How to water phals in moss when moss dries up unevenly

[KC Kam]

Greetings!

I am in a delimma..I have a phal potted in moss and the pot was hanged horizontally. The moss on the upper part was dried with white roots while the lower part of the moss was still moist with green roots. I was hesitating whether i should wait for all the moss to dried up before watering..i am also afraid that the upper part roots will shrivel and dried up because it is not receiving water.

What should i do?

Please advise.

[ksriramkumar]

Sphag moss is difficult to handle under normal home growing conditions exactly for the same reason in terms of water holding capability and when it starts going down. I would suggest you repot in bark

[KC Kam]

Hi ksriram,

Noted. Thank you very much for your advise.

[raybark]

KC, Where are you in Malaysia? I visited many years ago, and was surprised about the difference in conditions in the southeast versus KL. What potting medium you use will be greatly affected by that.

[KC Kam]

Hi Raybark,

My location is in Kuala Lumpur (KL). I am using moss as medium. It was in that way when I bought it from nursery.
Is P. bellina
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[raybark]

Sounds like a Good choice, to me.

[paphioboy]

If it is in one of those translucent flimsy plastic containers with one drainage hole at the bottom, I personally would repot in in charcoal with a bit of coconut husk, depending how frequent you water (which depends on your growing conditions). I would avoid 100% sphagnum moss if you are growing the plant exposed to rain. Better to mount on wood or fern bark with a bit of sphagnum around the roots to retain moisture. Healthy bellina have relatively thick leaves and can grow a bit dry in between waterings.

[MattWoelfsen]

In my growing conditions--harsh winter, forced air furnace yielding low humidity--sphagnum moss is the perfect media. I pot my orchids using net pots. I also invert a smaller net pot inside the root mass, to allow air to access the center of the pot from the bottom of the pot. I grow indoors in my home. I also place my orchids in a space that gets a lot of fresh, moving air.

It really depends on what your growing conditions are, and how diligent or disciplined you are in providing the proper culture for your plant. I enjoy Phalaenopsis but there are some species, like P bellina that I would not grow in my environment, because it requires too much care. However, a P bellina hybrid works for me.

[raybark]

How about this? Make a hole in the middle of the upper sidewall of the pot - as you're using them horizontally, "the top" - then dribble in only a small amount of water, so that it slowly moistens the moss.