Nicky’s Slippers is run by Nick Zurcher from Adelaide, South Australia.
Nickys Slippers is an Orchid Nursery specialising in the breeding and culture of Paphiopedilum Orchids (otherwise known as Paph’s, Slippers or Slipper Orchids).
I have 60 years of experience in growing and breeding Slipper Orchids in different climates (Switzerland, England and Australia).
At 'Nicky's Slippers' everything is done in-house. Most of my orchids are bred in Australia for Australian conditions from my huge breeding stock accumulated over more than fifty years - they are not from imported flasks. As a result many of my customers have done very well in winning prizes at orchid shows.
From choosing compatible parent plants, pollenating, lab processing, agar media chemical composition, seed sowing, mericloning, 4n ploidy conversion and growing on from flasks.
It is therefore important to have available a wide selection different stud plants with their own unique characteristics. The art of breeding is to mate two parents which have the best potential to produce the desired orchid I am looking for. Be that size, colour, colour pattern, shape, flowering time, ease of culture, leave pattern, stem length in the case of cut flowers and quite importantly ploidy (chromosome numbers) for fertility compatibility. Polyploid (4n) breeding which is new for Paphs, has made many new hybrids much more robust and temperature tolerant.
I have three different growing areas:
- Heated and cooled greenhouses - where the small seedlings, some real tropical plants like special multifloras, Maudiaes and some members of the brachypetalum group (P. bellatulum, niveum ect) are kept.
- Cold greenhouses - with only Summer cooling but no heating which rarely drops as low as 5 degrees C. This is where the majority of plants are housed, like standard complex hybrids, novelties Maudiaes, some multifloras on hangers and parvisepalums like P. micranthum, malipoense, armeniacum ect.
- Shadehouse - which only has sun-protection, letting in natural rain and wind over the plants. This is where all the hardy plants grow all year round. It is frost free.
My nursery is Quarantine Accredited. That means it has been Accredited by Australian Quarantine Authorities to treat and send plants to Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania. See our Shipping & handling pg for more information.
If you have a sick slipper orchid or one that doesn’t thrive and would like free a diagnosis I am available at any shows in the afternoon (when I’m not so busy) for advice. Just bring your orchid plant in.
