Beginer with a Phal

[jdh467]

When should I repot and what is a good medium or soil.

[mayres]

Generally, when you should repot depends what the condition of your current media. If it is breaking down and not giving your roots good air circulation its time to do it. I also like to remove my phals from their pots fairly soon after receiving to verify the condition of the root system - I may or may not put them back in their current media. Most people who have been raising orchids for any period of time eventually settle on a media that they especially like and will fairly soon in the process get new plants in like media. There are probably at least a couple dozen choices for phals. Of course they grow on trees in the wild, so the pot and media is generally for our benefit - some of the more popular are bark, New Zealand sphagnum moss, coir or other coconut husk materals, perlite, peat, semi-hydro clay pellets, and others and combinations thereof. Until a newbie gets used to growing orchids I tend to favor suggesting mediaum bark and then branch out to other medias with experience. The advantage of the coarser bark is that it tends to help in a common problem with new growers - over-watering. If you do decide on bark be sure to soak 24-48 hours first - most plant departments in many types of stores sell orchid bark. Also, if you do decide to repot, remove any mushy or dried up roots from the root system at that time. Good luck. mike

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

If the Phal came in bark, the test for condition of the original bark is to put a finger on top of the mix, away from roots, and press down. If your finger goes in, it is time to repot. If the bark presses back on your finger showing it is very firm, you do not need to repot. For most orchids, repoting can be stressful, but not generally for Phals as they have thick but modest roots, and the mix can generally be removed and replaced without damage to them. The mix should be placed very firmly in the pot when you repot. You should be able to lift the pot by picking up the plant, that is how tight the mix should be. If both the roots and bark are well moistened, you should be able to achieve this packing without much damage to the roots.

[jdh467]

thank you for the info

jim