The Phal abuse ends here.

[gingersmommy]

Thanks, silken! After I posted, I went back and read about ten previous pages of posts, which covered a lot of what I was asking. I went to "repotme.com" and will purchase some clear, double pots, and some of their phal mix and then repot my orchids again. (I wish they 'Miracle Grow' wouldn't market 'orchid mix' that really is not a suitable medium!) Also, from reading everything, I think my orchids are getting too much light. I have them in a south window and it is very bright all day, sometimes sunny. I figured more was better (!). I will put the mini blinds down so that they get diffused light. Last question, assuming I do everything correctly, how long should it take to restore their roots and bring them back to optimum health? Love this board/thread!

[silken]

Originally Posted by gingersmommy

Thanks, silken! After I posted, I went back and read about ten previous pages of posts, which covered a lot of what I was asking. I went to "repotme.com" and will purchase some clear, double pots, and some of their phal mix and then repot my orchids again. (I wish they 'Miracle Grow' wouldn't market 'orchid mix' that really is not a suitable medium!) Also, from reading everything, I think my orchids are getting too much light. I have them in a south window and it is very bright all day, sometimes sunny. I figured more was better (!). I will put the mini blinds down so that they get diffused light. Last question, assuming I do everything correctly, how long should it take to restore their roots and bring them back to optimum health? Love this board/thread!

Phals can grow roots pretty quickly and even if they are short and on the surface to begin with, you could mist them to help them get moisture. Just don't get water in the crown of the leaves as crown rot can occur. They might respond quickly if you cut the light back as they were likely struggling to keep up with moisture. Bark doesn't retain lots of moisture until it is a bit aged and then still needs to be wetted well, so that's why I like a bit of moss. Some people don't like moss tho.

to stimulate root growth you can use products like KLN or SuperThrive which have rooting hormones or I am now a convert to using kelp (seaweed) which is wonderful and there is quite a bit of discussion on this board about that too. Hydroponics places carry it usually. You could soak the roots in that before re-potting and then use it in their water now and then.

[gingersmommy]

Thank you; I am encouraged. I will lower the light, get some new smaller pots, seaweed, medium, etc., repot and then wait for them to thrive. I love my phals and examine them thoroughly every day. I put them on my porch each fall for the temp. change and most of them spike every year. Last two years, however, I had to cut the spikes due to mealys (which was very depressing). Thankfully, I only have them in one room of plants. I had been trying to eradicate the mealys with alcohol and dish soap, but that never completely got rid of them. Just when I thought I had them under control, my plants would spike, I would hand pick off of the flowers, but eventually they would overtake the flowers completely. Should have used the Bayers a long time ago.

[Rowangreen]

Whatever you use with mealies, make sure you do repeat treatments several times, and consider using different products with different active ingredients. A lot of mealies are getting resistant these days, and you can't rely on the 'systemic' element to provide long term protection as new eggs hatch.

[MerCast]

Hello -- I'm a sincere newbie, to forums, to orchids, to it all, please, I ask for patience.

My husband bought me a Phal. Orchid for mother's day 2012 and the flowers fell off and I cut it back and then a spike grew and a leaves were growing and it was great.

But then we went on vacation and our house sitter watered it too much and 2 out of the 4 leaves fell off and the tip of the new spike broke off and the majority of the roots were black and hollow. I cut most of the roots off, there were about 3 that were still green and firm, and I went ahead and cut off the main stem in hopes to start "fresh." I hope I didn't just induce a communal head smack. I put cinnamon on the exposed stem and roots to protect it as I have read to do so.

I have put pictures of what it looks like and what the "new" spike looked like that I cut off.

So, the question, am I guilty of phal abuse? Have I just killed it?

Thank you thank you!

[RosieC]

I think you did the right things, but looking at the last picture I think it looks like the leaves that you lost were the center two, is that right? If so you have had crown rot which means the plant can't grow from the center as it should. Its still possible it can grow a keiki from the side and continue from there.

Pot in the smallest pot you can fit the roots in so the roots don't stay too wet. With less of them in the pot they are likely to dry slower than when there were more, so a smaller pot is generally best.

[MerCast]

I appreciate it! I wouldn't have thought to do any of it if it wasn't for this forum!
The two leaves I lost were from the bottom...those are the two top most that it has...the smaller one has been that small for ages! -- from before the spike started -- is that bad? I feel like there is another leaf trying to poke in from the very middle but it hasn't moved in about a month.

I'm finding that the good thing about Orchids growing so slowly is that you can get a jump on trying to fix it

[silken]

I am a bit concerned about how you have the Phal potted. Maybe the picture is deceiving but to me it looks to be in quite fine soil like media in a decorative ceramic pot. Does it have good drain holes? I would have recommended potting it in a chunky mix such as bark or coco husk chunks and possibly with some sphagnum moss added to help retain moisture. Then put in a pot with quite a few holes-bottom and sides. I'm not sure how the roots are going to get air in this arrangement.

[Wynn Dee13]

I agree with Silken. This plant needs to be repotted ASAP in a smaller pot with good drainage and maybe a coarser medium. The medium it is in now does look very fine. It is way over potted. You want to choose a pot that just fits the healthy roots snugly. Match the pot to the roots not the top growth. I prefer clear slotted plastic pots. Good luck!

[MerCast]

Thanks
Yes the soil is fine. What I did was put large river rocks on the bottom, a layer of soil, more river rocks, the roots and another layer of soil. There are three small holes in the bottom of the pot. I haven't watered anything yet...