Phalenopsis update!

[I. C. Unicorns]

Thanks to the advice I received here, my grocery store orchid gift is bouncing back.

When I received it, it had bud blast, oh well. Two weeks later I curiously checked the roots after reading here. The pot was a mass of black gunk and squishy wood chips. I probably overwatered as well. I removed the inner plastic liner pot and repotted into the clay orchid pot with fir bark and pumice bits. I thought that would be fine and dandy and I couldn't possibly overwater this. WRONG!

On my second bout of curiosity I found many dead shriveled roots. Water would collect in the bottom of the pot even after coming out the air holes. The bark on the bottom and center stayed wet a long time.

So I went to town and tried a lot of things I read here. I lined the bottom of the pot with a layer of styrofoam packing which elevates the bark. I repotted with about 50-50 of the bark mix and spaghum moss. I then engineered a clear plastic grocery sack over the whole pot and leaves, letting the spikes protrude. Finally, I found a bag of bamboo skewers in my kitchen and stuck one in the pot center, duh, why did I wait so long? It is the best way to tell if it is wet I discovered.

The moss seems to help a lot with moisture regulation. I will keep using it in the future.

I left the plant this way for a month. Now I have a new leaf about 2 inches long, some little green roots sprouting below and I saw an aerial root beginning to sprout!

Thanks everyone for saving my orchid!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I think I have an idea what is happening with the moss and bark mix. I have no idea what this mix looks like. I have never used moss in anything but moss. But I am now using a mix of canadian peat(2) and small perlite(3). Using this mix requires that the mix be pressed fairly well into the pot. If this is done, the mix will wick the moisture up to the surface or to the roots that are sucking it up. If it is not pressed well, the bottom of the mix can stay wet as there is no transport mechanism for the water. I think there may be a parrallel here, where the moss is acting to wick the moisture throughout the mix. On the surface of it, it looks like the mix would hold too much water, but if the water comes up to the top of the pot to dry, or to the active roots to be removed by them, then I can see how it would be good. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[jerrymeola]

You have just learned what Florida Commercial growers have known for years.

Styrofoam to raise the medium and sphagnum to keep an even retention is a standard Phal mix.

Most growers use large pieces (1 to 2 inches) of charcoal rather than bark or all sphagnum. You will not notice a big difference with bark. Charcoal is very good in a mix of indoor plants. It seems to do something more than just work as a potting medium. It also does not deteriorate as fast as bark.

[Willc73]

Hello,
I have had a similar deal with my Phaleonopsis.
I keep all my orchids outside. Many of them are in a pure bark mix and require water everyday. The Phals stay wet for two weeks in their moss. I am very new however I always thought it was bad for Phals roots to be wet all the time.
I try to avoid watering the Phals while the other plants are watered, but sometimes it is unavoidable.
I am tempted to plant everything in the bark so I can just water everything all day.

[I. C. Unicorns]

Cynthia, my bark consists of pieces about 1 inch to 1/2 inch. I think that you have made a good point. This mix might be too big to compact tightly enough to wick moisture from the bottom. I was concerned about air circulation, however the bottom was still soggy.

I water a little less than once a week and excess water still pours out of the pot, however my bamboo skewer says the mixture is staying just mildly damp for most of the week, not soaked like before. It seems that this would be a good environment for roots designed to absorb humidity.

I may do a third pot dig, for the sake of orchid science, to see what lurks beneath.

[I. C. Unicorns]

I performed the third and final (I HOPE) inspection. My blooms have long since died and one spike has whithered completely. The moss at the bottom was beginning to look a little black, I can see that using moss will require more repotting. The mix was slightly damp inside the pot and consistently moist right down to the bottom of the pot. Only the top was dry. I had seven half inch white roots sprouted off older roots. I snipped out the remaining dead roots, and found that two roots that looked dead were green inside, shoot! looks are very deceptive. This mix seems to work well for me, my watering style is I'd rather water less often. I am going to let the mix go even longer between waterings, maybe two weeks.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I generally choose roots to remove by feel. If they don't collapse between my fingers, then there is a question of being allive. There is also the possibility, tho mostly in other orchids with more roots, that roots sort of get petrified after dying, so they are still firm. When I think I have a sympodial that has a lot of dead roots, I start to cut off roots at the pseudobulb base starting at the oldest bulb, and working my way toward the fresher bulbs. The first time I cut into a live root, I stop removing roots, assuming that all younger roots are alive. No drawback to erroring on the side of leaving a few dead roots. Cynthia

You might also consider using fine bark. I use a mix of fine bark, sphagnum moss, perlite and charcoal and I find it works well and I only have to water every week to ten days, depending on the weather and time of year. I also swear by the skewer method.