Problem Child

[Highland Fashionista]

Hello everyone, I was wondering if I could get a little help with this rescue phal. I rescued it from the hospital where I work, where it had been sitting very neglected for a long time. (Very dry, very temperature regulated environment with a SW window - not a lot of light..its winter) The roots appeared brown and splotchy, really dry, but they were still turgid. I was suspicious that they might soften and rot with first watering, and many of the internal ones did, so I had to do some pretty significant trimming and potted down. Many of the roots are outside the pot, and these still appear to be really dry and brittle, although they do still turn a dark green if I mist them. BAsically, the roots arent all that healthy.

Lo and behold, the plant appears to be giving e a new root now. Yay! Still have it in a westward window, with supplemental light for the days when natural light is just NOT happening (Ah, Scotland, you old jokester you...)

I try to mist the roots every morning to encourage uptake, but dont want to overdo it in this cool climate. Any helpful tips would be great....it is such a tall plant, I'm kind of unsure of where to go from here.

Thanks

[vjo]

Sounds like you have it pretty much under control! The plant looks good, it is getting some good healthy roots, you have re-potted it into the right size pot. What more could it ask for? Maybe just a little more light. Good work....Jean

[james mickelso]

you are doing it right. yes, a little more light but phals can take a lot less light than most folks give them credit for. water a little more with this coarse media. if you can get some kelp max, kln, or other root stimulizer that would help too. once it gets warmer, give it a little fertilizer. this looks good.

[Highland Fashionista]

Hi again everyone,
I'm happy to report that this phal is now in the process of putting out 3 new roots! My question now is, since the roots are all above the level of the potting media, should I try to repot the plant once the new roots get long enough to do so or should I continue to let them keep existing as air roots? I realise that if I change media at this point, the old, sad roots that are under the media will probably die. I don't want to undo all my hard work!

[RosieC]

When this happens for me I try and gently train them towards the medium if I can. It's very easy to break them doing that, however one way is that if the tip is pointing down I only water that tip of the root and try to avoid the rest of the root getting wet, in the hope the plant will detect moisture downwards and grow towards it... it does possibly seem to have worked a few times.

[Highland Fashionista]

Thanks Rosie, I have noticed that the first root that sprouted is indeed looking like it is making a beeline for the media. Hopefully it will just continue its journey. Maybe the humidity tray is coaxing it downwards? Who knows. I think I am going to just let the plant tell me what's what at this point....