Phal problem is S/H, please help!

Hello all,

I acquired a couple of new orchids 16 days ago, I cut the flowers off and placed them in water and re-potted them into S/H.
One particular Phal, lost the bottom leaves, they shriveled and today, I removed the Phal to check on the roots and found out that they are mushy and rotten. I already know that roots rot when they introduced into a new medium.

I cut off all the rotten roots, and noticed that there's 2 new roots that are working their way out of the rhizome. I applied cinnamon powder on the base of the removed leaves, and generously sprayed some Hydrogen Peroxide 10% on the rhizome after the removal of the rotten roots.

Should I put the Phal back into the S/H medium in the old pot? (of course after cleaning the medium out), or should I put into a smaller pot to get a couple of new roots first and then move it to the big pot. To hold it in place in the hydroton medium, I will stake it to keep it steady.
Or should I place it into a deep water culture and keep it there?

Here are the pics.

Thank you for your time and help.

Johnny, the lack of roots on this phal is concerning since the leaves are so nice. I would put it on sphag in a bag in low light. Also use rooting hormone on the root area to encourage new root growth. I don't believe I would set it back into a super wet environment- but that is just my opinion. Others that grow more regularly in semi-hydro may have other opinions on the subject.

Good luck with it whatever you decide for this orchid.

cheers,
BD

Hello Johnny, I think you should learn to leave your plants alone some time. I know it is difficult in the early days, but you have to learn it. If the roots rotted so early in just 15 days, then there is something wrong other than SH, I would recommend you give that a better thought. Are your plants staying too cold (Less than 18 oC), check your water quality, because they might have died because of the water then just rotted away. Unpotting and repotting is very stressful for the plants, now you should follow a sphag and bag or even just simply plant it back with the Leca pellets, just not as SH, just plant in normal pot. Water once the bottom of the pot seems dry and mist the leaves regularly.

Originally Posted by Halloamey

Hello Johnny, I think you should learn to leave your plants alone some time. I know it is difficult in the early days, but you have to learn it. If the roots rotted so early in just 15 days, then there is something wrong other than SH, I would recommend you give that a better thought. Are your plants staying too cold (Less than 18 oC), check your water quality, because they might have died because of the water then just rotted away. Unpotting and repotting is very stressful for the plants, now you should follow a sphag and bag or even just simply plant it back with the Leca pellets, just not as SH, just plant in normal pot. Water once the bottom of the pot seems dry and mist the leaves regularly.

Amey,

The other Orchids are doing fine.
The other phal is great, the old roots are still green and healthy and the areal roots are strong and plump.
The Oncidium, has plenty of new roots and a new leaf.
The water is RO water, and they all get weekly foliage fertilization, they have been moved in the living room where the temp doesn't fall below 18c with a fan on, and during the day brought outside and placed in a very bright shade.

I unpotted this Phal because it seemed very weak and found out about it, I don't usually play with my flowers once they are potted.

Do you mean pot it back in a small pot with holes in the bottom? and soak it well once the hydroton pellets are completely dry? will I be able to transfer it back into S/H once it is settled?

Thanks my friend!

I tried some NOID phals as s/h and lost them all. They just do not like to be wet. Do the spag anf bag and then when plant is ready plant it in bark or the pellets or a mix of the two and water only when dry.I have some that grow very well in the hydroton pellets. Just not s/h.

I have given up on phals in s/h too, because of the roots rotting. Now, I use the hydroton pellets in the bottom of the regular pot (instead of packing peanuts) and then plant the phal in loosely packed sphagnum moss. On the other hand, my oncidiums and paphs s ans phrags are very happy in s/h.

I have several phals that seem to be thriving in s/h, but I'm very careful about not overwatering them. Granted, they haven't spiked again since I bought them but I think that's unrelated to s/h.

Best of luck with yours, and everyone above has given good advice.

I agree with what's been said so far. Like Bruce suggested, I would use a rooting hormone as often as the label recommends. Some of them can be used once a week. I prefer the one's with liquid seaweed extract but I think there are many good ones.

it's your choice to choose from

1.use root hormone as Bruce suggest

2.do the spag and bag as normal way until the new root come up

3.pot it up in S/H and cover with the bag so the plants can has a new root.

Originally Posted by k_andreev

it's your choice to choose from

1.use root hormone as Bruce suggest

2.do the spag and bag as normal way until the new root come up

3.pot it up in S/H and cover with the bag so the plants can has a new root.

Thank you all for your help.

Kitty, I chose option 3, i pot it up in a small pot S/H, put the pot in a plate filled up with water for humidity and covered everything with a bag and tied it up at the top. The room is also very dark and shady.