Worried about Phal with floppy leaves

[Fishkeeper]

Orchid mixes, unlike other potting mixes, should be pre-soaked before adding the plant. They're usually bone-dry otherwise, and it can be difficult to get water to soak into bone-dry orchid media via regular watering.

[jkofferdahl]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Pay attention to this. It is important.

Not too self-important, are we?

By the way, those are phrases and not terms. I don't need to understand your folderal to know that.

[Dollythehun]

King, I apologize that I have not looked up your terms, other duties call. However, I did remember reading this in Henry Jaworski's book, Orchids Simplified: " But when orchids arrive desiccated, with roots that appear to be lifeless, I soak the entire plant in a mild solution of sugar and water for a day. This seems to work better than plain water. Then I put the orchids in an enclosed propagator shaded from direct sunlight. The plants rest on a bed of moistened sphagnum moss."

Alas, Mr Jaworski's doesn't explain why.

[Orchid Whisperer]

No idea on whether the sugar helps or not. I have not tried it.

For seriously dehydrated plants, I do soak the roots, half hour to an hour each time, drain in between. I often do this when the plant is bare root.

I have a few Phals I grow this way full time now (vase culture, similar to Vandas). I get some crazy massive root systems. These are NOIDs I am experimenting with. Jury is still out on whether this will produce good spikes.

If you live somewhere that is humid and gets prolonged rainstorms, nothing beats leaving the plant out in a slow, soaking rain.

[estación seca]

Plants control entry of some ions and dissolved molecules into roots. Other ions and molecules flow in with water. Osmotic effects depend only on solutes that do not move freely across plant roots, so the soluble ions and molecules must be specified before osmotic effects can be predicted.