees in the refrigerator. Then the flasks can come back
out for another growth cycle (in boxes in the dark). The growth phase
lasts 6-9 months.
We vernalize
Cyps once or twice in flask, until they are growing well and have produced one
or more dormant growth buds at least 1 cm tall. These buds will be
slightly green, even though the plants are grown in the dark. At the end
of the growth cycle that produces the dormant buds, we deflask
the seedlings and gently wash all the agar off.
The seedlings are then put in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid with a few
drops or in small continers of water or bags with damp
sphagnum moss and placed in the refrigerator for 12-16 weeks. We put
about 200-300 plantlets in a quart jar. We check them weekly, and turn
the jar over so the plantlets stay evenly moist. (Otherwise the top ones
tend to dry out.)
After this, they get planted out
into whatever medium you prefer.
The growth/vernalization
cycle is somewhat flexible, and you can adjust it to time them however you
like. March or April planting is the easiest, but we bring plants out of
flask all year, and gradually adjust them to the natural seasons. This
just takes a little more work, but spreads it out over the year. The most
important part is that the plants have developed at least one large dormant bud
and then been vernalized prior to planting out.
How to grow cyp seedlings
The seedlings, generally with
shoots only one or two centimeters long and roots three to five centimeters,
arrive sealed in plastic containers or, outside the
After refrigeration, or for plants received
in the spring, great care must be taken to carefully remove the plant from the
sphagnum moss without damaging the eye. This caution is
essential as a damaged eye may mean the death of the plant. But despite these
difficulties I have found sphagnum to have more advantages than disadvantages.
The seedlings may either be
planted in an inorganic material such as coir/perlite mixture and may be fed
with very dilute fertilizer
solutions during the growing season or planted in a soil mix. For most of the North American varieties a
humus mix seems to work well
The Asian and Montanum Cyps dislike wetness around the stems. We
have been using turface; some use granite dust around the top to eliminate this
problem. Presently I am using a coir mixture for the main part of my mix for
the Asian growers The
details of the amount of water, the intensity of lighting, and the temperature
requirements vary considerably from one species to another. Cribb’s book on Cyps
will give you a guideline here. I am
still experimenting with some of the Asian species but have good experience
with the American. An instruction sheet for many of the American species is
enclosed. I will try to answer any
question you may have. I hope to expand
the sheet to include more species in the future.
Because our seedlings are small, they require great
vigilance by the grower. Our young plants are a nice snack for many a pest!
Some growers have built small hardware cloth cages around their plants or put
plastic berry boxes over the seedlings for protection from predators. The
moisture content of the soil is critical. If the soil is too wet, the plants
die from lack of oxygen, but because the roots are so short, the seedlings may
die quickly if the upper few centimeters of the soil become dry. The grower
must check plants daily or even more often during periods of unusually hot,
dry, or wet weather. Cypripedium seedlings can be grown indoors under
artificial lights. As for most orchids, growth is slow. Although
precocious individuals of some species occasionally flower after one or two
seasons of growth, normally three, four, or more years are required to reach
flowering size. Growers of tropical orchids are used to such delay.
Seedlings still may be the best way for an experienced gardener to get plants. Most of the unusual Cyps still demand hefty prices as mature plants. A $15.00 investment today can be a $90.00 plant in just 3 to 4 years: a hefty return on your investment! Also, many of the Asian types are presently only available as seedlings.
Roberts Flower Supply 12390