Thank you all for responding. Terrestrialman 9 to your second reply, I have tried Dr.Neptuns soil the first year and it did not work for me. The second year I tried using less woodsoil in the mix to keep it dryer and more aerated, perhaps.In it too (not sure if the soil was THE culprit)the leaves dried in spring. I then, due to advise from GW member, I put it into pumice rock with a handful of pine needle mulch. I lost my notation about the date the orchid went in the refrigerator the third season but, it must have been June or July, so dormancy lasted about 5 or 6 ms. The refrig. was set to 39 deg. When I checked the pot last week, no growth was visble. Thinking this time the plant was dead, I took it out and put it (just in case) under lights with my phals. 2 days later (and without poking, Scott)I noticed a green elongated growth. The orchid still sits under lights near a window in the heated (58 low at night) garage. If neccessary, I could put it into a cooler place for the night. In regard to your first reply I can only say, that I grew the orchid much like the growing sheet suggests. The cyp is in a 12" pot, filled with pumice and a handful of pine needle mulch. T530 How long would the plant have to be in the fridge -should I follow your advise. The rythm of the orchids growth seems as you have discribed. According to your letter I should have left the plant in the fridge longer - perhaps until I spotted a new growth in the pot while still in the fridge. Correct? My orchids all have a wooden stick in the soil to check the moisture. I doubt, that the cyp died because of lack of water but, will pay closer attention to it once the leaves (how do I hope!) will have emerged. cbarry, checking the Slipper Forum is a good idea. If any of you have more to contribute, I would be greatful. Helga.

Kevin, just to clarify, the varieties of Dendrobium tetragonum have been split into different species. The first article you cited discusses tetragonums in the context of the varieties being raised to species level, therefore D.tetragonum is acceptable. The second article uses the older nomenclature, therefore, tetragonum var tetragonum is correct. (I'm not touching Tetrabaculum with a forty foot pole on a web forum). Using repetitive variety names is not uncommon. Actually it's the norm where varieties are described within species. It's probably not common to see such nomenclature amongst cultivated orchids as there is, for various reasons, intense interest in raising orchid varieties to species level, varieties are often line bred and you are often lucky to get species labelled correctly let alone varieties. Where a species consists of two varieties, the variety described as the 'type species' is normally given the repetitive name. Why? Probably a cross between 'the way it's done' and ease of tracking and using nomenclature- ie you don't need wade through an index of names to read historical records and when varieties are elevated to species level, it's a no brainer to see which variety should be returned to the original species name. Taxonomy is filled with instances of mistakes so why add to the problem. Moreso the problem is that if we don't record the varietal name of the 'type', when you get hold of a plant labelled 'Dendrobium tetragunum', how do you know if it's the type species or a result of line breeding varieties. Andrew

First of,thank you for your kind words. I grew the cyp in a pot 'cause I wasn't about to share it with the local snail population. Anyway, to safe you a long list of "DO NOT" I'll post word for word an instruction I finally followed by a guy named Tom on the Slipper Forum. I hope he does not mind me sharing his wisdom: "The exact medium used is not so important as long as it is free draining and remains moist year round. Also, I would fertilize regularly during the growth cycle for best growth. A 10-10-10 or less liquid fertilizer at 1/4 strength should do fine, say once a month until September. You can put it under your overhang as long as it doesn't get any sunshine and temperatures do not get too low. (I was not sure how low 'low' meant, so I put the cyp pot inside a larger plastic pot, covered it with some pine branches during the one week of frost we had in early December.) Again, be sure it remains moist (NOT WET!) throughout the winter. Growth should commence around late April. Don't force the plant by bringing it inside. Better to let it naturally start growing in a cool, shady spot. At that point you can move it to a brighter location." That's it in a nutshell! Please e-mail me if you have further questions. Unfortunately, I don't know how to post photos here, otherwise I would have done so. Sorry! Helga.

This old post has stayed alive! I thought I'd comment to clear up a common myth: lady slippers do not need a mycorhizal fungus to survive. In nature, they require a symbiotic/parasitic relationship with a fungus to germinate and develop their first growth bud. After they spring out of the earth 3 years or so after their seed was dropped, they become photosynthetic, and no longer needing those fungi they expell them in some cases; however, often they stay *Partially* parasitic on these fungi which reside inside thier root systems mostly (so no need for transplantation of their soil). There are genera that stay entirely mycotrophic for their lifetime such as Corallorhiza, and Cephalanthera austiniae since they have no clorophyll. We are sure of this information because we grow these plants from seed in sterile jars on a sugar medium, and then transplant them into media, sometimes thousands of miles from their native habitats and native soil fungi. They grow fine this way; and Wendy Lee, you are correct that they don't like to have their roots disturbed during the growing season. As for endangerment, only a handful of the genus's 45 or so members is considered threatened, and only a few are considered endangered, certainly not Cypripedium parviflorum varieties nor Cyp acaule. That absolutely doesn't mean that it's a good idea to go dig them up! Species coexisting, absolutely! Many species of Cypripedium can co-habitate regions of suitable climate since they have similar growth requirements, at least within a few hundred yards! As for retail, here's a list of seed prop sources: http://www.uslink.net/~scl/ http://www.hillsidenursery.biz/ http://asiaticanursery.com/index.php/cPath/17osCsid=b32c4ea8dc7d74a5fc8974f9469d1c8c http://www.thimblefarms.com/98orchidtf.html http://www.c-we.com/cyp.haven/ http://www.orchidmix.com/cyps.htm http://www.vtladyslipper.com/ http://www.infonet.ca/cypr/engl.htm? Best Regards, Ross