What are Phalaenopsis growth habits?

[Judi]

I have been growing phals for a few years now, but I'm not sure how they grow after a few years. I grow mine in pots, some are quite tall with 10 leaves or more. They flower regularly, but they are starting to be too tall--and top heavy for the large leafed phals--for the pots. I suppose in the wild they would just be supported by the tree they grow on, but I don't have that option in my home. Would phals just keep growing under normal conditions or do they stop at some point ? I'm afraid some of them might break near the top. I also have an other question about a smaller phal I saved. The roots started rotting so I had to severely prune the roots and repot. The phal is doing well now with new roots and is flowering, but it also has roots growing mostly above the lower two leaves which is also where the spike is. Should I replant it again deeper in the pot with these roots in the medium? I read that the roots growing above the potting medium are air roots and would rot if potted, is this true? Why is my phal doing this ? I am attaching picures and would appreciate any info. you might have.

[snow]

a phal is a sympodium and so the plant becomes taller and taller; which in a pot can eventually become a problem.
in nature a phal would naturally grow hanging down; while the roots cling to the trunk of the tree.
it would not hurt to replant it deeper into the pot to stabalize it; and since the roots have not grown too long yet, it would be ok to cover them.
just don,t force them down.
a little stick to stabalize the plant until it has anchored itself well would also be of benefit.
hope i was of some help.

[Blueszz]

Originally Posted by Judi

I read that the roots growing above the potting medium are air roots and would rot if potted, is this true?

Hello Judi,

my parents kept a Phal too wet and by the time they gave up on the plant I took it home.
When I took it out of the pot, I found out that all of is roots down the surface were lost due to rot.
I removed them.
The only roots left were the many roots above the medium. I read also that these roots where not able to adapt to a live in the medium, but other websites said that they were able to adapt.
I gave it a try as I needed roots to get the plant firm in it's pot.

I soaked he long and thin aireal roots to make them softer and bended them downwards. Some of them broke (for a part).
Bark sometimes dries out slowly here, especially during the winter, so I didn't pre-soak it as I wanted the aerial roots to adapt to a moister environment.
After 8 weeks I noticed a lot of new root growth! Not only two new roots from the stem that went down into the medium by itself, but also the aerial roots started throwing out new 'branches'. Some of them even sprouted new growth from root tips that I had to cut shorter. The plant even grew a new leave which is looking very healthy.
I still keep the plant on the 'dry' side and it's thriving!

I'll make a photo to show you the new roots, it's in a transparent pot.

So my attempt was succesfull but it had more and longer aerial roots at that time than the plant you show in your pictures. The 'old' aerial roots still look OK, not rotted.

Nicole

[Brooke]

If given good care, phals never stop growing. And yes, unless staked or lowered into a pot, phals can become so top heavy they will snap and break the stem.

When you repot, cut off any bare stem below the potting media.

As Nicole said, you can pot up the "aerial" roots. There is only one kind of root on a phal - in the media and out of the media. The velamin coating on an aerial root is thicker than the coating on a root growing inside the pot. The aerial root needs to be able to grab moisture from the air to survive.

When repotting the aerials, soak for a long time to get them as pliable as possible. After repotting, keep the plant slightly drier than you normally would as the roots adjust to the media.

In your picture above, do not cut off the two bottom leaves - these are still useful to the plant. Eventually the roots will get long enough to enter the media.

Congratulations on the good growing - obviously it is quite happy.

Brooke

[Blueszz]

@Brooke, I agree. All the roots are the same, no such thing as aerial roots for the Phalaenopsis. Mabye they are build different than the roots below the medium, like a thicker velamen. I didn't know that difference. Thanks for explaining this.

@Judi, if I were you and realy wanted to shorten the stem in the future, I would wait until the 'aerial' roots are longer and the lowest 2 leaves fell of due to the age of the leaves/new leave growth from the crown.
In the meantime I would make sure the air is humid enough to keep the 'aerial' roots healthy and growing. You can later on use them to ancor the plant in the medium and they will start growing again once in de medium! Be careful not to damage the tips of these 'aerial' roots :-) It happened to me once during repotting and the tip died, the root stopped growing.

My parents plant had to feed itself with 'aerial' roots alone, mabye that is why they were so long and why this plant had so many of them.

Happy growing!
Nicole

[Becca]

Well here is my and I may be repeating some of what the others have said.

I don't think it would hurt to repot it to be a little deeper, just make sure you don't bury the two lowest leaves or get them two close to the level of the potting medium or you risk getting water in between the stem and the leaves and causing stem rot. It does look like you have some room to play with on this one. It does look as if a few of the roots might grow down into the potting medium even if you were to leave it. A lot of people pot their phals leaning to the side like yours is to keep water from sitting in between the leaves or in the crown. If you do get water in one of those area's, you can try and blow it out, but what I do is take a q-tip and soak up as much water as possible. It looks pretty happy, you could just wait and see what it does on it's own. It is normal for aerial roots to grow and if you wanted to you could mist them, but again a word of caution on getting water in places you don't want it.

As for your larger phals, are they in clay pots? Sometimes the heavy clay pots will help keep them from tipping over. You could always place a few heavy rocks in the bottom of the pots if there is room to help weigh them down.

Hope this helps and

[quiltergal]

I have a Brother Sara 'Gold' that is doing this in the extreme. It's really odd looking. It almost looks like two separate plants. It's growing new roots from half-way up the plant and they have to grow quite long before they reach and enter the medium. It's growing a new leaf, and spiking so that's always good news, but the newer part of the plant is a bit contorted looking. I'm wondering if I should snap the top part off as you would a vanda and repot. I'll try and post a pic later.

[Judi]

Thanks everyone, your advise is really helpful! I now know my phals are growing normally and not sending out aerial roots because they're unhappy. All my chids are in clay pots, however, I just bought some clear orchid pots with drainage slots after reading some of the comments on the board from people who like plastic better because they can see the root development and because clay pots can harbor mold and mildew. I don't immagine I can repot my large phals in plastic though. They are already in 6 inch clay pots and I'm sure if it weren't for the heavy pots they would have fallen over.

Judy

[Judi]

Terri, I agree--they do look a little weird and like two plants! I guess that was one of the reasons I was wondering how they naturally grow and if I was doing something wrong. But I guess I'm not and the phal is growing and flowering nicely.

Judy

[Becca]

Judy, I would advise staying with clay pots with anything over say a 4 inch pot if you are using sphagnum moss or it will have a hard time drying in the middle of the pot and then you risk rotting roots. Keep in mind the clay kind of helps to draw some of the moisture out as it breathes. A plastic pot won't do this, although it does help if the plastic pots have slits on the side and is clear, then you can see when it is time to water! But the downfall with slotted pots is the roots like to meander out of them!