back again

[hohcs]

hello everyone,

i have been back again after some time away from this forum because i was busy finishing up my phd...blahblahblah...

shamelessly, the first thing i do when i get back here is to ask more questions - but i did spend a whole day reading the postings i missed while away.

the questions:
1) one phal i had was grown from a keiki. it was growing well with 2 leaves and the original potting materials started to rot - from the way it smells when i water the plant - and so i repotted it into s/h because the rest of my plants are in s/h. but since it has stopped growing. the roots are developing or has developed to a good healthy degree, but there has been no new growth of leaf. the 2 leaves are turning pale - more yellowish and i so i moved it into a shadier spot but still nothing happened. it has been like this for almost a year now. it is not dying, it is not growing.

what should i do and what can i do?

2) i have another phal which has been growing well- actually very profusely after recovering from a severe case of root rot. now it is full of roots going all the way into the resevoir of my s/h culture.

a) regarding roots in s/h reservoir, i wonder if i should repot it and bring up the roots in case they rot when submerged too long in water? i think they started growing into the reservoir because it was growing very quickly for a time and the reservoir ran dry and i did not top up in time, thinking that i should always let the reservoir completely dry out and wait a couple moredays before topping it up as even when the reservoir is dry, the stones are still wet. so now i am not sure when winter comes, these roots in the reservoir would be more prone to rotting?

b) now, this phal has also stopped growing though it is still generally healthy with strong green roots. but the lower leaves start to turn yellow and, then dry up and dying away. i know it is normal for phal to lose lower leaves but how many can they lose before i should worry that there is something wrong with it? this plant has not bloomed for 3 years now because it has been recovering from a very bad root rot. so now it is healthy again but it has stopped putting forth leaves and also no sign of flowers.

i start to wonder if there is a bug bothering both these phals, as they have stopped doing anything in the middle of summer whichi supposed is a peak growth period for all plants?

please advise.

thanks!

[orchid-man]

bump

[hohcs]

bump?

[Brutal_Dreamer]

a) regarding roots in s/h reservoir, i wonder if i should repot it and bring up the roots in case they rot when submerged too long in water? i think they started growing into the reservoir because it was growing very quickly for a time and the reservoir ran dry and i did not top up in time, thinking that i should always let the reservoir completely dry out and wait a couple moredays before topping it up as even when the reservoir is dry, the stones are still wet. so now i am not sure when winter comes, these roots in the reservoir would be more prone to rotting?

You should always keep s/h topped up to the drain line. There is no reason to let it dry out. We have a phal that is in S/H and the roots have grown into the water area also. They seem fine, but I am keeping an eye one it just the same.

Congratulations on the finished PhD!
Cheers!
BD

[uncasteeb]

All but 2 of my Phals are in s/h(about 25 plants) including species.
Most have roots in the res.Some have been in s/h for over 2 years without repotting & are doing very nicely.
If the temps are low enough to cause trouble for the roots in s/h i am pretty sure they would be effected the same way in other mediums if the medium is wet.
I try not to let my Phals go below 60f (especially in the longer colder nights) & no problems.I did have a couple of Phals in a window over winter & these did get bad roots.
Temps in the UK have been especially hot recently( hottest July temp recorded) but because of the clear skies temps a week ago plummeted to 48f @ night(it was 96f during the day in my g/h).The result seemd to be that a number have spiked including my Phal heiroglyphica.These cold temps were probably only for a couple of hours .
As for your plants i would try something different.
A bark mix would be my choice & see how they go.
It may be a trace element diffiecancy but if your other plants are OK then not likely.
Maybe try a smaller res & water more often.

[pavel]

bump?

On many forums, threads -- even if they have received no responses -- start getting pushed farther and farther down the list of threads. This can eventually cause them to get lost or deleted. "bump" is a way of moving or "bumping" that thread back up to the top or calling attention back to it.

[hohcs]

thanks everyone for your replies and in bumping my post up to keep it current.

i notice that the levaes of the phals which have stopped growing all have lighter patches when viewed through light. i hope it is not some kind of virus. or could it be too much light?

what uncasteeb said about low temp is a possibility as my african violet leaves also turned bleached over winter-spring and did not recover till now, but then this is buffalo - we do not get spring till june.