Q I am having no success with growing Pap hi opedilum armeniacurn. T o date, I have had three plants that died. I have had reasonably good success with its rela­tives, but not with this Chinese species. I grow these plants at intermediate tempera­tures (80 F day, 56 F nights) and pot with a bark mixture for paphiopedilums.  Does Paph. armeniacum require conditions other than the ones mentioned above?

A I have several suggestions based on my own experiences and observation of several baskets seen recently at Ileana de Teran’s in San José , Costa Rica . Paphiopedilum armeniacurn benefits from a growing medium with a pH in the slightly higher than 7.0 range; add dolo­mitic lime to any natural potting medium to keep it in this range. In New Zealand , I found the species responded favorably to cool winter conditions but only if it was kept on the dry side; cool and wet in the root zone was not a good environment. From June through October, it needs warm buoyant conditions and, during this time, a two- to three-week period between thor­ough watering is often sufficient, though of course this will depend somewhat on the conditions in your part of the country. If you water excessively in the spring, I suspect this is the main cause of the flow­ers aborting. I would normally grow this species in a shallow container and have cut down tall plastic pots for the purpose. However, the plants I saw growing in Costa Rica were as good as any I have seen in cultivation so, although it seems a little strange to recommend growing a terres­trial orchid in this fashion, I invite you to try a basket next time. Unfortunately, the species is once again rare in cultivation, but if you can source a plant you should soon have a basket full of stolons with flowers coming out at all sorts of strange angles. —Andy Easton.