Did I Do The Right Thing with my phal??

[blufly85]

Hi all,

Im in need of some serious help. I have a few phal's that I purchased recently that had significant root damage bc of sphag moss medium. So I trimmed the roots and dusted them with cinnamon. I repotted them in smallest clear pots I could find and a bark mix. But now I am wondering if this was the right move. I ask this because after trimming of the rot a couple of them don't have any roots at all, the damage was so bad. Now i'm wondering if I should have did the sphag and bag method instead of placing them just in bark. Any suggestions would b greatly appreciated. I have posted a few pics to give an idea of what I have.

[kiwiorchids]

Why oh why did you dust the roots with cinnamon? only use that on the foliage. It dehydrates the roots :o

Other than that, it looks like you did a good job, unless you removed a pile of otherwise healthy roots. What you need to do is dip them both in a bit of rooting hormone, and do this once a fortnight until little root buds start to appear. Remember, the plant wont take any water until there is root growth going on.

[blufly85]

Why oh why did you dust the roots with cinnamon? only use that on the foliage. It dehydrates the roots :o

Other than that, it looks like you did a good job, unless you removed a pile of otherwise healthy roots. What you need to do is dip them both in a bit of rooting hormone, and do this once a fortnight until little root buds start to appear. Remember, the plant wont take any water until there is root growth going on.

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[mmursuli]

Why oh why did you dust the roots with cinnamon? only use that on the foliage. It dehydrates the roots :o

Other than that, it looks like you did a good job, unless you removed a pile of otherwise healthy roots. What you need to do is dip them both in a bit of rooting hormone, and do this once a fortnight until little root buds start to appear. Remember, the plant wont take any water until there is root growth going on.

I agree. Rooting hormone has worked wonders for me. I use Hormex, and there's also KLN--they're both pretty much the same. Also, try to give it a lot of humidity and heat (no direct sunlight, of course). The high humidity and temp. helps promote root growth. Good luck! Keep us posted

[blufly85]

Thank you Kiwiorchid and Mmursuli for your responses!! Will keep you updated on my progress.

I've dipped them in a rooting hormone as suggested. Also went ahead and placed them in humidity trays. As far as heat/llight exposure I have them in a windowsill that gets filtered southeastern lighting. I'm hoping this location will be okay.

What do you all think about my watering regimen? I plan to water once a wk maybe twice if needed. Would it be overkill to add a little hormone to the water I use for watering?
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[Khayael]

Hi blufly85. I have the same problem with some of my phals', but what I don't understand is how you do the hormone thing...
you dip it, then you pot the plant, and two weeks later, will you do the same again? unpot, dip, repot?
sorry I'm using your thread instead starting my own, hehe thanks!

[mmursuli]

I'd use the skewer method for checking dampness of the pot. For my struggling plants (my neighbor gives me a lot of orchids on the brink of death), I always add the recommended amount of rooting hormone to their water.