Any tips with growing Phals inside?

[Michelle]

Hi all! I am a new member who has been growing orchids outside for years, mostly dendrobiums, oncidiums, and catts. My dad has lots of phals that he grows outside (we live in SW FL) but whenever I try it, they die, die, die. Unfortunately, everytime I've attempted keeping one as a houseplant, I fail miserably Here are some of my greatest hits!

1.) floppy leaves
2.) Central AC which I am convinced is a death sentence for these in my house, as I have vents everywhere
3.) root rot and crown rot even though I water sparingly enough and avoid getting the leaves wet (apparently not well enough)
4.) the flower bulbs at the tips of the stalks drying up and falling off

It makes me sad! My outside plants do very well, I have a really nice catt and a native FL terrestrial about to flower right now. My dens and vandas are kinda sleepy, but I expect them to start going nuts soon enough. And I can't seem to keep my oncidiums from turning into monsters, which is a good thing! Any advice on keeping my phals alive would be much appreciated. I just picked up 3 today at Home Depot...they received a shipment a few days ago and I got great prices on them (11$ a piece!) Each one has at least 20 flower bulbs on it, with some just barely opening. 2 minis and 1 regular. I'd also like to try my hand at some ladyslippers (I've murdered a few of these, and they are a little pricey, so I'd like to keep some easier, cheaper friends alive before taking a crack at them again)

Thanks!

[Michelle]

I forgot to mention that I am a slightly neglectful parent. Not like, a "call child services immediately" type, but more of a "we're ordering pizza for dinner again" type.

[berkeleysgr8]

I had to laugh at your last comment because I work for Child Protective Services! I'm in California where it is MUCH less humid. I have central AC and don't have a problem with growing Phals indoors. It has been suggested by some of the more experienced members that having good air circulation (i.e. having fans to circulate the air) is key to preventing a lot of different types of problems. With your humidity, I would think that fans would be particularly necessary. What kind of light do your give your plants? What are they planted in (what kind of medium)? How are you determining the frequency of your watering schedule?

[Michelle]

Each is located near a window that gets filtered sunlight (nothing too intense). They are potted in standard Phal mix that I purchased from Home Depot. In the past, I judged when to water by feeling the medium, but never watered more than once every 4-5 days. I think I've been both overwatering and underwatering...I'm going to try the skewer method with these. I've read on here that moving them around can cause problems, and I have a tendency to do this, especially if they are not flowering (I like having the pretty ones in prime viewing locations!)

[janet_a]

try watering less (every 7 days, min) and definitely invest in an oscillating fan; i'm up in MD and have a fan on the phals (about 12-15 ft away) 22/7. i knock the speed down and increase the distance in the winter, when it gets *extremely* dry in the house, but i keep it on. i water on saturdays, and put the fan up to high speed all day long to make sure the leaves dry off.

[PalmCityOrchid]

Hi Michelle - I live in SE Florida and grow my phals indoors. They do really well in east-facing windows. I have some in a West-facing glass tile window. The light is stronger on that one, but not direct. See pictures - it's the one with the two candles. The others are in east facing windows

I find that most phals I've bought have a clumpf of sphagnum moss right underneath the crown. After killing a few and performing a couple of autopsies, I now soak the new orchids I buy in diluted Physan and get all of the sphagnum moss out. I get a regular orchid mix (Wal-Mart seems to have the best prices in my area) and put in new sphagnum moss into it and transplant the new plant into that. It has worked for me in the past.

I'm slowly converting to Coconut Husks - Any comments on this medium would be appreciated!!!

[PalmCityOrchid]

I should've rotated this for you - sorry!

[Michelle]

Thanks so much for all the great advice....One other question:
I know I should repot these (they aren't even in orchid pots, just plain clay pots w/ 1 drainage hole), but they have scads of flowers on them I don't want them to freak out and start dropping blossoms or buds.

Speaking of dropping buds, does anyone have any tips for preventing that from happening?

[articuno75]

I think Janet_a is right on the money. Overwatering indoors might be your major factor and with no circulation on them, well this scarry movie scenario is spelled out. As for the moss with indoor growing,,,,,,I'd ditch it and just use the bark mix. Here in Indiana the humidity is like a roller coaster. I grow my Phals indoors and I had a couple of Phals in Spagh. One died from rot with the over collection of moisture.

As for the dropping of buds, not much you can really do about that. It just happens when Phals try to adjust to the new enviroment. The bud blasting could be from moving out of the 95 degree temps into the 75 degree house.

Now Connie (PhalPal) is a different story. She is blessed by the orchid gods and never has experienced this. LOL, her experience doesn't count. I think it's just the grow area and enviroment. Phalpal is able to match it. Perfectly.

As for medium I use Aussie Gold mix with coco husk chips added. This might not work for you as you have far more humid conditions than what I have and this stuff stay moist for longer periods of time. I do have a couple of Phals in a mix of bark, perlite, coco husk chips and charcoal and they seem to love it.

[Michelle]

Thanks so much. I'm pulling the moss off of my new phals as I type this!