my first phal - Orchid Board

Eythan · #1 09-27-2008, 09:22 AM

ok so its spring time here in melbourne, aus, and things are really starting to get quite hot

i went into box hill the other day and bought a moth phal (beautiful white white flowers with yellow and red speckles in the centre). it wasn't looking all the best, but at $20 was relatively cheap, so i bought it.
it has a healthy looking spike developing (one of the flowers is open, other buds opening, spike still extending), but my concern is that the plant as a whole is a bit limp, the flower that has opened isn't opoen fully and is a bit wrinkly, and i'm not sure if that's normal. the leaves themselves are quite small and very wrinkly and very limp, which i don't think is normal at all. i'm too scared to give it water (i have drowned a few orchids in the past), and the lady in the shop i bought it from advised aginst watering anyway.

the roots look ok i guess, from what i can see above the bark (i'm not going to take a look at the buried roots, i'll try to leave flowering orchids alone as much as possible)

it may be the heat causing the poor dear to go limp (temp has been approaching 30 degrees celcius, it may have gotten hotter than that even), so i put the whole pot in a bigger pot and put gravel and stones between the two pots to moderate the heat a bit.

its currently sitting on a table under a translucent white varanda, but it still gets the hot breeze

i have a little hothouse in my back yard, but it's like a sauna in there these days, so i think that's out of the question

maybe i should take it inside my house, or just leave it to recover (it wasn't exactly healthy when i bought it)

any suggestions??

camille1585 · #2 09-27-2008, 11:10 AM

Hi Eythan, welcome to OB!

Wrinkly limp leaves means that the plant is not getting enough water. This means either it just needs some good waterings, or the roots are completely rotted and the plant can't absorb the moisture it needs. I would unpot it asap and check out the roots to know what you are dealing with. Do you have any pictures of the plant?

dudleyleroux · #3 09-28-2008, 09:00 AM

I would definitely pull that phal out and have a look at the roots. You should remove all the rotten roots, just leave the nice looking ones with green tips. It is very uncommon for a phal to need water more than once per week.

camille1585 · #4 09-28-2008, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dudleyleroux

I would definitely pull that phal out and have a look at the roots. You should remove all the rotten roots, just leave the nice looking ones with green tips. It is very uncommon for a phal to need water more than once per week.

I have to disagree with you on the last point. I don't think the amount of water a phal needs should follow any guidelines. While yours may need water only once a week, people with other growing conditions and with different mediums may need to water more (or less). In my case, there are phals I water every 3-4 days from late spring to early fall, and even now I am watering some of them every 5 days. I let the color of the roots tell me when it's time to water since I use clear pots. If they are green, I hold off on water, but once they become white/silver, I water.

dudleyleroux · #5 09-28-2008, 11:19 AM

I agree with you on the watering. My weather is pretty comparable to Melbourne, which is why I mentioned a time frame for watering. The medium I use for my Phals is a medium pine bark chips and packaging peanut mixture. Clear pots are a godsend. I use them too.

Eythan · #6 09-29-2008, 04:58 AM

i pulled it up out of the pot a little bit to give the roots a squiz, and they were plump and green (with healthy green spag to boot), so i think the water levels are good for now. maybe it just went limp from a few hot days in a row (and being kept in a muggy hot car on the day i bought it). the other flowers along the spike seem to be developing well also, so i think the plant is just recovering from the bad conditions it lived in before i bought it and getting used to the deck in my back yard.
thank you for the suggestions though - i shall investigate clear pots..

camille1585 · #7 09-29-2008, 02:07 PM

What is the phal potted in? In your first post you mention bark, but in the last one (if I understand correctly) you mention sphag...
If it is in sphag, you might want to repot in bark. Some people do grow orchids in sphag successfully, but it is very easy to over water, especially if the sphag is packed tighly in the pot. If you are worried about over watering, bark is a better option.

Eythan · #8 09-30-2008, 08:37 AM

no its in bark, but there's bits of spag growing amongst it, not a lot though; i didn't even notice it until i pulled the phal up and saw some buried in the bark

G.Alves · #9 09-30-2008, 06:22 PM

Hi Eythan.
I had the some problem has you with my Phal when i bought mine.... so i repot my in medium pine bark chips and coconut fibres and so far they look great, i like to repot mine when i first get them.... i wet mine every second day (cause i have 35 degree days )and i give them fertilise one a week.