moss or bark for phal?

[Lady Tottington]

Originally Posted by RoyalOrchids

Hi LT,

I agree with the advice from Gloria (lagoon). The transition to bark can be rough on a plant grown in sphag. Adding some sphag to your bark mix can really help it adjust.

Another point to consider is pot size. Some plants do well for me in sphagnum, but mostly the smaller pots like 2.5" or 3". Once they get up to larger pots (4" or 6") I usually go for a bark mix. In bigger pots, sphag stays too wet for too long under my conditions.

k... well it is in a 3" pot, but in a bark mix, will it do too much damage if I remove and add moss this weekend, after just getting it into this pot? I don't want the poor thing to protest and hate me and decide it won't take my punishment any longer

thanks RO

[Lagoon]

Personally LT, ... I would just leave as is for now. If in the future you wanted to branch out and try a different mix, then do so.
(IMHO) Its always better to grow what you're already used to. Don't fret, easy does it

[Royal]

More wise words from Gloria.

[DanielBear]

This is a wonderful thread, really enjoyed reading it!

To add my total amateur 2 cents, take it for what it is!

I always repot phals as soon as I get them. Whenever I break that rule, I regret it. I have one beautiful harlequin, didn't want to disturb its bloom, it bloomed 4 months. Then when I went to repot it, discovered it was in a plastic basket pot inside the main pot, with rotting sphagnum inside the basket pot. The roots were growing through the plastic basket pot. I cut off the plastic basket pot with scizzors, but many of the roots were severely damaged by the sharp plastic slats, so I cut off the injured roots. So it probably lost half of it's roots. I was really bummed about that but usually they recover and grow new roots anyway, we'll see, and now it's in fresh bark-based medium that they seem to like.

I've never lost a phal by repotting it right away into a bark/perlite/charcoal mix that I buy premixed at the big box store. I never presoak it. I know, I'm a bad person for not doing that, but for some reason they forgive me. I wash off the old sphagnum by teasing it out under barely warm running water until the roots are clean.

When I repot I keep tapping the pot against the counter, or with a spoon, to work in the new medium, then spray with running water until it comes out clear.

Whatever I may be doing wrong, they respond and grow nicely. Go figure!

I've started just using plastic pots. When leaves rest on the edge of clay pots, the moisture and salts injure the leaf and it forms a hole, bummer. That happens even tho I use rain water and flush with no fertilizer every 4th watering. Plus the clay pots get moldy and slimy. Slime seems to enjoy the weakly weekly fertilizing. That doesnt seem to happen with plastic.

Anyway, whatever Im doing the phals don't seem to mind and many bloom for months, and even rebloom on the same spike.

[Queenslander]

Good advice DanielBear. I too do the same potting regime, when I have bought a Phal. home. I have 5 altogether now. They have been sitting in mushy spag.moss in the shops. So out they come, tease all the moss out of the roots, cut the mushy black roots, (after washing the roots with water), dust the cuts with cinnamon. Give them a drink and let them be until the potting mix is nearly dry. They have never looked better. I might add, all Phals. have been in bloom when bought, and never stopped flowering for the rest of the year. 1 Harlequin Phal. flowered for 8 months!! Go figure.

[tucker85]

I recently received two phals that I bought online. They were both in spike but they were also in those thin clear plastic pots with hard packed sphagnum. I wanted them to bloom before I repotted. My compromise was that I slipped them out of the pots that they came in and dropped the whole root ball in a 5" plastic net pot. They both responded very well with root growth that is extending out throught holes in the pot and continued spike growth. Even in the net pot the sphagnum is so tightly packed that it only needs to be watered about once a week. I use the weight of the pot to judge when it's dry. It's just one alternative if you don't want to do a complete repot right away. Good luck.

[Lady Tottington]

Well everyone, here is an update for you! The original phal that I got that was potted in bark and looked happy, remains happy! I haven't disturbed it, other than to water, etc. The clear pot allows me to see the roots and I water when they are starting to fade from green and it doesn't look like any moisture is in the pot/bark. I mist occasionally when my watering ocd kicks in, but only the aerial roots, and so far it's been doing great! No crown rot! No root loss! Wonderful!

Now, my other little one that was jam packed into a teeny tiny pot with spagnum that looked like it was so full and was going to explode, the one that I repotted into bark, didn't fair so well. After seeing some alarming signs, like lower leaves yellowing and dying off, I pulled it from its pot (it wasn't a clear pot obviously) and it had lots of roots that were dead/dying. So, I gave it a trim, and it is now in a little pot with spagnum that is nicely tucked in there, but not over-packed, and I am hoping for the best and trying to not over water.

Then, as of yesterday, Lowes had some phals on the plant rack that were marked down as they were done blooming. I got 6 of them for $4 each, most had pretty decent roots, while one was just terrible, but I had to get it because it was two plants in one container. Anyhoo, that particular plant that looked like two in one container was actually three, and those poor roots, oy. they have sure seen better days. I trimmed them up, and there are only about 3-4 nubs on each of those three plants. I planted in tiny pots with loose spagnum and I put them in the bathroom hoping to give them a chance to live and grow some roots. these three all have some droopy leaves, so we will see how these fair?

The others I got have all been set free from their confining tight spagnum and have been replanted in the same size small pots (clear) with bark mix tucked happily inbetween and around their roots. These I'm hoping the best for as well, but will do as was suggested earlier in this thread to check every couple days and see how they are doing with the transition.

I figured that at $4 each, I could afford to add them to my collection and see if I could keep them alive and hopefully, hopefully, make them rebloom one day! All had tags except for the one that was three plants in one pot. Nothing spectacular, but worth the $4 and hopes that I have to learn from them, and you all!

happy orchiding to you all!
smiles,
m

[Lady Tottington]

hmm... do you think I should try the spag in a bag? Would love to hear your thoughts.

[Sandra75]

In regular times, I find that my Phals do better in bark, their blooms last longer for some reason. Now is winter here and is pretty dry so the with the moss, I dont need to water it that often.

I find a mix of bark nicer those, cuz the moss tends to get green and needs to be replaced more often than bark

[OzPhal]

Originally Posted by Eyebabe

There was an excellent article in the AOS Orchids journal a few months back about growing phals in New Zealand sphag moss.
:

Do you happen to have that link eyebabe? it doesnt seem to work