Growing phal in sphagnum moss

[boytjie]

Originally Posted by opulenceflowers

Thank you for the advice. I am based in Cape town in South Africa.

Regards
Roelof

Say hi to the mountain for me!

[Donald]

I grow all of mine in "sphag" and let the medium almost dry out before they are watered again. I transplant using new medium every 18 months. Never had a problem with root rot.
Happy Growing

[opulenceflowers]

Thank you for all the advice. It seems the problem is not repotting them because I assumed the spagnum to be a good medium and the translucent pots must also choke the roots

[Cookiemonster]

I grow in moss for quite awhile now...
The moss test in my opinion is something that is potted in moss must be completely COMPLETELY dry by the end of the 2-3 day after watering or else its too much for your environment.

I find moss works well for me, it DOES not have a long shelf life, it will go bad in about 8-12 months in my experience but I find in my environment it keeps the humidity high around the roots

I put some packaging peanuts the non biodegradable kind or some wine corks, I use clear pots with slits and holes in the bottom for aeration- then put the plant in and stuff some moss inbetween roots and wrap it around till its full with moss, and the plant is being help up nicely!

[opulenceflowers]

Originally Posted by Cookiemonster

I grow in moss for quite awhile now...
The moss test in my opinion is something that is potted in moss must be completely COMPLETELY dry by the end of the 2-3 day after watering or else its too much for your environment.

I find moss works well for me, it DOES not have a long shelf life, it will go bad in about 8-12 months in my experience but I find in my environment it keeps the humidity high around the roots

I put some packaging peanuts the non biodegradable kind or some wine corks, I use clear pots with slits and holes in the bottom for aeration- then put the plant in and stuff some moss inbetween roots and wrap it around till its full with moss, and the plant is being help up nicely!

Thank you for the great advice

[learning2letgo]

Never thought of using wine corks... Bottoms up! Great idea!

[PitcherASAMD]

Wine corks and packing peanuts! Always have some of those lying around. Thanks for the great ideas!
Katie

[SheilaJ]

I guess I need to drink more wine!

I like sphag, because I have a lot of those "I forgot to water" days. I grow in a warm grow room with lots of lights, so they dry out really fast. I find that if they get to the "moss is crunchy" stage, they are too dry and I lose lots of roots, perhaps even the whole plant.

However, I do not cram a lot of moss in there. I try to use a fairly minimal amount, which leaves lots of air spaces. However, the problem with this is that the moss seems to pack down before it's time for my annual repotting, so I end up with lots of new roots coming out well above the sphag. I have a maze of aerial roots in search of media. I really need to repot!

I also put a thin layer of sphag on the surface of my minicatts, which are in a fine bark mix.

I use sphag AND clear pots and they do great. It just goes to show that so much depends on your growing environment and watering habits.