How are You growing your Phals?

[OrchidTess]

Mine grow in sphag, monterey bark, charcoal and rok. Some are in plastic pots, some in clay. I am noticing great root growth in the clay and may switch to all clay pots eventually.
They're under T-5 lights and I use and ultrasonic humidifier. (I need to take newer pics, a lot has changed in 6 months)

[Gwenchanter]

Ive been growing phals for only about two years now and I'm kind of torn in my opinion of sphag vs bark. It seems to depend on the pot and whats going on with each phal.

My phals in sphag in plastic pots stay wet forever and I probably would not reccomend this unless you mix the spag with something. I bought them this way and havent repotted yet because they are in bloom. I cant believe how healthy they look concidering their medium is such a constantly soggy greenish brown mess and I cant see any good roots towards the top.

My phals in sphag in ceramic pots need to be watered every other day or they dry out! I just recently re-potted them this way so I don't know how it's going to work out for them yet. I used to hate spag and never used it but I recently changed my mind and am going to see how this goes.

I have kept phals in bark in both ceramic and plastic pots. The ones in plastic actually do slightly better I think, although the ceramic are certainly healthy.

My phals in pure bark need to be watered less, but the roots which grow along the top tend to dry out.. so, I have been putting spag on top of the bark. I have to mist every other day to keep the crowning spag from drying out, but at least it keeps the upper roots alive.


When I have mixed bark and sphag, the bark just starts rotting in the wet sphag so I don't do this anymore.

Even though I've had some horrible things happen with sphag, Ive had some miricles too. Just recently I let my sister take care of my phals while i was on vacation for two months this summer. When I got back three were dead and 5 had rotted all of their roots off and were nearly dead. So, I took some tiny plastic pots and some damp sphag and bound up what was left of their roots and stuffed them into the plastic pots. Then every few days I unwrapped them and washed the sphag and squeezed it out and re-wrapped them and Lo and behold I got amazing new root growth. The old leaves were wrinkled and floppy but I left them on, and after a few weeks they started to put out new healthy leaves.

So, my opinion about spag has changed but I'm still weary of it and I'm testing it out in some ceramic pots right now. All in all I guess I've had the best root growth using bark in a clear plastic pot with a bit of spag on top.

Keep in mind though that I grow all of my phals outdoors all year-round on a south-west facing patio. I think I might have brought them all into the living room last year two or three times when the temps dropped down into the high 40's.

[camille1585]

The medium my phals are in depends on which country I'm in. Where I live in France the climat is fairly warm and dry, so the phals were in a mix of bark and sphag (about 30%). This kept them from drying out too quickly. Now that I'm in the Netherlands for the next 2 years (very humid), they are all in straight bark. They just didn't dry out quickly enough in the mix. Even in bark I find that they dry out very slowly here.

[Sandy4453]

Originally Posted by brooke

I use sphag/tree fern for phals until they need to be potted into a 4" pot and then I switch to a CHC mix which consists of coir chunks, diatomite, charcoal or I mount them. Brooke

Brooke, I switched about 50% of my collection to sphag/tree fern/perlite and so far, I'm very happy with the results. Why do you switch once they reach the need for 4" pots? Too wet, otherwise?

P.S. I've seen your Phals that you've posted over the year and every single one blew me away. In fact, all of the other orchids you've posted are just gorgeous and I can remember them all!

Originally Posted by OrchidTess

They're under T-5 lights and I use and ultrasonic humidifier. (I need to take newer pics, a lot has changed in 6 months)

OT, your growing space is fantastic!

Originally Posted by Gwenchanter

Ive been growing phals for only about two years now and I'm kind of torn in my opinion of sphag vs bark. It seems to depend on the pot and whats going on with each phal.

Gwenchanter, you and I have a lot in common, besides both living in S. Fla. My opinion of sphag. has recently changed as well. I finally realized that it works best when mixed with other medium, that's the secret. Enabling it to remain airy by adding the other ingredients, is working really nicely. With the combination, I'm finding that they're not staying wet and drying in the same amount of time as the Phals in bark mix, only equal overall drying and, are allowing the roots to grow more freely in the pot. They're in plastic and with the cross breeze I'm receiving on the patio (another thing we have in common), they don't stay wet the way they would if in straight sphag., alone and are drying more evenly within the pots. The bark always seems to dry from the pots parameter first, going toward the center and am finding an unequal ratio in moisture with bark, overall.

I also grow outdoors, year round and remember those few days, last year you spoke of, bringing them all indoors. Me too! Every single one...

Thanks for your input here. You've confirmed a lot, for me!

[Gwenchanter]

Hi Sandy,
That's interesting that you say mixing the sphag with something else works best because i've been thinking of mixing it with Aliflor but I ran out last spring when I repotted almost my whole collection. I definitly will have to try that now! I think the aliflor will work great because it wont break down from the wetness like bark will. Someone else mentioned marble chips which sounds good too.

[addictedcountryman]

orchidtess,
what is the tube on the right hand side?

[Brooke]

Sandy I'm glad you have enjoyed the pictures and also found out about the benefit of using sphag with another ingredient to keep the mix open. Keeping the sphag loose and open in the pot gives phenominal roots.

I switch my phals to the other mix because I have too many :>) and need to cut down on the work load. The CHC keeps the mix really open and airy but doesn't dry out as fast as the sphag for me.

I grow many phals from flask and compots and end up with too many in 2" and 3" pots to tend so must cut the work load down to a more manageable number.

I also grow many different genera that are moisture loving so something had to give.

My favorite phal - well, one of my favorite phals :>)



Brooke

[Sandy4453]

brooke, hold on while I get up from the floor

If you ever sell any seedlings, I'm there!

Originally Posted by brooke

My favorite phal - well, one of my favorite phals :>)



Brooke

[Sandy4453]

Originally Posted by Gwenchanter

Someone else mentioned marble chips which sounds good too.

Yes Gwen, Yvan uses them...

Originally Posted by whygreenberg

Sandy...it's just pieces of the rock, marble. Sold in bags at the big box type stores as a soil additive for aeration that is also attractive. I like it because of its surface quality – rough but not too rough – and weight.

[OrchidTess]

Originally Posted by addictedcountryman

orchidtess,
what is the tube on the right hand side?

Tube?? I'm not sure what you're referring to....can you be more specific?? Thanx!