Quick Question

[tizzycat]

This is one of my no ID phals which never fails to dissappoint, but the leaves have lost some of their rigidity and appear thinner, do you think this is due to the number of flowers it is supporting??

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Anton]

Looks like it could do with some more potting mix to cover those air roots, and have you tried worm tea to give a little boost ?

[snowballsarebad]

I love the branching!
Your plant definitely looks thirsty. I agree with Anton, it looks like you could use more mix to keep in moisture. Are you watering enough, without overwatering? I find my phals like lots of water. At first, I was scared I was overwatering them, but I find they are more plump when I completely and utterly soak them.

[Anton]

I agree with Snowballsarebad, looks like a bit more juice will help.

[tizzycat]

Anton and Snowball, I don't think it is an underwatering problem, as I submerge my phals in a bucket of water for a couple of hours on a regular basis and then drain thoroughly.

I have added more moist bark to cover the roots as you have suggested to help retain the moisture. The roots are packed into the pot and was going to repot after flowering - I'm wondering whether I should forego the flowers and repot if the plant is suffering.

Thanks for your help

[elitebettas]

Look like a gorgeous tree, absolutely amazing

[orchid_girl]

It is beautiful!! I love it!! It sort of looks like my Phal but on a grander scale

[mayres]

That is one fabulous display of flowers. How long have you had this plant? Whenever the leaves of a phal loose their turgor/stiffness it is normally due to loss of water in the cell structure. The most common issue is not underwatering (which CAN definately be the issue) but rather OVER watering. Loss of root mass due to rotting roots cause the plant to not be able to uptake the water it needs to maintain good health. As you are suggesting, in severe cases people often remove the flowers to give the plant the opportunity to direct its energy on rebuilding the root system instead of supporting a display of flowers. Of course the plant, if is is slowly dying from the bottom up (rotting root mass) thinks it needs to keep the flowers going in order to hopefully pollinate and disperse its genetics to the wind and future generations of little orchids (in the wild). Once the flowers are removed its only chance of survival is to rebuild its own root system.
You might gently lift the plant out of its pot and double check the root system that is under the media. Assuming all is healthy you should not affect the blooming and rest of the plant in any way. If you find damaged roots you can take a step back and evaluate what you think your next step should be. Good luck and once again - wonderful display of blooms! WOW! mike

[tom499]

Just a thought, but how hot does it get in its spot? Plants can wilt from the heat, but it is most likely a watering issue.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

If you find no reason for this, and it starts to get worse, you might consider getting some systemic fungicide, with Bonomyl (Clearry's 3336, etc) being by far preferred for wilt type fungal problems. Oak Hill carries both Bonomyl and Phyton 27 in small sizes.

[tizzycat]

thanks Mike, Tom and Cynthia, I really don't think it is an underwatering issue. I have had this plant for three years and it has always, always put out lots of blooms (one time it had 50).

The roots are really green and healthy, but they are filling the pot, and now coiling out of the bottom.

The flowers are beautiful, it's just that the leaves seem "tired", "thinner", they are holding their shape, as you can see in the photo, but definitely not plump; maybe I should wait and see what happens when it has finished blooming??

Thanks also to everyone for their compliments.

Chris

[tom499]

the branching suggests you've cut down to nodes to induce more flowers, if its been flowering for more than several months it may just be down to exhaustion.

[tizzycat]

no Tom I usually cut the spikes off short, and this was a new spike from the base of the plant.

The plant flowers probably twice within a twelve month period and gets bigger each time, and seems to branch naturally sending out numerous side spikes.

Below is the plant at the beginning of October 2006

[mayres]

You are definately doing something right. There are a lot of people who would like to be able to grow phals with bloom spikes like those! What kind of media do you use for that plant and when was the last time you repotted? (I like your big clear pot - shows off the nice green roots!).

[tizzycat]

Mike, the plant is in plain bark. I like the clear pots as you can see what's going on but they sit inside ceramic holders inbetween watering. I have not re-potted at all yet.
I have another phal (pink) which started flowering before Christmas 2006 and lasted until five/ six weeks ago and she has already grown another 12 inch long spike. That too is in plain bark and has not yet been repotted. The leaves on the pink phal are enourmous.

I guess the windows where they sit are probably North East and get only the very, very early morning sun.


I'm a bit shy of repotting but guess I'll have to face it sooner or later. I did do one that had some rotten roots when I brought it home, but the medium I bought from a local grower had some peat and perlite in it and I wasn't at all keen and neither was the plant.

Yesterday I paid a visit to another specialist grower and as last was able to buy some orchid bark - plain and simple. So hopefully I'll pluck up courage to have another go.

[Jo_Pyeweed]

Absolutely gorgeous phal, tizzycat ! I do hope the leaves pick up really soon.

I grow my Phals in a NE window, too, and I find that they are extremely happy there. I have 5 Phals for the past several years and they seem to be in constant bloom. If I cut off the spike then the plant immediately sends up another one. I have never fertilized them.

I have never repotted, either, and my oldest Phal is 4 years old. So, I think the time has come for me to set aside my nervousness and repot this spring. The plants look okay, but after reading that most folks repot every year or once in two years, I thought I better get moving before my plants begin to suffer.

Mike - I plan to use coir following the post where you have so meticulously provided all the details. Thanks once again for the great post.

Cheers,
Jo

[Anton]

Why don't you pot on, that is, just pull the whole lot out without disturbing the root ball and put it in a slightly larger pot and then fill with fresh potting mix.

That way you don't interfere with the flowering and the plant just continues on it's merry way. Maybe as you mentioned it is being overwatered too.

The roots are looking nice and healthy, and the pot on, may, just may be a simple solution, if it still doesn't look happy then you know there is another issue.

If you do too many things at once, you won't know which one worked, or caused it to fail, and then you have another solution to put into the memory banks.

Good luck and keep us informed.

I have several phals in fir bark for more than 5 years without repotting, roots are all over the place! But they are healthy and bloom consistantly.
Then I repotted some of them, lost more than half of the roots in order to fit them in the new pots, and it took them 1 to 2 years to be as healthy as before.
So I just leave them be, unless they show sign of weak and give less flowers, then I would repot them.

[PhalPal]

Beautiful flowers Tizzy - Wow!
I had a problem with limp leaves when I had all my phals planted in bark. I'm just not a fan of the stuff. You might consider a different mix once your blooms are gone.

For now, I would do everything suggested above. Look at the roots and add more mix to the top.

Anton - I really like your idea of just replacing the entire root ball into a larger pot. Thanks!

[pikevi]

An awesome display of flowers.

I have not seen that many branches on phals here.