Repotting Phals

[Peppermint Pattie]

Lately all the phals are potted in small plastic tubs, what do I do to repot? And what's the best medium to use?
Finally, my office mate drenched her Phal and lost one spoke, I told her I would try to bring it back so I have completely taken the roots and all out to dry. Now what?
Thanks so much!

[Ross]

If the pots are clear plastic, stay with those (my opinion and what I do.) They allow you to see the roots, monitor moisture, etc. Basically, many of us choose to repot when we get the plant home (in bloom or not) into a fairly coarse bark mix, chopped coco fiber, artificial potting material, etc Just so it lets in lots of air. Then just watch the mix in the pot. When all the moisture beads dry up and the roots appear white or light brown (instead of deep green) then it's time to water. Pretty simple, actually. Holding off on repotting will lead (usually) to rotten mix, fungus, rotted roots, etc. You don't want that. Hope this helps. Here's a picture of one of mine

In this case, the Phal is not ready to water again. You can see the moisture beads in the pot and the green roots.

[jkofferdahl]

Ross said it well. I also like to use the clear plastic pots. I mix bark with an artificial material (basically ceramic pellets) and the Phals I've potted in this are all thriving. Good luck with yours, and keep us posted.

[mayres]

There really is no "BEST" media for phals - everyone has a method/media that works for them - there are dozens of options. Of course in the wild phals grow on trees with NO media. Note this thread that is active now covers this question - http://www.orchidboard.com/community...our-phals.html

[Sandy4453]

Originally Posted by mayres

There really is no "BEST" media for phals - everyone has a method/media that works for them - there are dozens of options. Of course in the wild phals grow on trees with NO media. Note this thread that is active now covers this question - http://www.orchidboard.com/community...our-phals.html

I'm glad you added the link, Mike. I was getting ready to lead P.P. to it until I saw that you already had.

And I agree (and it can't be stressed enough) that there is no "BEST" medium when it comes to growing, only what works best for the conditions you're growing in.

P.P., as Ross noted, the key is to give it a medium where it's allowed plenty of breathing room but doesn't get dried out too quickly. Too much or too little water, will lead to unhappy, failing roots and plastic pots allow you to keep an eye on their status, among other things as well. What works best for you is determined by where you're growing these...inside, outside, the air flow and the temps and light they're receiving.

[Peppermint Pattie]

Hey folks,
Thanks so much for all your good advice. But what about my office-mates phal that she overwatered & completed devastated.
I cut off one spoke & then took the roots out. Looked like there could be rot, so I gave the roots a bath in a very diluted bleach solution. Now I guess I will pot it up again & see if I can revive it.
Any other suggestions, advice?

[RosieC]

A may help people give acurate advice, but here's my go from what you have said.

If there is mushy parts on the roots you need to cut those away or they may spread.

Don't make the mistake I did to then use Cinnomon on the wounds. There is a lot of talk on this group that cinnomon is good for wounds on orchids, and it IS, just not good for the roots as I found out later.

I'm not sure if a quick rince in Listerine is good for roots or not, maybe someone else can say if you need to do anything like that after trimming the roots.

Once the roots are trimmed you then need to see how much of the roots are left and are good. If there are plenty of good roots left then I would advice just potting it back up and careing for it as normal.

If you then have hardly any roots left (if any at all) then you may need to try something like 'Sphag n Bag'. I can't find the link just now maybe someone else knows where it is or maybe you can find it with a search of this site.