potting phals??

[drew33998]

i recently took my phals out of their bark mix and clay pots and put into sphag and plastic pots. the clay and bark was drying too quickly. now that i have potted in plastic and sphag i am having adverse conditions. the roots i believe are staying too wet. some roots look healthy while others are turning brown and shriveling. should i repot them for the second time in 4 weeks into a bark mix with the plastic pots?

[Brutal_Dreamer]

i recently took my phals out of their bark mix and clay pots and put into sphag and plastic pots. the clay and bark was drying too quickly. now that i have potted in plastic and sphag i am having adverse conditions. the roots i believe are staying too wet. some roots look healthy while others are turning brown and shriveling. should i repot them for the second time in 4 weeks into a bark mix with the plastic pots?

Hi Drew,

It all depends on your watering schedule. I swear by a tight, large bark mix for my phals. Others use loose sphagnum. It all depends on how often you water and your air circulation around your plants.

My recommendation is to put them in bark.

Check out this youtube video on our care page: Orchid Care -Repot a Phal

Cheers,
BD

[drew33998]

thanks BD. i keep a ceiling fan on medium and the media is staying wet for a good two weeks. the temps are somewhat ideal being 58-60 night and 68-70 day with filtered south sun esposure(winter area). i believe that the bark and plastic pot will be ideal.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

thanks BD. i keep a ceiling fan on medium and the media is staying wet for a good two weeks. the temps are somewhat ideal being 58-60 night and 68-70 day with filtered south sun esposure(winter area). i believe that the bark and plastic pot will be ideal.

I agree. Staying wet for two weeks is not good. Glad you caught it before it was too much damage.

Cheers,
BD

[Germinatorman]

Personally I have much better luck with my Phals. in spaghnum. They grow like weeds and bloom regularly, and I water every week with approximately one turkey baster of water per inch of pot. The roots come out of the plant and go direcly down into the moss, big fat roots like nightcrawlers. Isn't it funny - like Bruce says though - it depends on so many things. I lost too many Phals. to speak about in bark. I also replace the moss annually.

[Kmac]

There was a lively debate on this at my OS meeting. Most folks said they kill phals in spag, and 1 guy says it has worked MUCH better for him than bark...and he grows 200+ phals, so he is hard to argue with . He says he "found the keys"...on one of his travels he went to a large overseas phal grower & learned that they 1) Pack the spag in very tightly, and 2) leave an inch of headroom at the top. When they water they fill up that inch, and let it slowly absorb into the spag. Then, that's it until they are close to drying out (but don't let it actually dry out). That and they told him to be sure and use long-fibered New Zealand spag, not the more readily available shorter fibered stuff. He swears his now grow like weeds, and bloom well (and the samples I have seen would bear that claim out).

I pass this along only FYI. I grow mine in bark, as I am a bit of a heavy waterer.

[drew33998]

i have heard it both ways myself. i never limited the amount of water that i provided my phals when i water. usually i either soaked or drowned my phals with a feeding every other watering so i figured that routine was definitely not working for the sphag and plastic pots as the roots started rotting. i now have them sitting on a 11x15 inch pan with pebbles and water as well as a humidifier close by and the humidity is at about 65 percent! i will continue to post the results as well as my watering habit for reference. thanks for the great info guys and gals!

[drew33998]

forgot to say i potted them in a medium bark mix with styrofoam on the bottom of the plastic pots. i am wondering if i should wait two weeks before watering like most of the threads recommend after repotting.

[espranch]

Drew, for what it's worth, when I re-pot, I use bark for my few phals... I put them in a little less light and water a week after re-potting. It seems to work for them, and I always water with tepid water...Betty :-)

[rapidan]

It's all about what works for you. If the spag is staying wet for that long then I say go to a bark mix with some peanuts in the bottom for drainage.