New Phalaenopsis Compot- Need Help!! Leaves Fell Off of One Plant

[OzPhal]

Originally Posted by sweetjblue

DON'T water from the bottom letting the media soak up water. That is one of the worst ways to water plants potted in moss, they get too soaking wet and the pot stays wet for too long leading to root rot. When you do have to water, water from the top, letting water fill to the brim and then let drain.
Judi

Sorry for going a little OT Island Girl -

It's interesting you say that Judi... there's many schools of thought out there in regard watering and what works best - in general it's highly dependent on your conditions etc - sphagnum moss has never been a friend of mine - in winter it stays too wet - i've got a few seedlings in it at the moment that I'm moving across to my 4 parts bark, 1 part perlite, 1 part charcoal mix. For that bark mix soaking works really well and, for the most part, i thought, soaking of the sphagnum was working well for me too! i found that if i soaked them for about 30mins then about three days later the sphagnum was lightly damp and i thought it was ok... I actually re-potted a seedling this morning that i'd been growing that way and i noticed that, although the majority of new root growth seemed ok (they hadn't gotten right down the bottom yet), that some of the older roots had succumb to root rot. So then would soaking work better in baskets i.e. the mesh sided pots. Filling from the top would work well so long as you never let your moss dry out completely...

Do you grow your phals in sphagnum Judi? Do you simply fill it up and then let it drain straight away?

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by sweetjblue

I really don't think that the vendor that these came from would have sent these out like this (pretty sure who it is) as I've received several flasks and compots over the years. Never received anything that looked like yours and he has a very good reputation for quality plants. You may however want to contact him over the number of seedlings you received, fairly sure he'd make it right for you.


Judi

Agree 1000% with what Judy said.

[sweetjblue]

OzPhal,

Yes I grow my Phals in Sphagnum at least the ones in pots 4" and under. Anything over its a combo of sphag, bark, charcoal and perlite as the pots take longer to dry.
And yes, I water pots just as I stated. I was told of this method by Carri Raven-Reiman of the OrchidPhile and it works quite well in fact (at least for me), especially if the moss is firmly packed. If I remember correctly she has the method posted on her Facebook page somewhere. Since using this method I have noticed that I have alot less root issues with plants planted in pure sphag.
Soaking moss would work better with mess sided pots as well as clay, more air movement thru both.

As had been said on OB, ask 10 people you'll get 10 different answers for both watering and media. It all depends on your conditions. I was basing my answer on what I saw and knowing the vendor and how he plants his compots. Do what works for you.

As I stated I was just giving my

Sorry if I offended anyone.

Judi

[Island Girl]

Yes, as of this morning, the vendor contacted me, via email, And from what I've heard from everyone, he is a reputable dealer. My other phals from him are beautiful! He said that the gigantea are sensitive to temp changes.. But he did offer to replace, so that might be the best thing to do now that I think about it..... Cause I asked him if there was anything I could do to save them, but I dunno, like I said, I'm new to this!

Thank y'all so much for all your help!

[OzPhal]

Thanks Judi, appreciate your feedback

Originally Posted by sweetjblue

OzPhal,

Yes I grow my Phals in Sphagnum at least the ones in pots 4" and under. Anything over its a combo of sphag, bark, charcoal and perlite as the pots take longer to dry.
And yes, I water pots just as I stated. I was told of this method by Carri Raven-Reiman of the OrchidPhile and it works quite well in fact (at least for me), especially if the moss is firmly packed. If I remember correctly she has the method posted on her Facebook page somewhere. Since using this method I have noticed that I have alot less root issues with plants planted in pure sphag.
Soaking moss would work better with mess sided pots as well as clay, more air movement thru both.

As had been said on OB, ask 10 people you'll get 10 different answers for both watering and media. It all depends on your conditions. I was basing my answer on what I saw and knowing the vendor and how he plants his compots. Do what works for you.

As I stated I was just giving my

Sorry if I offended anyone.

Judi

[OzPhal]

That's great news you're making great progress and you're in the right place to learn! you'll make mistakes along the way - we all have and still do! but you'll always learn something...

Originally Posted by Island Girl

Yes, as of this morning, the vendor contacted me, via email, And from what I've heard from everyone, he is a reputable dealer. My other phals from him are beautiful! He said that the gigantea are sensitive to temp changes.. But he did offer to replace, so that might be the best thing to do now that I think about it..... Cause I asked him if there was anything I could do to save them, but I dunno, like I said, I'm new to this!

Thank y'all so much for all your help!

[OzPhal]

How are your babies going a few days on?

[Wynn Dee13]

I grow all my orchids in sphag moss and I water like Judi does. I put my thumb or a few fingers under the pot to cover the hole (I grow mostly in clay pots) and I fill the pot up to the rim and let it sit for 30 seconds or so and let drain. This works well even if the moss is really dry. You just might have to hold the water in there a little longer the drier the moss is.

I'm glad you have a chance to try again with your compot! Good luck!

[calypsoB]

Originally Posted by OzPhal

Calypso, just in regard the use of the antibiotics - that's a very specialised and specific area of application there and you need some understanding of the contaminating bacteria - if you're using an antibiotic that's suited to gram negative organisms and the infection is from a gram positive organism then you will achieve nothing - similarly you need to understand what impact the antibiotic will have on the plant cells/chlorophyll... Stick with Physan - it's a quaternary ammonium blend that specifically targets bacterial/fungal/viral cells and doesn't impact on plant cells in any way...

I do have some understanding here. I have done testing as well as research into this topic. Physan, isn't the holy grail of treatments for plants, it kills healthy as well as unhealthy fungus. Although I haven't read about its effects on Bacteria, I would guess that it would probably have a similar effect as well. If we are talking about resistance, then somethings may become resistant to this application as well. I am not saying that physan is bad, but just suggesting that you are being a bit harsh about the usage of an antibiotic paste.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by calypsoB

I do have some understanding here. I have done testing as well as research into this topic. Physan, isn't the holy grail of treatments for plants, it kills healthy as well as unhealthy fungus. Although I haven't read about its effects on Bacteria, I would guess that it would probably have a similar effect as well. If we are talking about resistance, then somethings may become resistant to this application as well. I am not saying that physan is bad, but just suggesting that you are being a bit harsh about the usage of an antibiotic paste.

Personally and from admittedly unscientific observation, I think Physan is next to useless except for sanitizing surfaces and tools. In cases of serious bacterial infections, Phyton 27 and other similar systemic products do seem to help (but do require more careful handling).