New hope!

[aries23]

" I am very excited!!! for the first time in one year I have seen root nubs on my Dens I have sort of mounted outside hanging upside down. In fact to be exact this is what I did. T-Rex Crab Island Climbing Background and rolled it up but left the inside big enough to put the dens in. At the time when i did this all roots were just white not any green ones after having the plant indoors. I placed spanish moss on the roots. I hung it upside down for two weeks. I was afraid to water it but i did about two or three times in that time frame. It got alot of sun (direct sun) in the evening and in the morning. And to my surprise I look today and bam new green root nubs , the cutest little things I have ever seen , and one of them had a keikel I think too. I am so happy my hard work and commiment and ...some most of them dying on me.. Finally I get a huge reward..... yaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy. But with this being said this means my dens do need direct sunlight, but i dont know what I will do come the winter time because I will have to bring them inside , where they will probably die..The dens are phal type ones."

Now on another subject, I have my phal that was just doing fine, hasnt died but hasnt grown new roots, the roots are still green. only part that is brownish or black is a little tip on some of the roots thats it.
well i go to give its weekly or more then a week soaking with fertilizer and maybe not sure I think i might have left it for too long. So yesterday I put it by the patio door inside so it can reciev more light. When i look at it today it has fuzzy mold on two roots . Not alot but I was so depressed So now that one is outside where it can recieve nore light as well!

I have not mentioned I have a phal that is in isolation because it has those bugs that make the whitish substance and they are white as well. I dont know how i can possibly get rid of them I thought I did when I first saw it but now dont know what to do! there is alot of them!! on that one it has 6 leaves. It was spanish moss as well but the moss is so dry that the roots are dead. two areial roots but not sure if those are dead too!!

Please help me with some of my questions. Also can I use coconut bark from the pet store on the phals instead of sprmoss? Or anything else from the pet store??

[Junebug]

Sounds like you have a case of mealy bugs. Just take ordinary rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip and dab it on the little buggers. Keep checking your leaves (above, underneath, and in crevices) for signs of stragglers and repeat treatment as needed. Avoid getting alcohol on the roots.

You can get some nice pieces of wood and cork from pet shops...coir blocks too. IMO you shouldn't plant the phal in coir because it has a tendency to compact and hold moisture and this wouldn't be good for the root system.

[aries23]

Originally Posted by Junebug

Sounds like you have a case of mealy bugs. Just take ordinary rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip and dab it on the little buggers. Keep checking your leaves (above, underneath, and in crevices) for signs of stragglers and repeat treatment as needed. Avoid getting alcohol on the roots.

You can get some nice pieces of wood and cork from pet shops...coir blocks too. IMO you shouldn't plant the phal in coir because it has a tendency to compact and hold moisture and this wouldn't be good for the root system.

ok i cleaned most of the mealy bugs...hopefully they dont show up again.

I am going to try coconut bark and will try a piece of wood... I wanted to use coconut mount but dont know where to find it!! Thanks

[Luksgloria]

hey Aries,
I hate mealy bugs! there's lots in my plants sometimes, so I buy a product (called "Dimmy" here in Brazil) that is like a poison for them and doesn't harm the plant at all, maybe you can find some specific insecticide or just stick with the alcohol, it seems easy. I use coconut fiber/bark in all my orchids and some larger wood chunks among to let the soil loose enough. I used to have some tree fern mounts, but now they're forbidden by the government due to risk of extinction of these trees; i don't think the coconut is exactly the same, but if you fertilize it the orchids are going to grow like weeds!!! And leaving your orchids in a sunny spot for a little while is great to prevent mold, as the sun is a natural UV rays/fungicidal source! Just make sure the sun isn't too strong, choose late afternoon since it's summmer in the US, right? Good luck!