Growing tips?

[tyger_lilli]

Hi all,

I was wondering when the growing season is for phals, if there is one. My dendrobium has been working on about seven new roots over the past month and I was hoping my phal would experience a similar growth spurt.

My poor phal has been through a lot and I'd hate to lose it, so I'm really hoping to see another leaf soon. I've been fertilizing with a weak mixture of some sort of generic orchid fertilizer, and I also have two fertilizer questions. I live in the city, so I try to keep most of my growing supplies out on the terrace due to limited space. My fertilizer gets a lot of sun and it's starting to grow some algae. Is this a problem? Also, is worm tea worth the investment? I'm a poor grad student and I really don't have an "orchid care" category in my budget.

Thanks a lot!

[tom499]

I've never heard of fertiliser growing algae like that. It means the algae is using up your fertiliser to grow, i would get rid of it. Store fert. in a cool dry dark spot.

phals dont really have a growing season, as they come from the tropics. if your phal has taken a beating lately then it will likely grow slower. There are culture sheets on the forum, if you follow those your phal should be healthy again in no time.

[mayres]

The growing season for a phal is anytime year round that you provide good growing conditions. Commercial growers elevate the temperatures to the 80's or even low 90's to maximize growth - I have also noticed that my plants grow the most during the warm days of summer. All the other important culture points must of course follow - lots of bright indirect light (pushing the limit without burning will maximize growth), good air movement, good quality water and fertilizing practices. If your plant is not growing at all this time of year make certain you check the root system and be sure they are healthy - this could be the problem if you are not seeing growth now. Roots should be plump and firm - not mushy, black, stringy, etc. Let us know what you find. Good luck - mike

[PhalPal]

Is your avatar the phal you are referring to??? If so I would take it out of the pot and check it's roots. Since your leaves look very limp, it may not have many viable roots?? Black and mushy = bad. White/green and plump = good. Let us know!

[Hummer344]

Fertilyzer + Sun + warmth = growing gunk in the bottle. Since you are short on funds and short on room I would buy one of the comercial dry fertilyzers. Small jar can last you a good long time. You can mix it when needed and throw out what you don't use. There are many different types to use and everyone has their own bias's. If you have an orchid grower in your area you can ask them what works best in that area.

[kmarch]

while Phals can pretty much grow year-round as others have already indicated in this thread, they do have a distinct blooming season. In the autumn, when night temps are cooler they initiate their flowering cycle and usually bloom in winter and spring.

[tyger_lilli]

Originally Posted by PhalPal

Is your avatar the phal you are referring to??? If so I would take it out of the pot and check it's roots. Since your leaves look very limp, it may not have many viable roots?? Black and mushy = bad. White/green and plump = good. Let us know!

That is indeed the phal in question, before it lost the super wrinkly leaf. I thought it was doing well since it was blooming. The roots were indeed very rotted because the grower had it potted in a veritable brick of sphag that had started to break down. I repotted in bark and I'm trying to make it happy again. I checked around the base and there is one plump, new white root stub, so I guess that's a good sign.

[jay]

How big is the one good root? Is your phal still in flower? Might make a difference as to what you should do next to save the plant.

Jay

[tyger_lilli]

There a a bunch of roots, probably a dozen, though a few that look rotten in the middle might not be as good as I hope. I cut the spike off when it finished flowering a few weeks ago, before I transplanted it. One leaf is green and mostly firm, but the other one is brown and withered. The browning one is firm too, so I hope it's just dropping this one before it grows another. Interestingly, one of the leaves I lost (I think it was the super-wilted one in the avatar) was at the top, so the very top of the crown is dead. I'm not sure what's going to happen when it tries to put out a new leaf.

Both my orchids are in a west-facing window, so they get good afternoon sun. The coloring on the phal looks pretty good. I keep a water tray for it so the humidity is probably pretty good, especially combined with summer in the mid-Atlantic. The temperature is mid to low 70s, so it might be a little cold. My A/C vents are also all in the ceiling by the windows, so there might be a draft, but that's almost unavoidable. I'll turn the A/C off when I go out of town this weekend and that'll probably make it happy. I did the same when I went to Mexico for a week in June and I came home to three new blooms on what I thought was a finished spike!

[mayres]

I hate to be a bearer of bad news, but if your top leaf died this does not bode well for your plant. This is called crown rot and means that this particular plant will not grow any more leaves. At this point your only hope is that the plant will develop a basal keiki (baby plant from the base of the plant) or if it had a spike, start a new plant from a node on the spike. Once you do get a keiki to form you are talking at least two years in general to get that new baby plant to the point that it is ready to bloom on its own as a new plant. Unless you are extremely patient and have very sentimental attachment to the plant it is usually best to purchase yourself a new plant and apply what you have learned from this one to your new acquisition. The fact that you have significantly compromised roots will also add to the lag time of attempting to bring this plant to a point of health. Possibly others will chime in and give you other ideas but this is my perspective.........

[jay]

I believe a phal would do better in an East or South window. As far north as you are the winter will be pretty dark in a west window.

This will help for the next one.

jay