How are You growing your Phals?

[cb977]

Susanne, there's a nursery near to me that grows all their Phals in Hydroton with a little coir. My Catts. love LECA, the best thing for them. How often do you water the Phals you have potted?

They get a little blast into the pot with a sprayer every 2 days in the warmer months, maybe every 3-4 days now that it's a little cooler.

Almost all my chids are in aliflor

[jkofferdahl]

I don't have great luck with sphag, but it's because I tend to be an overwaterer. I mix 25% Aliflor with bark. For me this gives good drainage, fair water retention, and good aeration. My Phals seem quite happy with the mix. However, three of my Phals are mounted and are absolutely thriving, too.

[whygreenberg]

Originally Posted by Sandy4453

Yvan, what are marble chips?

Sandy...it's just pieces of the rock, marble. Sold in bags at the big box type stores as a soil additive for aeration that is also attractive. I like it because of its surface quality – rough but not too rough – and weight.

I think the most important thing to come out of my switch is the way my Phals have taken root in their pots. Before, using bark, the roots never seemed to really want to get anchored, there'd always be some wiggle. Now, they've really solidly established – I will probably have to break the pots to remove them come repotting time.

[Undergrounder]

I think no matter what you use the plant will get used to it, but if you go from something that holds a lot of moisture to something that drains quickly, or vice versa, that's when the roots die.

I draw your attention to this experiment. Clearly Phals like water, and they don't need a dry period in between waterings, in fact they love to be wet all the time. But you'll probably kill a Phal that's been grown in coarse bark if you then stick it in wet sphag. This is why i've started deflasking my Phals straight into perlite kept wet with a reservoir. So far so good.

P.S. You can see in the photo there that it's a Phal. schilleriana they use. So even plants that most people say you should mount, or that hate staying wet, grow best if kept in constant moisture.

[boytjie]

Originally Posted by Sandy4453

Hi to all

Anyone here growing their Phals in sphagnum? Mixed with? Did you switch to sphag. after less than ideal results with another medium and if so, what improvements did you find after switching?

I'm thinking of switching from bark to equal parts of sphag./tree fern pieces and about 1/4 perlite but before I do, I'd really like hearing what others have to say and what differences/improvements you've noticed after switching from __?__ to sphag?

I think everyone has different growing conditions and watering habits, and thus will post different results. For my part, I can't really mount them due to space limitations. I switched last year from straight fir bark to a mix of 3/4 sphag and 1/4 Monterrey pine bark. Over this past year, all my Phals have simply taken off, new leaves and thick roots sprouting like crazy, and now every plant has two spikes emerging.

What I've found with watering the sphag is similar to what others have written on this site: I wait until the moss is dry almost to the point of being "crispy" before re-watering. I also use slotted clear plastic pots; I'm finding the slots help the roots to breath, and also allow the moss to dry more evenly. I try to make sure condensation is evaporated on the inside of the pot before watering again. When it comes time for repotting next year, I may move a few to those mesh plastic baskets with the same mix, and see if even more aeration improves things further. The Phals are obviously much happier than they were in the bark this time last year!

[mayres]

Hi Sandy! You already know about me and phals, but not everyone else........All you folks in florida or with greenhouses are fortunate to be able to do mounts with your phals (I'd love to try it!) - someone in our local society has a large greenhouse and also grows all his phals on nothing but mounts - doesn't work too well in a home though with central heating as noted by a previous post. At least in my conditions growing in a home environment I've found coir/perlite/charcoal - in approx. 70/25/5 percent ratio to work FANTASTIC. Two and a half years and going strong with this media now - see no reason to change YET! :-) I might try some S/H one of these days! :-)

[Lagoon]

Sandy,

Coir and peatmoss have the same texture - small and soft, both are able to hold on to moisture longer then bark, but not aslong as sphag. moss (IMHO)
I would never use these 2 products straight up, I always blend with something for structure, breathable space.

Some of my catts are in a blend of 35% peatmoss,but mostly bark and some large perlite, they're doing great.

Others are in sphag, bark and perlite - moisture is good but airy. I'm using clear pots to keep a check of the roots.
I don't find that straight anything works well, not for me anyways. I always mix.

