We are thrilled and excited to release this amazing, remake of a very distinct primary hybrid from Mr. Shen, an educator by profession. He has one of the best private Paph collections in Taiwan and he has been collecting the best Paphs from USA, Japan, and Germany to build his breeding stock. He is not known outside of Taiwan, but many commercial growers from the island purchase plants from him for hybridizing, even some of the top growers in Japan. Unlike commercial hybridizers, he doesn’t shy away from doing more basic crosses like remakes of primary hybrids. His greenhouse has no evaporative cooling—just a roof to cover the plants from rain, so plants are toughened not pampered.
Unlike older hybrids that used Paph. rothschildianum as the pod parent that resulted in larger plants but flowers often had a color break, this remake uses Paph. bellatulum as the pod parent. Paph. bellatulum is dominant in this remake with compact leaves and often flower on first or second growth. The awarded Paph. rothschildianum 'Chouyi' GM/TPS/TOGA has a Gold Medal from both the Taiwan Paphiopedilum Society and the Taiwan Orchid Growers Association. This clone is particularly dark.
Paphs detest soggy growing medium; pot in well-draining media. Grow them in bright light and warm temperature with high humidity and good air circulation. As with all Paphs, its roots are sensitive to salt buildup from excess fertilizer which causes leaf tips to turn brown. It is a good practice to flush the medium with fresh, clean water once a month and repot Paphs in fresh media every year.
These plants have incredible vigor, much improved over previous generations. Flowers are long lasting, large, and dark color with heavy tessellation. Foliage is heavily mottled light green. We have flowered a couple of these plants and all have wonderful color with no color break. Highly recommended.