New Phal in Sphag - BOOOOOOO

[mayres]

I'm sorry for all of you sphag lovers, but NO NO NO is all I will ever say! I ordered two new phals recently and one of them came delivered in sphag. After taking my plants out of their wrapping I immediately de-potted the phal that was in sphag and note what the rooting system looked like - 95% rotten! This is delivered from a reputable grower. There was only a single short viable root on this plant after I cleaned it up of all the papery stringy wasted rotted root material. I'm hoping I can salvage this plant, but it was very sad. Note before, after, and repotted plant photos following.

[fred]

thats a shame mike
lets hope the plant loves its new home and brings you good joy with heaps of growth and flowers

[kmarch]

I think I might have returned the plant for replacement or refund.

[Bolero]

Yeah get a replacement.

Don't blame the medium used, blame the culture.

[brookn]

wow mike my two phals shipped dry and bareroot looked twice as good. that is a real shame. sorry to see it, I hope it recovers nicely for you. I got mine from FL.

[NancyG]

What a shame. It is amazing that the plant looks as good as it does.

NancyG

[mayres]

brookn - I had another phal in the same order that was in another media - plant was also MORE than twice as big (4-6X) with lots of good healthy roots.

Bolero - I understand the culture is a major part of the picture, but there seems to be a small minority of folks who can truly grow in sphag well. Whether in the big box stores or from a nursery I see plants like this.

[BillC]

Mike, I believe that the sick phal is now in the coir/perlite/charcoal mix and I hope one day to see the post that carries the pic. of the first bloom. Good luck with it.

Bill

[mayres]

Bill - Yep! Sounds like a good challenge. Will know in 3-4 months if it grows enough roots and gets strong enough to support a spike this fall!
Thanks - mike

[Maddy]

I've only had one do well in pure sphag (phal Makai Wantenabe - hope I spelled that right) but it has more roots than moss in the pot.

[PhalPal]

Well Mike, I don't know if 'congrats' or 'so sorry' is in order! I'm with you - I get them out of sprag the day I get them home. I am not an overwaterer yet still roots just rot away and then I am so mad at myself for not taking the chance of possible losing a few blooms by not re-potting.
Call the grower and at least let them know what happened; I am sure they would want to know and they may send you a new phal.

Three Cheers for coir/perlite/charcoal mixes! Woo Hoo!!

[mayres]

PhalPal - As I have noted previously, I have had mine in this mix since last July and they are all doing fantastic. Have noted that I have tons of aerial root growth - possibly more than ever before. Only a few plants are in clear pots and I've noted those roots do a better job of staying where they "belong". In another couple weeks it will be a year and I'm trying to decide if I should repot the majority of them again and get some of those roots contained or just let them "fly" everywhere. What do you think? BTW - the supplier of my Naples Nights readily said he would replace if it didn't survive - which was nice, but I'm banking on it thriving.........

[PhalPal]

Mayres- I eventually got all of mine in a coir mix through attrition. Once their blooms were spent and I saw some new green growth I would re-pot. Now, of course, I switch as soon as I get them. I haven't lost a bud yet. One thing new this growing season is I have noticed I have a lot of aerial roots that are reaching straight down for the soil and not flying around. It is the strangest thing! If it has been a year I think I would be tempted to re-pot and try to contain some of the aerials. I can't think of a reason why you would have more due to the plastic pot?? More versus less moisture maybe?

Something I learned just recently is that altho coir looks very wet, it actually contains 30% AIR. There are a few big Santa Barbara growers going to coir mixes. I would think it would be a bit pricey for them but if they loose fewer plants.... Keep me up on what you decide and how it goes!

[Ellen]

I guess your phal is a hybrid (the tag looks like some sort of cross) but it looks like it has a lot of characteristics of a species like schilleriana. This and other phal species grow best when mounted because they don't like to have their roots contained. The usual hybrids seem to tolerate it fairly well, and I grow them in both sphag and bark mix, not a lot of difference in how well their roots do. The problem, as another person pointed out, is not the medium, but the culture.

The "before" picture shows a lot of broken roots, which I assume you removed for the "after" pic. They haven't been dead long. My guess would be that the vendor took the plant out of a plug tray or some such growing arrangement and crammed it into the sphag right before shipping it to you, breaking most of the roots in the process. The turquoise colored discoloration on some of the roots suggests that it might have been dipped in some sort of copper-containing fungicide solution. The good news is that phals are resilient, and will grow new roots pretty quickly. Good luck with the plant.