The Phal abuse ends here.

[silken]

Originally Posted by Butrflye

OK. Thank you very much!!

Good luck and keep us up to date on how your re-pot went.

[aberardi]

question about root rot...no id phal. seems to be doing ok replanted and there were a few rotten roots but not that bad. the crown looks fine but where the roots grow from seems to be a little black is this bad and some type of rot and what should i put on it to stop it?

thanks

[Butrflye]

I repotted my Blue Myst Phal in a mixture of bark & sphagnum moss. It was potted in regular potting soil. Is this normal for orchids? The soil was saturated. It had a lot of damaged roots... a few rotted brown mushy ones and a lot of yellow roots with pitted places in them. I trimmed off all the ones that didn't look healthy, but even the healthy ones have pits in them. I sprayed gold Listerine (antifungal) on the trimmed roots. Do you think it will make it?

---------- Post added at 11:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:32 AM ----------

Another question: I repotted my old phal the same night (Tues.) but didn't have a pot big enough. (I was going to use the pot it's in for my Blue Myst, but found out it's too small too). Anyway, I put my old phal in a clear plastic pot I had on hand, which is too small. I bought another bigger pot yesterday for it. Will it hurt it, being repotted again into the bigger pot this soon? I plan to repot it again this evening, so I need an answer fairly quickly.

Thanks!

[silken]

Originally Posted by Butrflye

I repotted my Blue Myst Phal in a mixture of bark & sphagnum moss. It was potted in regular potting soil. Is this normal for orchids? The soil was saturated. It had a lot of damaged roots... a few rotted brown mushy ones and a lot of yellow roots with pitted places in them. I trimmed off all the ones that didn't look healthy, but even the healthy ones have pits in them. I sprayed gold Listerine (antifungal) on the trimmed roots. Do you think it will make it?

---------- Post added at 11:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:32 AM ----------

Another question: I repotted my old phal the same night (Tues.) but didn't have a pot big enough. (I was going to use the pot it's in for my Blue Myst, but found out it's too small too). Anyway, I put my old phal in a clear plastic pot I had on hand, which is too small. I bought another bigger pot yesterday for it. Will it hurt it, being repotted again into the bigger pot this soon? I plan to repot it again this evening, so I need an answer fairly quickly.

Thanks!

Regarding the Blue Myst Phal. I am surprised it was originally in regular potting soil. It's usually very wet packed moss. Soil is totally NOT what a Phal or most orchids need. Good to use some Listerine. It's hard to say without photos of the roots, but if there were some live ones, it likely will pull thru. You may have to tend it more carefully until it starts growing some new roots. I had one with only 1 root and I misted it daily and made sure I didn't over-water the potting media. If there are next to no roots, it can't drink any water. If you do mist, just make sure not to leave any water in the crown as it will cause crown rot.

For your old Phal. If it fit in the clear pot, then it isn't too small. Phals (and most orchids) are best put in a pot that will only just fit the roots. That way they never have the potting media wet for too long which causes root rot. A clear pot seems to work real well for Phals too as their roots seem to benefit from daylight and grow better. It's also easier to see what's going on and when they are wet or dry (green = wet, silver = dry). But if it is not even really in the pot, then maybe you can just slide it out of the too small pot and without so much disturbance, pot it into a slightly larger one.

Hopefully your Blue Myst. one is not in a large pot either!

---------- Post added at 04:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:20 PM ----------

Originally Posted by aberardi

question about root rot...no id phal. seems to be doing ok replanted and there were a few rotten roots but not that bad. the crown looks fine but where the roots grow from seems to be a little black is this bad and some type of rot and what should i put on it to stop it?

thanks

Sorry, it looks like nobody answered this one! Without a photo its hard to say for sure. Is it soft and mushy, or just the leaf tissue cracked open so a root can grow? If you have Physan or an anti-bacterial you could apply a bit there just to be safe. If you don't have Physan, regular brown Listerine can be used, or garden sulfur powder or a bit of cinnamon powder dabbed on the area. If there are short new roots growing, try not to get cinnamon on them as it acts as a real desiccant and could dry them up.

[Butrflye]

Thanks so much for all your help! I kinda had to stuff the roots of my old phal into the clear pot. That's why I think the pot is too small. The only orchid pots the nursery had was a clay one with lots of big round holes. It's bigger, but the roots seems to fit fine in it (both the Blue Myst and my old phal.) There are several yellow roots on both, but they seem fat and healthy. It just looks like they didn't get light. Is this normal? There are a good amount of green roots too.

[silken]

As long as the roots are firm to the touch they should be OK. And if the pots aren't a lot larger than the root mass, they should work. Clay breathes if it is unglazed so it should dry out faster than in plastic. You could stick bamboo skewers into the potting media to use for testing when it is time to water. This works well for me and saves my plants from root rot!

[woowoo]

Hi there! I'm a phal novice, having just grown succulents for years I hope this isn't too silly a query - I have looked through the site but couldn't quite see a similar issue - I do apologise if it's already been covered and I've missed it.

I was given a Phal in september which was in bloom. I was so pleased that it kept all it's blooms through Christmas, and even grew a few new ones. Our Winter was fairly mild, but in the past few weeks the termperature has really dropped.

Around this time my phal has dropped five or six blooms - the stalks turning yellow and the blooms looking like this:

IMG_0875.jpg picture by deathparty - Photobucket

Most of the blooms that drop don't look as withered as that, but they have these marks on the back.

I'm not sure whether the blooms are just dropping naturally as it's colder, or whether something is wrong? I water once weekly, and don't let the plant sit in water. It sits at a sunny window with lots of light. When I check the roots they seem to have some moisture but aren't mushy or brown from overwatering. I did wonder if I should water more, as the blooms look withered but I'm scared I damage the plant! The plants leaves look nice and healthy.

Any advice appreciated, and again I'm sorry if this is a silly question! Thank you.

[Rowangreen]

It's normal for the blooms to drop after all this time. I don't know if anyone else could comment on temperature: that would probably depend on the precise temperature! But I believe temperature drops can actually bring phals into bloom!

The marks: could the petals have been sitting against the window or something?

It might also be useful to post a picture or pictures of the plant, including leaves and roots/medium.

I wouldn't increase watering by the sound of it: phals need to dry out a bit between waterings.

[woowoo]

Thanks so much for your response.

The plant is pretty freestanding, sitting on a plant stand in my bay window, so it doesn't really touch against anything.

I've moved it for some more photos - hopefully these are ok!

whole plant:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...y/IMG_0934.jpg

remaining blooms:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...y/IMG_0935.jpg

leaves:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...y/IMG_0931.jpg

roots:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...y/IMG_0933.jpg

pot:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...y/IMG_0932.jpg

Thanks for your help - I really want to learn how to do this right.

[Rowangreen]

I'm only a beginner myself, but that looks healthy to me. I think you could let it dry a bit more before the next watering.