Cypripediums

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Anyone growing Cypripediums? I have been growing them over the years with fair success but suffered a loss my two plants in a garden incident. I currently required the two former species that I grew as well as a primary hybrid. I growth two species; Cypripedium reginae (mature) and Cypripedium tibeticum (young seedling), and one hybrid Cypripedium Bernd Pastel (macranthos x segawai, mature).

Both the C. reginae and C. Bernd Pastel have sstarted growing. They will not be outdoors this year, rather they are under controlled growing conditions for maximum growth potential. This is based of past cultivation experience where I got a a seedling of C. tibeticum to produce 3 new buds of significant size on its first year in soil, along with extensive root growth. I was only able to perform the tests on the C. tibeticum before the garden incident, so I can not assume that the results will be consistent with the other plants in my collection. I may go into detail regarding this process should the results be consistent at a later date.

Anyway, here are the Cypripediums. The C. tibeticum has not emerged from the soil yet so it is not featured here.

Cypripedium reginae
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This one had a very small root system when I received it. [Note the pot size is not suitable for plants outside of controlled environment. C. reginae will transpire a lot due to the large leaves. In outdoor conditions the plant risk rapid desiccation during the warmer months and is best planted in ground for most of Canada].

Cypripedium Bernd Pastel (macranthos x segawai)
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Trying to see this plants potential so it is in a much larger pot with a greater volume of media. Both plants are growing in potting soil amended with perlite for good drainage and given a light layer of cypress mulch to encourage uniform drying of the media. I have been monitoring its growth rate in cm / hour with both shoots showing a growth rate of 0.09 cm/h 24/7.
 
I don't keep any Orchid spp. besides the random store bought NoID Phalaenopsis but I appreciate the setup you have for yours. I do think of acquiring some occasionally but I find their care a bit finnicky so I don't go beyond that haha.
 
Thanks for the comment Chen.

Yes, Cypripedium can be tricky. If you ever decide to try growing them you should try C. reginae. Not only is it beautiful, it is also very hardy and beginner friendly, well as long as you don't let them dry out.

The biggest trick to growing Cypripediums (in my limited experience) is providing the right amount of light and the proper vernalisation period. Aside from that I got by treating them like my other cool growing orchids. I got these orchids as stock for seed production to practice my flasking skills. If I am able grow healthy seedlings you are welcome to try growing them out (no guarantee though as I have yet to be reasonably successful).
 
If I may ask, where did you get these orchids? In most places, I found them but at incredibly high prices.
 
I get them from two sources:
A Blooming addiction - based in Ontario. Website: https://www.abloomnaddiction.com/
Garden Slippers - Based in Alberta. Website: http://www.gardenslippers.com/index.html

I basically go for the cheaper plants in the collection that most closely matches what I want. They are definitely not a plant you can get a lot of at once unless you have a large budget. The plants I got have two growth each but this may vary depending on species and hybrid. If you are planning on trying Cypripediums for the first time I recommend Cypripedium reginae. It is resilient, showy and the cheapest relative to the other plants. Regardless, the prices you see on the websites are still very high.

The high prices are largely due to the biology of Cypripediums. Nearly all Cypripediums in cultivation are seed grown. This means the desired crosses were made years ago, sown in sterile conditions before given a vernalisation treatment and planted on soil the next year. Plants will then take anywhere from 3 to 6 or more years to produce their first flowers. When you purchase plants (at least from the two sites above) you are getting mature flowering sized plants unless otherwise stated. This is why the prices are high.
 
From time to time you may find sellers from Europe who seed seedlings fresh out of flask. They are significantly cheaper with prices typically around $6 CAD for some hybrids or species give of take a few dollars. This is an easy way to acquire more plants at less cost but you will waiting several years for flowers.

I have observed seedling Cypripediums put on two years of growth in a single season under the right environment, but you will still be waiting for a while. The best bet is do some research on what species or hybrids you may like, their requirements and both of these growers were enthusiastic about answering any cultivation question.
 
