Is this a new spike???

[PlantTeeth]

Hey everyone!
Is this a new spike growing?
I bought it Wednesday & transplanted the same day.
I just noticed it this morning.

This is the plant its from.

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[silken]

I can't tell for sure but it looks like it could be a spike.

I am a bit concerned about the way it is potted. It looks to be in a large pot in regular potting soil. Unless you have had great success with that method before in your growing area, I would suggest moving it to something else.

Phals and most epiphytic orchids are grown in media such as medium bark or coco husks sometimes mixed with a bit of sphagnum moss to retain moisture. They are put into clay or plastic pots with good drainage and the pot is only large enough to contain the root mass, no larger. Root rot follows quickly with too fine of media and too large of pot usually.

These orchids grow up on trees in nature with roots exposed to sun, breezes and rain so that's what we try to imitate in our culture while retaining the convenience of pots or mounting.

[PlantTeeth]

It is in a mix of spagh & medium douglas fir chips (left over from lizard enclosure setup) with some rinsed pea gravel sitting on the bottom & mixed in the lower half. The media isn't pressed around the plant, it is just covered lightly. It has good drainage and the media is about half dry right now.
I put a thin layer of spagh & perlite on the top.

I trimmed the dead/ugly roots before I transplanted. It had a good # of bad ones from the moldy moss it had been it.

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[trdyl]

That is a flower spike.

The leaf bases should never be covered with medium.

Many people have had good success with a "mud mix". But you need to expect total root loss unless that is what it was in before.

[SJF]

It does look like it is planted a little too deep. You could get crown rot with the media so close to the "crown" of the plant. It will keep an area moist that shouldn't be moist

[PlantTeeth]

I will fix when I get home. Thanks for the input!

I am excited its growing a spike though!


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[Cym Ladye]

Originally Posted by PlantTeeth

I will fix when I get home. Thanks for the input!

I am excited its growing a spike though!

It is not uncommon for a phal to send out a spike shortly after being repotted. I like to look at it as the plant saying 'THANK YOU"!

CL

[silken]

I've never seen sphagnum moss that looked like that. it must be very fine. Or could it be peat moss? Anyways good luck with it. Make sure not to over-water as the pot looks pretty big as well so will take longer to dry out.

[SJF]

I plant some of my phals that were in spag and some oncidiums that were grown in a peat/perlite mix in Miracle Gro orchid mix. When I do I always use a clear plastic pot with slits and extra holes or a clear rand cone pot. I feel that it helps it not stay soggy and with the clear pot I can see if there is still moisture or water droplets in the pot. It keeps me from overwatering. Something like that may help you. Enjoy your new spike and bloom

[PlantTeeth]

Originally Posted by silken

I've never seen sphagnum moss that looked like that. it must be very fine. Or could it be peat moss? Anyways good luck with it. Make sure not to over-water as the pot looks pretty big as well so will take longer to dry out.

It is the miracle grow spagh moss. In the 5qt bag. It is very fine & light. Drys out fairly quickly.

I did transplant the smaller orchids into the clear slitted pots that the larger ones came in. Many of them were busting out of the pots & had bad roots.

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