| Hey, I do mostly Phals and I have brought several from the brink of death. This is exactly what I do. I pull all of the medium (usually sphag) off the roots, using a sterile blade, I cut all the rotted roots off all the way to the crown (leaves), basically any hollow roots or mushy. I use the cheap terra cotta pots with holes in them at Lowes and I use their better-gro bark mix with their better-gro fertilizer (urea free). So I repot in this mix in the terra cotta pots, some people soak it all first for an hour or so, but it doesnt really matter and since the roots are soggy, I just tend to err on the dry side anyway. I soak the plants carefully not to get water down in the leaves for about 30 minutes and then only water 2x a week. sometimes I mix a little Sphag in with my bark for extra moisture and then I can just water once a week. I am using the high nitrogen fertilizer since its bark mix right now during the growing season, then when it gets chilly, I will switch to a high middle number and I do half as much that is recommended weekly since the roots are suffering, but giving it a little boost of nitro will help the leaves grow and after the leaves grow or get stronger, then your roots can get stronger and grow. You just want to be careful not to burn the roots.
Plastic pots are great as well as the terra cotta, I do not have problems with salt build up on the terra cotta so I use those because they breath. I have beautiful artesian spring water running thru my tap and the salt content is way below the level that hurts plants so I just add aquarium dechlorinator/metal detox. If you are in a major city you usually can google the water info and check your ppm of salt. I forget the safe level for plants.
anyway, my rescue phals have roots spilling out all over the place and new leaves, so hopefully this might work for you.  |