I would not consider phals to be wet growers. Yes they do love they're roots moist. But, they do not like the same moisture as phrags, they would likey rot down if that kinda water was giving to them.(JMO)

[Undergrounder]

Originally Posted by Lagoon

I would not consider phals to be wet growers. Yes they do love they're roots moist. But, they do not like the same moisture as phrags, they would likey rot down if that kinda water was giving to them.(JMO)

Moisture is moisture, what's important is air IMO. Phals grown in semi-hydro won't rot with constant moisture, Phals grown in straight water won't rot given enough oxygen-producing algae. It's the air they need, Phals will grow and thrive in constant moisture as long as they a) are used to it, and b) get enough air.

[Sandy4453]

Originally Posted by jkofferdahl

I don't have great luck with sphag, but it's because I tend to be an overwaterer. I mix 25% Aliflor with bark. For me this gives good drainage, fair water retention, and good aeration. My Phals seem quite happy with the mix. However, three of my Phals are mounted and are absolutely thriving, too.

jkofferdahl, how are you measuring when to water with the bark? Are you using skewers? One reason I've decided to switch to the spagh. mix is it takes all the guess work out of when to water than with the bark. Do you water on a set number of days, regularly?

Originally Posted by whygreenberg

Sandy...it's just pieces of the rock, marble.

OOOh, marble chips, Yvan! Gottcha now! Very interesting and makes great sense. I once made a rock garden terrarium, all cactus and succulents and used the colored rocks. These are the same ones without any dye, I presume. Yes, I find too that bark alone, can be problematic on the roots if not the right size.

Originally Posted by Undergrounder

I think no matter what you use the plant will get used to it, but if you go from something that holds a lot of moisture to something that drains quickly, or vice versa, that's when the roots die.

I draw your attention to this experiment. Clearly Phals like water, and they don't need a dry period in between waterings, in fact they love to be wet all the time. But you'll probably kill a Phal that's been grown in coarse bark if you then stick it in wet sphag.

Undergrounder, this is the kind of in-depth info I've been seeking but didn't know it when I posted the question. I'm very thankful to you for posting your reply and adding this link. I've decided on 75% spagh/fir bark pieces/sponge rock and the rest, small bark, to give them what they're used to while (hoping) to maintain a more evenly distributed water retention which has been the problem, here.

Originally Posted by boytjie

I think everyone has different growing conditions and watering habits, and thus will post different results. For my part, I can't really mount them due to space limitations. I switched last year from straight fir bark to a mix of 3/4 sphag and 1/4 Monterrey pine bark.

Stephen, the mix I'm going with is very similar to yours. Basically, I'm adding the spagh and changing the ratios, somewhat. I too, have growing space limitations...

Originally Posted by mayres

Hi Sandy! You already know about me and phals, but not everyone else........

And wait till everyone here sees pics of your Phals, Mike. Mind blowing-ly beautiful. The coir always starts out, showing great results but over time, here in Fla., especially in the warmest months, it got too heavy, mixed with the bark so I had to remove it. Florida is thick, hot, heavy and growing in pots, semi-outdoors and yes, with fans going, just didn't cut through the coir.

Originally Posted by Lagoon

Coir and peatmoss have the same texture - small and soft, both are able to hold on to moisture longer then bark, but not aslong as sphag. moss (IMHO)

I don't find that straight anything works well, not for me anyways. I always mix.

Gloria, I bought a bag of peatmoss a couple of years ago when I bought my first Miltassia, because that's what the plant was in but, never used it. I never quite got what it did that others mediums, didn't? It's probably a lot less dense than coir.

And I agree, anything straight, doesn't work for me either.


And to all those who have read this far I've gotten a lot of useful information, here. Many thanks to all that replied, here.

[Brooke]

Sandy for me, peat is even heavier than the fine coir because it composts quicker and holds water even longer. Peat also harbors fungus gnat eggs and I HATE fungus gnats.

I use sphag/tree fern for phals until they need to be potted into a 4" pot and then I switch to a CHC mix which consists of coir chunks, diatomite, charcoal or I mount them.

Brooke