Watering Phals and Dendrobiums?

[OrchidLife]

Hi - I'm new and I'm an orchid addict!

I killed my first phal from over watering the tightly packed moss it came in. I now have three phals and a phal type dendrobium. Since I murdered my first orchid *sob* I'm obsessed about over watering. I have the pahls potted in a bark/charcoal/perlite mix in plastic pots with bamboo skewers and I feel relatively confident that I am watering them ok. It's the dendrobium that I'm concerned about. It is one of the phal types that spikes from the top of the cane. Does it like to be on the same schedule as the phals? Wetter? Drier? I repotted it in my bark mix when I got it home as it was drenched in soggy moss but it didn't seem to take to the bark. I couldn't get it to stand with tipping over so yesterday I repotted it back into moss. Despite my messing about with it the roots look good and it seems healthy. The bottom leaf on the tall, flowering cane is turning yellow but I think that is normal - right? I hope I can get lots of advice here as I'm completely addicted to buying more orchids and I don't want to kill anymore!!!

[Paul Mc]

Leaves do get old and fall off so it may just a cycle shedding, but pics would help. Be careful with the moss, easy to overwater. Some gave success with it, many don't.

[RosieC]

I water mine the same as Phals. I think they can take a fraction moister and some people say to not let them fully dry out, but mine do and don't seem to suffer.

I find dens don't take easily to repotting until new growth appears with new roots. I think you did the right thing to move it if it was on soggy moss, however I would expect it to not quote seem to sit right in the pot, until the new growth comes in and anchors it into the new medium.

I would have left it in bark, simply because, just has Paul has said, you have to be really careful about over watering with moss. If you get on with bark on your phals (as I do) I would suggest bark may still be the best bet as you know what you are doing with that.

[OrchidLife]

Since I don't want to repot the poor thing again I think I'll stick with the moss and see how this experiment goes! It's just I've read that these dends like to be kept wet but I've also read they like to dry out so I'm not sure which it is? I took two pictures so you can see the brown leaf. This isn't where it normally lives, just better lighting for the photo. This dend lives on my east facing window. The discoloration on the new leaves was all ready there when I bought it.

[OrchidLife]

Just want to add - thanks for helping me out

[sii]

Your plant looks really nice. Can't give expert advice, as I'm learning as well, but can tell you what works for me.

I've got all my phals in small, slotted clay pots. The roots like to be snug. The medium I use is moss. I am successful with moss only because of the pots I'm using. Otherwise, I've killed my share of orchids too.
My phals are by my east window so they get lots of morning sun. I use a chopstick, that I put in the medium close to the plant to check when it needs to be watered. In the summer, I water almost every other day. For my mini phal I put it over a humidity tray as it dries out really quick.

I also have a phal type den. Actually I've left it in the medium I bought it in (from last fall) and it seems to be liking it (bark, charcoal, moss, small stones). It also sits by my east window when it doesn't have blooms. I use the chopstick for this as well.

don't know if that's helpful

[mmursuli]

I love Dens. And here is my ...
I'd repot it into a smaller pot with bark. Mine love bark and/or LECA and thrive in it. Also from all I've read about them, they absolutely love to have their roots cramped up in a smaller than usaul pot. What I do to keep them from tipping over (they tend to get top heavy) is simply place the pot with in a heavier pot.
As far as the yellowing leaf is concerned, that's normal.
Hope that helps.

[OrchidLife]

It is potted in a teeny tiny plastic pot inside the bigger clay one I actually down potted it because the pot it came in was much bigger. I'm glad the yellow leaf looks normal. I think I may wait a bit and see how I get on with the moss and if things start to go downhill with the roots then I'll switch back to bark. I'll just have to try and stop myself every time I want to water it

[WhiteRabbit]

Just my experience with the den-phals - my two small potted ones stay fairly moist with no problems (potted in small pots in mix of predominantly coconut husk chips - I do allow them to just dry a bit in winter (growing in cool temps, damp weather - but in warm weather they seem fine with being moist) - I do have one mounted, with very little moss, needless to say, that one dries, and also does well.
- in sphag, I'd want to err on the side of drier - they probably don't want to sit being dry, but using skewers, you can judge when the sphag is very nearly, to completely dry

It seems to me most dens 'pout' a bit after repotting, and that could cause it to drop some foliage - it could be just natural dropping of older foliage

gl!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

The wild types of the Dendrobiums within the section Phalaenanthe (in other words, the species of Dens that belong to the section Phalaenanthe), which in layman's terms are the Den phal types, are in actuality lithophytic orchids (orchids that grow on rocks) that come from seasonally wet areas around Queensland, Australia. The rocks they grow on may have some grasses, reeds, or low scrub around them.

I wouldn't say they like it super wet, but rather moist. They can handle drying out a bit. Growing season is wetter than dry season.

You can do some research on the web concerning the amount of rain and the rain patterns of Queensland, Australia.