The Phal abuse ends here.

[CWMorrow]

My best Phals were in front of a shaded South window which was cracked open. They bloomed with seasonal change. I generally left them the hell alone, save for misting them and watering once a week.

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[pacomartini]

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last mother's day i purchased a seemingly healthy phal with purple flowers and tons of about to bloom bulbs. i have had a little success with orchids and wanted to add a new one to the few i already had, however, it was b4 i knew to check out the roots. well, the bulbs i thought were just about ready to bloom didn't. the leaves sorta turned limp and then turned purple. this is the most confounded phal i've ever seen. it's the only one that needs baby-ing. it gets regular feeding and i applied a root stimulator and it is rooting..but the leave don't look great but they are greener and i thought it's getting better. then suddenly it started shooting up a purple/maroon flower spike coming from a srange place in the plant body rather from between the leaves as normal. my other phals are all apple green in color (the leaves) with normal looking apple grren flower spike growing or about to. what is the purple caused by and is this plant telling me it's almost "over"?
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[NatalieS]

Seeing as I'm new to this forum, I thought posting in this thread would be the best way to go! I have four phals in my very modest collection (I am one of those people who continually picks up orchids in DIYs because I can't help myself). I've had two of the phals for 5-6 years. They are all noids unfortunately.

I find phals extremely hassle-free and mine do very well behind a net curtain in a south-east facing window. They flower every year - sometimes twice a year. I don't even mist them like I would my other orchids, but I drench them thoroughly once a week in the warmer weather and every two weeks when it starts to get cold. The weather is very mild and humid here in Ireland.

I have only ever had problems getting one of my phals to flower. It just grew a ridiculous number of leaves and extensive roots for about three years. I was thrilled to see a flower spike come up this year and it looks like it's developing some more flowers! So for anyone struggling to get their phal to flower again, just be patient and persistent!

[orphansparrow]

questions!

1) what's a good fertilizer?
2) i have read to fertilize every other watering, or once a month...which is true?
3) if adding epsom salts for minerals, how often and how much?

thanks.

[The Orchid Boy]

I almost killed my first phal in spagnum moss. I over watered it and it lost ALL its roots. I repotted it in spagnum moss, watered it scarcely, and left it for a few months. It grew its roots back and new leaves extremely quickly when I put it outside. Don't give up on those phals with root rot!

[aberardi]

I got this phal form the super market, im new to this so i few questions what is the big spot on the top of the leves it is slightly raised, should i be worried? also there are small dark dots on the bottom of one of the leaves are these anything to worry about. And finally, i have it potted so just the top of the first root is barley visible is this too deep?

regards
alex

[silken]

Originally Posted by aberardi

I got this phal form the super market, im new to this so i few questions what is the big spot on the top of the leves it is slightly raised, should i be worried? also there are small dark dots on the bottom of one of the leaves are these anything to worry about. And finally, i have it potted so just the top of the first root is barley visible is this too deep?

regards
alex

Could you post a picture? Some dark dots could be scale (a nasty pest) so it's important to see what kind of spots you are talking about.

[aberardi]

i thought i did sorry here they are

[silken]

Originally Posted by aberardi

i thought i did sorry here they are

To me, those spots just look like mechanical damage. In the store it is easy for them to get banged around and maybe poked by the stake of another one etc. So long as the crown of the plant isn't buried it should be at a good height. Usually the height it was originally planted at. Good luck with your new Phal.

[RalphJones]

I have a Phal that I discovered had some moderate root rot once I replanted it. However, the rotted part is often in the middle of the root, and has good solid green root above and below it. I think maybe that when the orchid was last re-potted by someone they broke some of the roots in half and cause rot around the area.

Should I have left the whole root alone like I did? Or should I have cut right above the rotted part and discarded the healthy root below that?

Thanks,
Ralph