HELPPhrag. orchid care

I was fortunate enough to find a ladyslipper-type orchid that I could not pass up at a recent plant sale. I negotiated almost a two for one deal on them :> I'm looking for any suggestions or tips on care. It is Phragmipedium 'Eric Young' and I also bought a second variety 'Pinnochio' which is supposed to have the same bloom but a deeper red. The man told me to treat them as I would a Phal.--same light and feeding--which wasn't too much help on the feeding part since I haven't really ever fed my phals until this last fall/winter. He suggested that I change the bark mix out annually. They are in a fine bark mix. He didn't say if I needed to increase the pot size at all. Can anyone help?

Here's a good general site

http://www.orchids.org/culture/Phragmipedium.html

Thanks, Baa! That's exactly the info. I need. Looks like I need to up the water. I've been watering every 3-4 days with rainwater. Need to get some saucers under those plants!

Here are the blooms I got from the two plants I purchased. This one is labeled Paphiopedilum 'Pinnochio' It has hairs on the petals. I love the deep burgundy on the flower. I bought this one before there was any inkling of what the flower would look like.

I like the one I bought in bloom better, though. It's a Phragmipedium 'Eric Young.' I got five blooms on this one. Each bloom lasted about a week. Just as the next bud was getting ready to open the previous flower would drop off. This one has more of a salmon color to the flower and the color, especially the yellow, deepens as the flower matures. You can see the mature bud in this picture.

This message was edited Sunday, Jul 20th 9:34 PM

I love lady slippers and yours are just beautiful.

Thanks, Windsurfer! I love them, too :)