Stupid Phal owner (me)! - Orchid Board

The Mutant · #1 04-02-2012, 03:58 PM

I have two Phals with no good root systems, one of them is a rather recently purchased P. equestris 'Blue Lip' and the other is a mini NoID Phal that I've mentioned here before, and gotten help with.

These two are undergoing a Superthrive treatment to encourage some root development. The mini has been treated for almost four weeks now, and the P. equestris for almost three. What I've managed to do so far is killing one of the roots the equestris had, due to me and sphagnum not being good friends. I re-potted it today into a bark/sphag/perlite mix instead, since this is the medium that works best with my watering. I'm just pissed that I didn't do this from the beginning so as to avoid over watering the little equestris.

Spooked by the conditions of my equestris's roots (with one rotted and another one yellowing), I checked the mini Phal. So far so good with this little guy. It could be because it was potted in my media mix from the beginning, so I didn't over water it. It didn't have any more dead or dying roots, but on the other hand, it didn't have any sign of growth either.

I'll just wait and watch for now, and hopefully both of them will pull through. I'll have to stop watering them too much so as not to kill them both!

tucker85 · #2 04-02-2012, 04:25 PM

Good luck. It's so frustrating when plants don't seem to want to grow. At a time like that I try to step back and look around at all the orchids that are doing well and giving me no trouble. Orchids are like people, some of them enjoy living with me and some don't.

jai_star · #3 04-02-2012, 04:33 PM

Sometimes too much kindness can be a bad thing. Try to hold the watering until near dry side. If you are wanting to encourage root growth , I'm thinking back to my horticulture lesson plants will seek out moisture by putting out more roots. So this can be a good thing just as long as you keep up the humidity so the leaves don't go floopy . Good luck

rangiku · #4 04-02-2012, 04:58 PM

What Jai said. Stop fussing over them. Put them in lower light, cooler temps and less water. Also, too much SuperThrive is a bad thing.

I've found that either orchids will thrive or not. It seems that the ones we treasure don't thrive. I've learned to give them two tries and then move on. Of course the $6 equestris that wasn't doing well and moved from moss to bark/moss back to moss is doing fine.

Orchids must think we are silly.

The Mutant · #5 04-02-2012, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tucker85

Good luck. It's so frustrating when plants don't seem to want to grow. At a time like that I try to step back and look around at all the orchids that are doing well and giving me no trouble. Orchids are like people, some of them enjoy living with me and some don't.

Thanks Tucker, I'll try to comfort myself with the bunch that are doing well. But I like these two so much so I want them to make it which makes it even more frustrating since I'm the one almost killing them!

Quote:

Originally Posted by jai_star

Sometimes too much kindness can be a bad thing. Try to hold the watering until near dry side. If you are wanting to encourage root growth , I'm thinking back to my horticulture lesson plants will seek out moisture by putting out more roots. So this can be a good thing just as long as you keep up the humidity so the leaves don't go floopy . Good luck

Yup, I agree with you. I'm going to try to let them dry out a bit more before dipping them from now. Putting the equestris into the medium that works better with my watering will hopefully aid in my quest for root growth. I think what has made me fumble with these two is that I try too hard. I should keep to my normal watering regime (but with a touch of Superthrive added) with these two too, and it'll probably work better.

I'll let you guys know in a month or so how this works out.

camille1585 · #6 04-02-2012, 06:28 PM

I was going to say the same as jai star. Water well, then leave them alone until they are quite dry. It encourages new root growth. I've been doing this with a recent keiki that got root rot, and have gotten 4 new root nubs on it in 2 months. Lightly misting the top of the medium daily seems to help encourage roots as well.

The Mutant · #7 04-02-2012, 07:22 PM

Will sure do Camille! *salutes*
I'm mad at myself but hopefully I caught the problem in time to save them both.

keithrs · #8 04-02-2012, 09:37 PM

I would recommend using warm humid conditions under normal light conditions for phals. This is about all you can do. Roots are triggered by warm conditions on most orchids. Don't do spag in a bag... You'll get fungal problems.

The Mutant · #9 04-03-2012, 03:54 AM

I put it back in the window, together with the rest of the Phal crew, so it has warm and humid conditions with normal light. I think I should keep them both under as normal conditions as possible as to not screw up with the watering.

NO! No spag 'n' bag! Considering I've managed to kill one root without the bag, imagine what would happen if I tried that trick!

I'm convinced it works fine for many people, but I would probably doom my Phals to a certain death.

RJSquirrel · #10 04-03-2012, 05:53 AM

stupidity can be cured, being ignorant last a lifetime.

you aren't stupid. you found the orchid board didnt ya?

theres nothing wrong with sphagnum, its whats wrong is you are watering it too often. you cant water orchids too much but you can water them too often. they are inexpensive plants learn from these and experiment a little bit. toss em in the trash can and call it a lesson when they are done.

dont fret over a few bad plants but learn to trace your steps as to how they got bad. then you can figure out how to fix that.

might not even have been you, knowing phals. smaller phals like the equestris are really easy to rot out. plant it in straight charcoal and let it dry out. then water it again in a few days.