yellow, flabby leaves: nyc

[pchadwic]

Hi again: last of three posts.

This plan was magenta and blooming when it came about 9 months ago. It bloomed until fall and we cut back the spike and repotted like the others. It developed a new spike much earlier than the others—late january-early feb—and quickly had blooms. Unfortunately nearly all of them dropped immediately. We thought that the winter temps stressed it too badly and we cut it back to let it heal. It was growing slowly but the leaves looked good until 2-3 weeks ago when they have gradually become yellower & soft (bottom leaves are the worst.) It started putting out 7-8 new roots during the last 6 weeks or so as you can see in the photo. There's no sign of a spike forming.

Again, this was in direct east light—sunrise to 9:45am—and seemed to like it. But that light has been getting more intense and I just moved it to north light.
Moss looks wet now, but was just watered yesterday and it's humid today. Roots look good through plastic.

related question—two of our phals are in plastic liners with holes and slots: good air flow, but are not in any outer pot. The spag has turned green with algae. I would think this could be a problem—if so, should I repot and keep that from happening again?

Thanks for all of your help for my three first posts!

p

[Orchidementia]

Hi. First, Welcome!

Second, if this were my plant, I'd repot it; something is going on where the roots can't use the water it's getting. Personally, I hate moss but if it works for you, go for it! Remove all the old medium, clean the roots, remove any dead ones, repot in fresh stuff, and give it somewhat dim light - enough to read by, but not enough to cast a sharp shadow.

Oh, and check the opinions of people who have been growing longer than I have! I've been at it about a year and a half, but I think I've figured out phals after nearly murdering my first one!

[mayres]

The timing you note for spiking is what I find most common for the majority of my hybrid phals - maybe even somewhat earlier - yours was probably slightly delayed because of being forced to bloom earlier for sale. The dropping of buds does indeed seem to be a problem for people with winter bloomers - with energy costs being what they are many of us keep our homes cooler (especially at night) than what phals would prefer - sounds like you have that part figured out. I would expect it to start another spike at the normal time - which should be late fall/early winter - when the evenings begin cooling again.
You were probably correct in assuming that as the season changed the light may have been a bit intense - just moving it back may have provided the answer (if possible) versus a northern exposure. In most locations a north one will not provide enough light to encourage your phal to bloom again - unless you provide supplemental artificial light.
Careful not to over water - not many people on this forum are lovers of sphag - though a few are. If your leaves become more floppy and/or you begin to see elongated indentations along the length of the leaf it may indicate your roots have been compromised and rot is setting in - usually caused by too moist conditions over an extended period. Keeping from packing your moss too tight may help eleviate this. I don't use moss, but have not found algae to be of detrimental effect on the media that I do use - more of an eye sore than anything - kind of reminds me of a fish tank in need of cleaning! Someone who uses sphag will hopefully chime in, but I'm thinking a repot may be in order as well - depending on quality of material and conditions you may only get 6-9 months of good use out of yours?

[pchadwic]

Thank you both for the feedback—it's really appreciated! My instincts tell me moss is not good media to use but my partner disagrees. As a compromise I used a commercial sphag mixture that had what appear to be rock chips mixed throughout and I potted them very loosely with styrofoam peanuts on bottom—the medium dries quickly and I always water in the early AM. Now that I've pulled these out of the East window though, they are drying more slowly so I think it's time to repot with bark (agreed?). Any suggestions on a good source to order online?

Thanks agin!

[Tobi]

Originally Posted by pchadwic

so I think it's time to repot with bark (agreed?). Any suggestions on a good source to order online?

Thanks agin!

Seeing how sphag. moss is tricky to grow in until you've had experience with
it, I also suggest going with a bark mixture. Schultz puts out an orchid bark
mix for repoting that should do you just fine. You can purchase it at any
garden center (Lowes, Home Depot, etc). Make sure you soak the mixture
that you are going to use overnight. This will help the bark retain moisture
better between waterings.