Phal... help! - Orchid Board

aries23 · #1 04-27-2010, 01:18 PM

My husband has bought me so many phals.... all so pretty... the moss stays pretty wet. So i repotted in orchid mix of western fir bark , charcoal , perlite and raw fir bark_> this made the roots squishy at the bottom and dry at the top! I am fairly confused what to use now? Please help. I did have one in a mix a little of s.moss and some very small pieces of what looks like bark but I dont think it was bark. The roots seemed to do good. Only thing was that the ends of the tips at the top of the orchid ,were dried out and a drak brown so I dont know it that is good.

Bird Song Farm · #2 04-27-2010, 01:54 PM

Hmmm, sounds like the plant might have root rot. Did you cut off all the old, dead (squishy) roots before re-potting?
A picture or two will be of help.
AL

mayres · #3 04-27-2010, 02:02 PM

Besides doing good housekeeping of the roots as suggested when repotting did you soak the bark really well before repotting?

aries23 · #4 04-27-2010, 02:07 PM

yes i did.
I did soak really well, but when i did this i started to get a lot of fungus gnats!

aries23 · #5 04-27-2010, 02:08 PM

the roots are in really good shape green and plumpy... only a few are died out on two i think!

Bird Song Farm · #6 04-27-2010, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aries23

the roots are in really good shape green and plumpy... only a few are died out on two i think!

We really do need a few pictures. Wish you had taken some before you repotted. Take some pictures of the plant so we can see the leaves, one of the media, looking down on it, and one or two of the roots showing the good, the bad and the ugly although it sounds like you have cleaned them up.

Thanks,
Al

aries23 · #7 05-09-2010, 12:31 AM

well finally i see some growth with my orchids. Some have new root bumps and some have root bumps with tiny spike nubs as well. something that is bothering me is that the leaves are farely floppy. I know this indicates not enough light. I do put them outside in the morning and in the evening for the sunshine. But it has been really windy in Delaware. Another thing I noticed was that the lower leaves are wrinkly. One orchid I love the color of the blooms has two floppy long leaves or is wrinkly and one on top pretty stiff. On this one I have a new areial root growing so I guess I might have some luck. I want to try mounting them or something other than moss and bark ....

Zoi2 · #8 05-09-2010, 02:17 AM

Wrinkly floppy leaves is usually a sign of lack of moisture, as in a root problem. Dark green leaves is usually a sign of lack of light.
Joann

Royal · #9 05-09-2010, 10:13 AM

I prefer bark mix, I don't grow too well in shpagnum. I also like to use a layer of styrofoam peanuts in the bottom of the pot. This keeps things from staying too wet for too long.

The floppy leaves are probably from moisture/water stress - but that is normal for a new purchase that has been transferred to a new medium. New root growth is a great sign.

Be patient, they'll be fine. After all, you found the OB.