Happy Mama's Mini Phal

[Warinsbloom]

My hubby surprised me with a new mini phal this morning! It's a cute little thing...its very packed with wet sphag and appears that some of the roots may possibly be rotting? it LOOKS so healthy ( spike and flowers ) roots are very plump and green...lots of aerial roots...but its packed with the sphag...only one large drainage hole on bottom...when should I consider re-potting?

[cindiras]

I would repot right away!

[Warinsbloom]

Its ok to repot when its flowering? I'm so scared! my 1st re-potting was very recent and very humbling. My other mini is still in recovery from it. Yikes. I don't want to make the same mistakes. I want to enjoy these blooms!
The roots DO look a little black there don't they?

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Better safe than sorry.

Cheers,
BD

[espranch]

I have re-potted many Phals while blooming; and they don't miss a beat! Just be very careful... Cut off ALL brown mushy, dead roots first ( this should be done with a tool which has been sprayed with alcohol ) Then repot with 20% chunck charcoal, 20%perlite, & 60 % large fir bark, which is mixed together & soaked over night. Put a few rocks or stryfoam chunks in the bottom of pot first, then the fir bark, charcoal, perlite mix. Your orchid will thank you! Betty

[wiacomm]

Hello all,
I also have a mini-phal that is in sphagnum moss. Its in spike and its really pretty healthy. I bought it in the autumn and its still doing fine. It comes out of its little tiny pot easily so I check its roots often and I can also ck the wetness of the moss at that time. That way I am able to know exactly when to water it or not.
But you say that it needs to come out of the moss and into bark asap? There are some tips of roots that have some black on them. But overall it appears to be ok.
I too have had bad experience with re-potting phals from moss to bark. None have died yet but they are still recovering. And slow growing recovery.
I am conflicted. Repot or not?

[espranch]

Well, Cindy, if the orchid were mine, I would go ahead & re-pot. However, if you are not an experienced grower...why not just let it spike, flower and when all is finished...re-pot. I guess that I get nervous whenever I see black on any of my orchids, because it tends to spread. I hope it does well for you, & this is just my opinion...Betty :-)

[wiacomm]

Ok then. I will let it finish flowering and then repot into bark. Thanks so much for the response Betty.

cindy

[Daethen]

I happen to be having good luck with phals in sphag. I have several minis and full sized that I have in sphag. My minis were packed tight when I got them and were about to flower. I just pulled them out of their tiny pots when wet and pulled some of the sphag out of the middle so it wasn't so tight. If I leave enough to hold them up but not packed I like how they dry quicker but not too quick.

[wiacomm]

You know I actually had tried that on another small phal that I have and it did seem to work really well, gave it more air I think. Great, I will try that on my mini too. Thanks so much.