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Beautiful plants! I don't grow any Cypripedium, but I've seen a number of species in the wild (4/5 of the native species we have here in Ontario), hope you don't mind if I post a few pics, they're really cool plants and it's always great running into them in the woods:

C. acaule, this is the most common species in the area (Eastern Ontario), since it prefers more abundant acidic soils:
Pink Lady's Slipper by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr

C. parviflorum, this species can be surprisingly common (I've seen several hundred plants in a single day of hiking) in areas with alkaline soils (usually due to exposed limestone in this area):
Yellow Lady's Slipper by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr

C. reginae, I got lucky finding a colony of roughly 30 of these plants last summer, my first time seeing the species. They're impressive:
july27 wm-7650 by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr

C. arietinum, I think this is the coolest looking of the bunch, but these are very small flowers (about the size of my thumbnail), but what they lack in size they make up for in sophistication:
Ram's Head Lady's Slipper by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr
 
Amazing. You're very lucky to see those four species in person. I have gone to places like the Bruce Peninsula where C. parviflorum is as abundant as dandelions. I caught a glimpse of C. reginae in the wild from the side of a road but have yet to see the other species. What I would like to do is study their mycorrhizal partners, so I could create more suitable habitats for native cypripediums. You can get them to flower much faster from seed if they are established with their mycorrhizal partner; I know this to be the case of C. acaule with some individuals flowering 2 years from seed and most at 3 years.

I have several spruces and on my property with unknown fungal symbionts in the roots. I will probably sow some C. parviflorum seeds and see if anything takes.

Oh, I have no problem with you or anyone else posting pictures of Cypripediums here. Post as much as you all like, and your pictures are stunning.
 
Very interesting thread and beautiful plants.
I bought here C.reginae many years ago at a nursery. I ordered 1 normal and one white one. 3-5 shoots each.
They were flowering sized. They did flower but both were white.
After three years in my bog garden they doubled their size and so I divided both. Cut of about a third and swapped with a friend for a seedling of normal color and some other orchids.

They did not like it and flowered but did not give new shoots for two years. Then they grew slowly on.
After some more years I had to give up my garden and neglected these Orchids for some more years at the old place. The normal one vanished.
When I transplanted them finally in 2020 in spring into a new setup with constant water supply I found out that I had l two new seedlings not yet flowering size.
My old system was what we do usually with mortar buckets and some buckets inside as water reservoir.
All in German but with a lot selfexplaining pictures and of course with these Cypripedium.
 
The new system was a game changer and my slow growing C.reginae almost exploded. The second year it was double the size before.
The two seedlings had flowered for the first time.
The whole bucket looked so much crowded, I had to rip all out and divide it into 5 more mortar buckets. A good third was left in the first rectangular mortar bucket.
Apart from one all flowered this season and set again fruit.

cyp.reginae1.jpg
This was it in the the first year after transplanting

Ganze Pracht kl..jpg
This sight the next year was too much, I had to transplant it beginning 2022
 
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I had two in my backyard but they dwindled after a few years and disappeared. Lovely plants. Your setup is very accomplished.
 
No good where skunks and squirrels dig. ;)
This one is covered with thorny twigs from Berberis. One of the now three rectangular buckets.
A lot of different plants like my white Cypripedium reginae, beautiful Trillium grandiflora, and many other thrive there.
Cypripedium, Trillium FG.jpg

Cypripedium, Trillium Island.jpg
All plants flowered last year but I will show the stages the coming spring. I do not hope that I have to divide them again in autumn.
 
One of the new seedlings had a different color from his parents. The other one looked like his parents,
white with yellow dots, but one was pure white without any yellow. I don't know yet if I like it.
Anyway I don`t know on which island it is. I missed some flowers this year and I gave one to a friend.

This hairy plant gives me a skin rash, when I brush past it. This is the only disadvantage I recall.
 
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