Mounting Phal?

[Gladys47]

I have a small phal NOID that had been in bloom since winter. Leaves started looking bad so I checked roots and had only one fairlly good root.I cut off both spikes. It was like cutting off my own leg. this was my very first to spike and bloom all by myself. Lost two leaves, but remaining 2 are looking much better. Do I live in a good area to mount this small phal?Galveston area, glasses in porch , good circulation, good humidity.I need to repot anyway so i was just thinking about it. Never had a phal mounted.Any ideas? Advice? I'll wait for response from the "experts" before I make a decision. I have 2 catts that I believe I saved their poor lives by mounting a month or so ago. Actually see new growth. They did look like trash can material. Thanks, Gladys

[fred]

mounting orchids

a useful link for you to look at.

[Gladys47]

Will mount this evening on cork. I suppose it would be best to put spagh under and over the almost non-existant roots. Will soak in superthrive first. hold off on fertilizer a few weeks? does this sound like a good plan? I still consider myself a newbie. less than a year. I kill phals well. Grow dend keikis like mad. ok with oncidium tho i haven't rebloomed one yet. But my robert's delight vanda looks great! I love it. Those phals are devils tho. Bark or spag they fight me to the death. i intend to win at least once. Phals are my favorite. Go figure? Thanks bunches Fred.
Gladys

[fred]

sounds like a good plan to me.

just put alittle spagh under the roots other wise the roots may stay to wet.

sounds like it to me you know what you are doing.

good luck with the mount and please keep us posteed

[kmarch]

I hope I am remembering correctly, but I believe I saw somewhere a post by Jerry that mentioned that in the wild Phals grow with the crown pointing down, just the opposite of the way we grow them in pots. So when mounting a Phal, if the crown is pointed down, water runs away form it and prevents crown rot.

[pikevi]

Gladys47, I have mounted some Phals. So far they are doing well.
One has even put forth a new leaf.

I am not sure others will agree that they are real mounts since they are not individually free-standing in the conventional sense. They are mounted in logs with other species.

Good luck.

[pikevi]

kmarch, I think Jerry might be right. Two of mine have shifted and are parallel to the ground now. I assumed it was my 'loose' mount that caused them to shift.

Will watch them and see how they grow in the future.

[Gladys47]

I mounted it crown down. I can see 2 little nubbins where roots are starting to form.I hope. I have terrible luck with phals , but I think I may be getting it better. I have another smal NOID that is actually growing and I thought was going to die a few months ago. Two more are gifts from my neighbor, the lady who got me addicted.NOID's also .Large white and large purple. I bought one at Kroger last week in excellent condition with 3 plants in the pot. Haven't decided how I'm gonna kill it yet. The plants are pretty large for all on pot. it has a tag,P.Sogo Moondian'#' x P. Join Grace 'Hua-Yen. Gladys

[turkeytaker]

My mounted phals are weeds. It's also great fun to see the roots crawl over everything. Even better, for me, you know the roots are good and you don't have to keep pulling the plant out of the pot!

[Gladys47]

Turkeytaker, that sounds just perfect to me! No more guessing.
Gladys

[Ellen]

Mounting is good! Your epiphytic orchids will thank you and grow twice as fast as they would in a pot. It also saves lots of bench space. I've found that it doesn't much matter how you mount the thing, it will end up growing the direction it wants to anyway. For phals, that means horizontally or slightly crown-downward.

[Gladys47]

Well? I think its gonna be ok. I see no new root growth. The largest leaf is turning green but still slightly turgid. I have a bag draped over the mount for humidity. But the good news is it is putting out two new leaves. It started one and it got about an inch long. Yesterday I noticed it is putting out another! Now if I could only get some roots. It finally lost the one good one it had. Don't know why I am so horrid with phals because I simply love them. Could easily say they are my favorite. I'm getting better but I'm not there yet. Gladys

[m3phist023]

I'm thinking of mounting a big phal that I have.....I just love my mounted plants, and they seem to do really well.

Anyone have any suggestions on a mount that could be free-standing to place on a high shelf to have the plant sort of growing down over the edge? Maybe one of those big branches for parrots that sit in a tray of sand?

[Gladys47]

I have a root and two new leaves! The old leaves still look bad but don't seem to be getting any worse.I took it out of the bag to take the pic. I keep the bag open. I thought if I closed it the other leaves might get better hydrated, but I'm kind of afraid to make changes. What do you guys think? Gladys
Well shucks! Its too doar so you can't see the new leaves. One is about 1 1/2" long . The other about an inch. I also have a piece of spagh draped across the root. I took it off to take the pic.
Ok. I tried again. Maybe this is better.

[palito]

congratulations! looks nice.

[brookn]

Gladys, you will probably lose the leaf with the most dehydration, it is the oldest growth on it. It has a slight lightening to the right side of it, and it looks to be a matter of time before it yellows and goes. The other older leaf looks good, I have a phal that has some lines in the leaf like it does, and the leaf is fine. It may never hydrate any more, they just do that sometimes. I think it is loving the mount. You are doing a good job with it, and it will be doing fine for you now IMO, the root looks good nice and green.

[pikevi]

Very nice mount ,Gladys47.

I see it has a new root too.

Congrats.

[Gladys47]

So, do you think I should close or partially close bag? Or continue on as is? I guess I should leave bag till I have more roots? I was fine with it till I saw it was gonna make it, now I'm getting all antsy and will probably kill it with love. Gladys

[DDS2007]

beautiful , congrats ! u encouraged me to mount since i live in an area very dry and hot similar to TX.