Phal in S/H with small lava rock

[Sunny]

I just put my mini phal in s/h. I am doing this because so far I have slowly killed every phal with the traditional methods. I believe their cause of death was overwatering.

I cut out holes on the bottom of a plastic pot, filled it with wet small red lava rock, and placed it in a wide saucer filled with water. I put on a top layer of spag.

My concern for this set up is that the top seems to be drying out more than I thought it would. I am going to try misting the top tomorrow. I am concerned that the new roots will be too dry at the top. Am I overly worried? I dont want to kill another phal. Its a cute yellow one with an orange lip.

[mayres]

I have found the best way to avoid the overwatering problem is to use medium to course bark (only) and keep the pot size on the small side. Several orchids I have purchased in sphagnum moss were nothing but problems for me to figure out how to water properly - never seemed to dry out. Orchids growing in this at stores seem to almost always show significant root rot - maybe partly because people selling are overwatering? I know a grower up here in Oregon that swears that orchids do a lot better in sphag but not by me! :-) Good luck!

[orchid.gecko]

Hmm..you put holes on the BOTTOM of the pot, or about one inch up from the bottom, on the side?

S/H operates on having a reservoir of water at the bottom of the pot from which water can be wicked up through the rocks upwards.

Don't worry about the roots at the top being too dry - you should pamper it by watering it more often, since it's just been moved, but eventually the roots will grow downwards to seek the moisture..

Just a note - you should repot phals into S/H only when they are actively growing (new roots, new leaves etc..)..otherwise there is a high chance they will die.

[Sunny]

The phal has two new roots starting, so its actively growing.

There are holes and holes I punched in at the bottom, and I slit four side slits a quarter up the pot because I want the roots to get air circulation (the pot is plastic). The resevoir is a rather large saucer I filled with lava rock and water. The bottom of the pot is defenitly sitting in several inches of water.

My question is, it appears to me to be kind of dry at the top, even with a light top layer of spag over the lava rock. I was worried about the brand new roots not getting enough moisture. Should I mist them or leave them alone?

[Gin]

What I have found is the top always looks dry , but the inside is moist , you could spray the surface roots off and on , but be careful of keeping them too wet especially with Spag. on the top , is it potted low enough that you could add rock later ?
I grow most of my specie Phals. and out of flask kids in Spag. but layer it with pieces of Styrofoam non melting type too let air to the roots . Keep an eye on it ,some of the mini Phals. do well in s/h some not . Gin

[jerrymeola]

Wow - a lot of confusion

Let's start by saying I probably potted over 100 phals like this this year with excellant results. It is the only way I will sell a Phal in the SW Florida heat. It may be considered the easiest orchid to grow nationwide but it is tough in our heat. I repot when the flowers are in bloom. Phals are one of the few orchids that can be repotted at any time in their growth cycle.

Sunny what you have done is basically what I do. Placing a saucer under the pot becomes a reservour. Just do not make it too deep.

I use slited clay pots rather than plastic. I feel this allows for a more even distribution of water as the pot pulls water from the center of the hydroponic rock. The color of the clay pot changes as the plant dries out making watering easier.

The air roots will take water when you water the whole plant. The ends may dry out and die. Roots and leaves die regularily on plants it is natural. Keep water out of the crown of the plant as this will often cause rot.

Phals develope air roots because we are growing them in unnatural conditions. In the wild the phals grow down from tree branches, with the roots at the top and the leaves and flowers growing down from there. When grown like this you will see the roots grow directly up to attach to the branch. The roots are genetically engineered to grow up. After all how could a plant reproduce if it could not hold its own flower up.

Once the gallery is up, I will post several pictures of mounted phals growing naturally.

I planted a baby phals with the roots up about 5 months ago and it has no air roots. It does have a nine inch root growing up the side of the mount. When it reached the top of the mount and went into the air, the tip of the roots dried and died. The plant is still very healty. I expect it to flower this winter.