Confessions of a Phal Abuser

[kmccormic]

Hi Guys:

I keep trying with Phal's but failing - somehow I over water even if I leave them two weeks at a time between watering sessions. They always go black in the roots and the base. Now I have one that I haven't killed (yet) and I'm trying to figure out what's going on with it. I've taken it out of moss and put it in lecca - lots of air flow. It's got lots of new roots, lots of healthy old roots, and is growing a new leaf. But the base is black, and there are black rings at the place where the roots meets the leaves. Is this just something Phal's do?

[jcec1]

From what I can see, the leaf bases look wet. When water collects in the bases this will cause rot and the black rings. In pots we are growing these plants almost 'upside down', in nature they grow hanging off tree branches so water does not collect in the leaf bases.

Water the media and not the plant, if water gets in the leaf bases, use something absorbent to wick the water away.

[wintergirl]

I would dry all that area up around base of plant with a paper towel. Don't water so close to the base, that will help prevent that.

[kmccormic]

Jcec1, Wintergirl - thank you! That might explain things. Anytime I was watering, I'd try to angle a little inwards to help get the center mass of roots. If it got into the leaves, I'd wick it up with paper towels. But perhaps I'm still not getting enough of the water out. So from here on in, I'll try just watering the outer edges with Phals. Perhaps I'll start having success! Thanks for the tip!

Regards,
Kara

[Jenn4a]

What's your water like? Are you using tap, RO, some sort of filtered, or rain water?
I've seen phals with black areas on roots that have been watered with tap. The tap water around here is 430+ ppm, so I never use it on my plants. Also check that the media is properly cleaned.
Although water quality might not be the issue, it doesn't hurt to check. I haven't had any issues with leaving a little water around the leaves, but I do dry off the crown. A fan helps the leaves dry off.

[Optimist]

If you get a watering can with a small spout,, you water only the roots. Don't let the leaves or the crown get wet at all. It is best not to have the base touching the media at all. Eneryone sees "rainforest" and thinks they must be wet all the time. Not so, they are dry plants.

[bil]

Originally Posted by jcec1

From what I can see, the leaf bases look wet. When water collects in the bases this will cause rot and the black rings. In pots we are growing these plants almost 'upside down', in nature they grow hanging off tree branches so water does not collect in the leaf bases.

Water the media and not the plant, if water gets in the leaf bases, use something absorbent to wick the water away.

Gotta say, it doesn't look as tho the leaves are at all black. Is it just me or is the black just at the root bases?

---------- Post added at 02:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:59 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Jenn4a

I haven't had any issues with leaving a little water around the leaves, but I do dry off the crown. A fan helps the leaves dry off.

I still keep saying, I can't fill my crowns. I try, but they drain away. Leaf bases too.

Fun thing. I lost a couple of phals to crown rot this winter. People who know my cavalier attitude to wetting the crown will laugh, and say "I told you so!".

However, before you do, consider this. My phals had to be divided into two groups this winter as the greenhouse wasn't finished, and I hadn't enough room in the woodshed for them all. This was the way the three groups went.

Woodshed. Higher temp higher light watered crown.
House. Medium temp low light watered crown.
Garage. Low temp medium light DRY CROWN.

Guess what. The phals that I lost were in the garage.

Now I know that's not conclusive, but by god it is indicative.

[Jenn4a]

Bil, that's a good point. The ones I have around the (dry) house, I don't worry about the leaf-axils, but if water starts pooling into the actual crown, I wick up most of it. The places where I keep my phals aren't cool, doesn't drop lower than 68°F. Most of my named phals stay where it's warm-hot + humid setups, and my department store phals are in dry, intermediate-warm areas.
I'm finding that wicking up the pooling crowns is sufficient. I used to drop a little alcohol in with the water before wicking it up, but it seemed to stunt leaf growth. It may have actually damaged small leaves. *I can be pretty shakey and clumsy when my blood sugar gets low. Sometimes I manage to get water everywhere but the roots!
Oh yeah, to OP.. Try using a cleaned glass beer bottle for watering your plants. It gives better control of the water. I would say a normal (flimsy) plastic bottle, but the glass bottles are sturdier.

[kmccormic]

Well, I thought I'd been doing well not getting actual leaves wet, but I'd been trying to get the entirety of the roots to go green, cause I water once, maybe twice a week, with tap water - its slightly hard more alkaline than base ph 9.5-9.6 with some limestone because that's the rock around here, about 15 ppm calcium, and I do use a water bucket with a small spout for control. It's in lecca. The lecca was very well cleansed when I put it in, and I did one of those Oxygen Core Dual™ Orchid Pots from repotme, so lots of room for air flow and some humidity at the roots, in a room with a ceiling fan. Lately I've begun to put it outside, with even more airflow, but the temperature isn't below 50 degrees here in Texas at night, and honestly the black rings at the base of the roots where they connect to the leaves appeared last year when I was still keeping it inside. It's growing new roots and I haven't had to trim bad roots much at all.

How on earth do you pot a phal without allowing the base to be in the media for sturdiness? I can't even think how you'd fix the plant upright - tape the leaves to a stake? I thought orchids needed stable roots or they languished.