To grow phal without media

[priz_m]

Hi again!

I have a phal who has lost almost all its leaves and has just a couple of plump roots and its growing a keiki, nothing really ever happened to her, I always thought she had too little roots to sustain such big leaves; and I have another phal that just came out of root rot (I bagged it because I thought i wasn't getting enough humidity) and has 2 skinny new roots and minus 2 leaves (which doesn't concern me much beacuse they were the oldest and is growing a new one)

Needless to say I love them both, they don't seem to handle any type of media well, and sphag-n-bag is out of the question since I just can't seem to get it right.

I was wondering, would they make it if I mist their little roots every other day (or when they go dry or white)? obviously until they develop many more, enough to be repotted.

Has anyone done this? Could I pull it off?

Thank you in advance guys

[Weebl]

You don't need any media to grow phalaenopsis, provided humidity is relatively high or you can water it as needed (i would guess up to two times a day in summer). Another method you can try is the glass vase method, which is how I've been growing a Mokara for over a year now.

[priz_m]

Thank you Weebl, so you have it just sitting in a vase? Interesting .... I will try to spray them as needed and hopefully they will recover soon, I would think that is the ultimate way to control the moisture the roots are getting.....

[Brooke]

You can put the phal on a bed of moist sphag while it grows roots. Keep it warm, in bright light with no sun, and the roots will continue to grow. Then you can decide if you want to mount it or repot it after the roots get some additional growth.

You can also fertilize the leaves by letting them sit submerged with the crown side down for 20 minutes a couple of times a week. Dab the moisture out of the crown and sit it back on the moist sphag bed. The sphag can also be moistened with fertilizer water.

I've rerooted a phal with no roots by using this method.

Brooke

[entropy82]

could you elaborate how you got a phal to root when it had none. i just can across this problem, with a heavily rotten roots. all of them had to be cut back, but i couldn't save it. how exactly have you had success with your method?

[Brooke]

Entropy I rerooted a Phal. with the above method I described. The key to success is keeping the leaves hydrated while rootless, keeping the sphag moist to encourage the new roots to appear, keeping the plant warm but bright.

It will take a long time to get the roots long enough to pot and I would only do it if the plant is special. I did it with one I didn't care about just to see if I could do it.

Brooke

[entropy82]

i had a phal stuartiana which i purchased and when it came it had so much root rot, i trimmed, physaned, used some cinnamon. and in the end i was left with nearly no healthy roots. eventually they even died back and i realized the rot was so significant that the everything needed cut back to the "corm?". long short of it it, i didn't know how to save it after that.

how long is a long time for you? did you use any rooting hormone, or bag it?

[maitaman]

That's a Vanda or Ascosandra. A Phal will survive in those conditions sometimes, but will not do well. You can use a very light fertilizer in each watering to improve results.

[nutgirl]

I have a sad phal that has been doing nothing for almost a year. It lost all it's leaves except 1 and has a few stubby roots also. I sphag n bag and other things but nothing happened. It was shriveled and soft. I found a thread by Sun rm.N.E. about water culture so I put it in a small jar of water. I change the water every 3-4 days. The roots now have little green tips, the leaves have firmed up and there is even a new leaf forming.

I would have never thought it possible.

[lostonthebeach]

Originally Posted by nutgirl

I have a sad phal that has been doing nothing for almost a year. It lost all it's leaves except 1 and has a few stubby roots also. I sphag n bag and other things but nothing happened. It was shriveled and soft. I found a thread by Sun rm.N.E. about water culture so I put it in a small jar of water. I change the water every 3-4 days. The roots now have little green tips, the leaves have firmed up and there is even a new leaf forming.

I would have never thought it possible.

Hard work led to success. Good job!!!