What color should phal roots be before you water next?

[nlnelson]

Hello! I've been trying to make sure I don't over water my gorgeous new phal and have been using some of the great tips I've found here. The most common advice is to weigh the pot when it's just been watered and compare that to the weight of the pot when it is time to water again, but I'm still not sure when to water again. The phal is in a clear pot, so I can see the roots - should I water when the roots turn a light green or when they are green with a silver hue or should I really wait until they are fully silver (like, aerial root silver)?

For what it's worth, it has a ton of incredibly healthy roots even though it is packed pretty tightly in spag (which I'll be changing to a bark mix as soon as it's done blooming), so I have been waiting 10 days or so between waterings, but I'm still not sure that's long enough...

Thanks!

[Raver]

Its probably best to water them when they turn the silver(ish) hue color, They like to dry out a bit but not completely dry. I had a phal in sphag in a clear pot and i had to water it every 5 days.

[Kmac]

One of the guys in our OS grows phals tightly packed in spag. He waters once a week, about a half-inch worth. I have one in spag that seems so happy I have out off repotting it. I water it once a week, but only after sticking my finger in at least an inch or so to be sure it is not too wet...just slightly moist and I water, as spag is the devil once it dries out completely--very hard to get rewet all the way thru.

[Gage]

I like the roots to turn silver, but for some of my Phals this is past when they need water and the leaves droop, so I don't allow those to dry out very much at all.

[Jef09071984]

Water your Phal when the roots turn silver, try to stick a sharpened pencil if the wood part becomes moist you don't have to water it for a couple of days.

[nlnelson]

Thank you all for the great advice! It sounds like the consensus is watering when the roots are silver or silver-green at the earliest. We've had pretty high humidity here in New England, which may be why the sphag has been staying wet for so long (I have yet to see the roots get anything more than the slightest tinge of silver). I'll try to wait for the roots to turn silverish so long as the sphag doesn't dry out.

One of the guys in our OS grows phals tightly packed in spag. He waters once a week, about a half-inch worth. I have one in spag that seems so happy I have out off repotting it. I water it once a week, but only after sticking my finger in at least an inch or so to be sure it is not too wet...just slightly moist and I water, as spag is the devil once it dries out completely--very hard to get rewet all the way thru.

Thanks Kathi, this is really helpful! The first time I tried to run water through the pot, the pot filled to the top and the water just....sat there (when I got it the pot had one quarter-sized hole in the bottom - I've added more since then) I'll try adding just a half inch of water each time, hopefully that will keep things from getting too soggy!