And the fever has struck...say hello to orchid #2!
 

Well, despite the worries about my first orchid (a Dendrobium kingianum), I decided to purchase another one. This time round a Phalaenopsis NOID (from Woolworths).

Pretty little lady, isn't she? I immediately removed her from her clay pot (with one small hole!!) and discovered that she was packed tightly with moss - and had 3 rotten roots. After removing these, I dusted them with cinnamon (found that tip on the 'Stop the Phal abuse' thread!), and placed her in her new home.

She has about four healthy-looking roots, so I have great hopes of her surviving.

As you can see, I'm trying out the full water culture with this little one. If anyone has tips with FWC, please share! I've always loved the look of a bare-rooted orchid in a glass vase. :D

Oh, if anyone one has an idea what kind of Phalaenopsis she is, that would be wonderful to know! Otherwise she will stay labelled as Phal NOID #1 until I can think up a pretty name for her. :)

~Havyn

P.S. Forgot I can't add pictures yet...I'll post them as soon as I reach 5 posts!

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Good Looker! Nice job cleaning up ;).
FWC new News to me, would like to learn more too.
That wouldn't be too much h20 for plant?
Sure looks nice as you have it though.

I thought the same....Woolworths!! Thought it was long gone. Nice find on the cute Phal. Since it is in water culture, which I am not familiar with for growing tips, it will be fine, but normally we don't recommend dusting the root zone with cinnamon as it can desiccate healthy roots. Just cuts on the upper plant such as leaves, pseudobulbs etc. I expect any cinnamon that got on live roots got rinsed off or diluted with the water in your case.

Um, I didn't know that! I was jolly careful not to get that area wet, actually, it is still as thouroughly dusted now as it was when I did it yesterday. I'll go wash it off immediately. And so one lives, learns, and learns again. Thanks for pointing that out! Hope I didn't harm it already.
Oh, and Woolworths is everywhere here in the RSA! Every shopping center has either a Woolies Food or a Woolies Clothing, or both combined. I actually went to the three nearest to me to see which store had the healthiest orchids!

It's OK on the dead roots, but the fear is getting that powder on the live ones!

Well, a few of the live roots had mushy ends, so I cut them off and dusted cinnamon where I cut them.

I really like mini phals. I think they are great value for money.

Wow, what a beautiful collection!

If the roots are turning mushy, please remove it from the water. Dip but let it dry daily.

I've been meaning to try some phals in glass vases, but haven't yet. I do grow some vandaceous ones in glass vases.

Don't leave the water in the vase. Phals might be different, but here is what I do for my vandas.

I soak them for about 10 to 20 minutes with water and very weak fertilizer every morning. Then dump out the water. Let it drip for a minute or two and then dump again. This prevents the drips from pooling at the bottom and rotting the tips.

The idea is to let the roots soak up a lot of water and food and then dry out completely before soaking again.

Depending upon your ambient humidity you might need to wait a day or two before soaking again. You can tell that it is dry enough when the roots have gone silver, grey or white.

If the roots take off and really start growing the roots can attach to the vase. Be sure to take it out of the vase occasionally to prevent that.

Rothrock, that sounds like perfect advice! Just what I was hoping for. Thank you, I was wondering about the clinging roots myself, as well as the possibility of rotting tips. BTW, the mushy bits were as a result of the previous potting mix and was spotted and removed before I placed the orchid into the vase.

I've had good luck with Neostylis and Vanda -- good root growth, leaves, and reblooming. I've been meaning to try it with a phal, but all my phals are pretty happy in bark and I didn't want to mess with them. Maybe I'll give it a go.

Let us know what you discover.

Will do!

Spanish ladies lined up, waiting to dance.

Woolsworth
 

Their WoolsWorth and ours (US) have nothing in common (according to Wikipedia)...but darn doesn't THAT bring back memories from long ago ?
Hmm, I would think this watering environment would work best in a fairly humid area. Otherwise the roots aren't taking up water for (fairly) long periods of time and I'm just not sure. Even if grown in glass chips, the roots have the media to protect them from the open air and to foster higher local humidity (would seem to me).
Also, just a thought, isn't this sort of culture actually more prone to failure for a novice than a more traditional culture ?

True, but I've never been one to take the easy route! I really wanted to try and see if FWC or a version of it, at least, is feasible for my environment. Also it looks so cool! I'm not going to let the roots dry for five days before soaking them, but will do as suggested earlier in this thread: provide water every morning or when the roots turn silverery-green. If I fail, I will have learnt quite a few things with an orchid that will be easy enough to replace rather than experimenting on an expensive and sentimentally treasured one.

Thank you.

Here's the phalenopsis waterfall where the large ones go.

Hello there! Just thought I'd post an update on my Phil in FWC. It is doing superbly! All the root have growing green tips, one of which is almost a cm in length already!! It is also growing a new leaf and a new bud. Super excited! It def loves its watery environment! Will post a few pictures in a moment.

:photo::whistling

Sorry, sorry - I thought I could post pictures using my phone and was evidently proved wrong. Just got access to my laptop (forgot it at work!!). So here goes:

Taken last week:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...cture12171.jpg

Today's picture:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...cture12184.jpg

See how big the new leaf's getting! And I got a brand new root - she will look a little less lopsided, now! The one thing I was unable to get into the picture was the brand new bud forming on the tip of the flower stalk. This is one happy little lady!

The blooms on the photo in the middle - wowza!

A very nice phal :) Keep the humidity up for it in winter, it just gets so dry here in Gauteng. Don't have to worry about it now with all the rain we're getting!

I love your root growth. Was tempted to try the glass vase thing but just don't know if I will be successful with it. Glad it it working for you.

Thank you! I would encourage you ShadePlant to try it out solely for the ability to see how the entire plant grows! It makes the 'hobby' of orchid growing so much more fulfilling!

And thanks for the encouragement, Pink Cucumber! It is most appreciated. ☺️

Well I'm glad she's a happy little thing.