A couple questions about phals and skewers

[G_THUMBS]

Hi all a couple questions,First i'm growing 6 phals on my east facing porch,they get about 2 or 3 hours of morning sun then shade the rest of the day.is this a good place for them to grow?Also im using the skewers on them so i dont over water them,But theres some funky stuff growing on the skewers looks like mold,i guess the humidity plus the wet bark grows mold will this kill or hurt the phals??

[Tobi]

G Thumbs,
No this is just a surface mold that does not usually hurt the orchid itself. It
comes from wet conditions without proper air circulation. Throw out the
skewers and get new ones and try to increase the air flow around the plant,
That should help

[G_THUMBS]

Well my plants are outside under a covered porch with plenty of air flow i think,The skewers are getting mold where there down in the bark not on the top,I'll replace the skewers thanks for the advice.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Replace the skewers. or soak them in 10% bleach. You can bleach them with a lower percentage, but 10% is the strength needed to eliminate virus, and then it doesn't matter which skewer goes in which pot. I've been told that mold likes the wood in the skewer, but not the bark, so no problem with your orchid's mix or plant. Just a cometic thing.

[PhalPal]

Hi Gthumbs and welcome to the forum. I use the skewer method and really like it. Since you also have mold on your bark it may not be the best media for you in the humidity you have in NC. If the bark is staying wet I would be tempted to look at the roots of one plant just to be sure it is not wet all the way to the roots. As much as I like the skewer method I found it very inaccurate with bark.

[G_THUMBS]

Originally Posted by PhalPal

Hi Gthumbs and welcome to the forum. I use the skewer method and really like it. Since you also have mold on your bark it may not be the best media for you in the humidity you have in NC. If the bark is staying wet I would be tempted to look at the roots of one plant just to be sure it is not wet all the way to the roots. As much as I like the skewer method I found it very inaccurate with bark.

Hi PhalPal im very new to orchids,and dont really know what im doing.But i'm deff hooked on them I have'nt noticed any mold on the bark just the skewers,but im using just bark with nothing else mixed with it,what would you recomend using for my phals??also i went to Lowes today and they had 3 phals left all with dried up flowers.so i ask if i could buy one of them at a discount she let me have 1 for 5 bucks so i cut off the spike, the roots look healthy.or most of them anyways.should i repot it right away?it was pretty wet under the spagum moss.

[PhalPal]

Sorry gthumbs, I misread your first post and thought it said you have mold on everything. All orchid growers have their favorite mixes and it just depends on what works for you. You will find many discussions and downright arguments on this forum regarding which is the best one to use, but all of our situations are different. I lived in SC for 4 years and know how humid it is there in summer. If your bark is staying wet on top all the time, it may be holding too much moisture for your conditions.

The mix I am using (see discussion link) can be a bit pricey if you have a lot of plants. What I know is I lost many phals using bark and haven't lost a single one since potting in Aussie Gold. I grow indoor phals and outdoor cyms with no rotten roots, lots of new growth of roots and leaves.

Congrats on your great find at Lowe's!! YesYesYes definately re-pot them into what ever mix you decide on. Cut off the old spikes and trim any old, rotten roots before re-potting. (some is normal) Very often orchids from DIU stores need some TLC because they really don't know how to care for them.
Good Luck with your new babies!
Ask lots of questions; the learning never stops.


White stuff on soil

[G_THUMBS]

Thanks PhalPal i got a bag of Aussie Gold on the way.

[G_THUMBS]

Well i got the Aussie Gold mix in today,and started to repot my orchids in it right away.The seedlings from ebay actually looked pretty good i had 4 of them that ive had for a month, all 4 had nice roots and growing a new leaf,Bad news is the 2 biggest phals i have,not from ebay, although the leafs looked great the roots were really bad mostly rotted,not by me though.but by the time i got done triming the rotten dead roots, i did have a few good roots maybe 2 or 3 thick ones each.So my question is should i do anything special for these 2 plants i have all my phals outside under a covered east porch.

[boxerfan]

G_Thumbs: Welcome, nice to see someone new from the Carolinas. Sounds like you are off to a great start. I'm still pretty new at all of this too, but if your 'chids with only 2-3 roots need some new roots before planting, there's a method called Sphag and Bag that's kind of loke an Orchid ICU to help them grow roots and get there strength back. I know there's info on this technique somewhere on this forum and elsewhere on the web, maybe another member can help with a link. If you have them, post pics of your 'chids. BTW, where in Western NC are you? My folks have some land up in Little Switzerland and I went to College at ASU in Boone many, many years ago. Keep up the good work. Lisa

If the plant has several good roots, I wouldn't go the sphag and bag method, I would repot them into whatever mix he/she is using, and then be diligent in watering them. If G Thumbs wants, he/she could put a loose tent of plastic over the plant for a week or so, just until the plant gets adjusted into it's new pot. By the way, don't overpot as that's an invitation to rot as there will be too much medium that can stay wet in compariston to the root system. Use a pot only as big as the root system with just a bit more room for growth.

[PhalPal]

Hi Gthumbs! Sorry to hear about your bad roots. I agree totally with Orchids126 above. I wouldn't sprag and bag a plant that has a few healthy roots. I started off using Aussie Gold as my Orchid ICU with a phal that had NO roots. None. I really didn't think I could save her but it was one of my favorites and just couldn't bring myself to toss it. I put her in a small pot with all AG and used a risome clip to somewhat stabilize it in the pot. I misted with worm tea and kept it a little wetter then I normally would. I also had it in a little plastic dome 'room', but a large baggie over the top of the plant will work well too. I was amazed to see several new roots and two leaves sprout very quickly and it is now looking great and healthy. I think some of the reason may be that I felt I could keep the AG wetter without causing more problems. Worked beautifully! Good luck with yours and let us know how it goes.

[G_THUMBS]

Thanks to everyone on orchidgeeks for all your help....i think ive read almost every single thread on this forum and without it i'd deff be lost,so a big thanks to all of you i'll post some pics if ever get 1 to bloom odds are i might since i got 10 orchid plants since march