Water logged phals

[stacey8989]

Any suggestions on drying out sphagnum moss during the winter? It rained a few days ago and since I live in Southern CA, I wasn't expecting 1 1/2" of rain in one night. It's been 3 days and the moss is still completely soaked. I left the plants outside during the day, but I think the air is too cold/humid for any great drying results.

[Cjcorner]

Perhaps you could bring them in and turn a fan on them? A fan will carry the moisture evaporating away from the plant and help speed the drying out proscess.
Connie

[nen]

If it's really soaked and continues to rain and is cold I would do the same as Connie suggests... I would probably also try and press down on the sp.moss to 'get a few drops out' ..just my 2cents worth...

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Yes, I agree. A fan is a good start! Also try some papertowels to soak up the moisture. (Tedious, but could help.)

Cheers,
BD

[Gin]

If mine get too wet I use a skewer to fluff the moss up a little so air can get into it . Gin

[stacey8989]

Thanks guys. Gin, I tried to pull a little of the moss out before I left. I took the plastic pot out of the bigger clay pot to try and give it the max amount of air. I had to leave the plant for the weekend, so hopefully I don't come back to a moldy mess. I'll stop by the house and put a fan on tomorrow afternoon.

[stacey8989]

So far so good. No mold growth over the weekend, but the pots are still saturated with water. I dabbed them a bit with paper towels and have a fan going now. I'll move the plants outside tomorrow morning for some fresher air.

[baytownboy]

I had a similar problem with my phals, which are in sp. moss, and in plastic pots. I think I have over sprayed them. I have them on a humidity tray full of pebbles. I keep the tray filled with water, and put the pots atop piles of pebbles. Yet for all that, I believe some of the sp. moss absorbed water from the tray. One of the plants was so wet, that roots that were green only last week, are now gray. I resorted to SQUEEZING the plastic pots and got lots of water out... it just streamed out. I feel like a failure.

I've been concerned that I've had no spikes yet. I keep my phals in front of an east facing window. Now that it's winter in Southern California, I'm keeping the window open to cool these little critters in hopes they'll give me some spikes.

I think orchids are here to teach us patience.

[stacey8989]

Be careful with squeezing the pots. The roots can break!
I finally did something right....all plants were inside during yesterday's 3" of rain. lol.

[Becky15349]

Perhaps you could bring them in and turn a fan on them? A fan will carry the moisture evaporating away from the plant and help speed the drying out proscess.
Connie

I absolutely agree with connie - I keep a fan on my plants all the time, its amazing how quickly the water will evaporate when the air is moving. Unfortunately, the wind alone usually won't do it bc its not constantly moving - let us know if a fan works