The pink or stemless lady's slipper is considered by many to be the most difficult to grow of the lady's slippers in cultivation. I've had a bit of a hard time; last year it had 4 shoots and 3 flowers (bought it last year) and this year it was going to have 4 shoots but one rotted off. The others look awesome and I'm pretty proud of myself for my accomplishment here. It's growing in 60% shade under a tree. The trick with these guys is to grow in a VERY VERY acidic soil, pH 3-4.5, or the plant will die in a couple seasons. I water with RO water mixed with vinegar at a dilution of 2 tbsp. vinegar per 1 gallon water. When you see weeds growing around the plant, you know it's time for some more vinegar! Never fertilize and try to water only seldom. Also, I think my shoot might've rotted off from late winter/early spring wet, so grow in a gritty soil and plant raised above ground level. This plant has a very long root sytem unlike the yellows and therefore it is very easy to break the roots when moving (which is not good) so don't move if at all possible. Who ever is reading this, wish me luck this year!
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