What to do with mini phal?

[butterfly_muse]

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

I ended up having to travel a little further into town for something I needed this morning and I got suckered by this adorable mini phal. I was just telling my fiance yesterday how I thought the mini ones were so adorable and how I hadn't been able to find any.

And then I made the mistake of going through the florist department of the grocery store on my way to produce. =X This little guy was the last one. I wasn't supposed to be at the store today. Obviously this was fate. xD

His roots look really healthy and he's growing a new leaf. That said, his medium is pretty grungy, green mold and the like. I've got to cut his cup away to get at him because he's so packed down in there. I plan to soak his roots in an anti-fungal for a bit and then a light fertilizer.

My question is - he's in bloom, first of all, so is this a bad idea? And secondly, what do I put him in? He came in a decorative pot that is slightly larger than he is, and all I've got here in my house is bark/perlite/charcoal from my normal-sized 'chids. Should I just lightly put some bark in his decorative pot? Should I give him a slightly bigger pot? Should I chop up some of my bigger bark in the food processor? (Weird, I know, but I'd do it. Not ground it fine, just kind of make it smaller). I don't really own anything this small that I could think of to put him in. I suppose if I got really adventurous I could go to the store and grab some clear plastic cups that are disposable..>__> Cut holes in them and call it good.

What do you think??

[chilover]

Do either one of those containers have any holes in them. I'd just loosen up the spag and remove some of it. I use spag all the time for my mini phals. As long as it isn't packed in and you let it dry well between waterings. My house is warm and I water the mini's about every 5 days. Cut some slits in the side of the clear plastic container and holes in the bottom and then you can put it back in the decorative pot. I like lots of slits in my clear plastic containers so they drain well and the spag can dry easily.

[butterfly_muse]

Originally Posted by chilover

Do either one of those containers have any holes in them. I'd just loosen up the spag and remove some of it. I use spag all the time for my mini phals. As long as it isn't packed in and you let it dry well between waterings. My house is warm and I water the mini's about every 5 days. Cut some slits in the side of the clear plastic container and holes in the bottom and then you can put it back in the decorative pot. I like lots of slits in my clear plastic containers so they drain well and the spag can dry easily.

The plastic container has a drainage hole in the bottom, the issue is that the container and the sphag inside have grown a green fungus/moss because it is wet and humid and warm. >.< I'd have to bleach the cup and I have to soak the roots, but I don't want to put that gross moss right back in cuz it will continue the problem. But I don't like moss so I don't want to run out and buy a bunch of it just for one teensy weensy cup lol!

[cbuchman]

I find that the packed sphag spells disaster pretty quickly for me. Decomposed sphad even faster.

When I buy from the grocery store and that's what I get, I remove the sphag (using tweezers as necessary) and then repot in a medium bark with about 30% sphag. I use the same mix for the little guys too. Then I watch closely to ensure that I am watering enough and not too much until I can establish the schedule it needs. I use clear plastic pots or clay ones.

[butterfly_muse]

I don't know where to get a clear pot this tiny, do you think a garden center might have one? If not, I might go see if I can find a clay pot that is small enough.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

That green looks like algae, not fungus or moss.

I don't think there's a need to chop the bark.

If the decorative pot has drain holes, it's fine.

However, I do recommend using a clear plastic pot. You can make one by cutting a water bottle in half and punching holes and cutting slits in them.

[butterfly_muse]

If I were to clean the pot he's in really well, would I be able to put him back in that? It has a big drainage hole in the bottom. Otherwise, I've got a few empty soda bottles up in my car. XD

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If you clean the original functional pot, I don't see why you can't re-use it.

[butterfly_muse]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

If you clean the original functional pot, I don't see why you can't re-use it.

Sweet, thank you

Edit: Cleaned its little pot really well, removed the moss, let him soak in some fertilizer for a few minutes, and then poked through my bag of bark for the smaller pieces. All done!

Had to put him back in his decorative pot, though, because the slats on my baker's rack are too wide for the plastic pot, lol.

[Arkturus]

This was EXACTLY the post i needed!

I bought a mini phal about 2 weeks ago and did the same thing as you did, only i used a small cut-off plastic bottle as a makeshift pot, and dug through my bark bag for the smaller pieces... Added just a hint of the original moss.

Hows the little guy doing? Ok? Or would you recommend doing something else?