Window trellis where my phals hang out...

[Phal in love]

Hello! I thought I would share my new set up for some of my phals. These are all cheap NOIDs from no where special, but they keep me going through the winter.

I needed something functional, but also nice looking because the best light is in our dining/living area. We trimmed a piece of plastic trellis to a size a bit wider than the window, and set it in so that is curves out a bit. This is in a southern window. There are plastic trays in the windowsill to catch drips.

The plants themselves are planted a couple of different ways before inserted in the trellis. I make mounts by wiring a circle of wine corks around a plug of moss, then wire the plant to it. This works well for small plants.

Most of them are planted in a knee high hose with a mixture of moss and bark. I stuff the planting medium in the hose, put the dirt roots of the plant in, leaving the air roots out. The opening of the hose I sort of twist and fold back over the plant ball again, so there are two layers of hose around the moss/bark. Does that make sense?? I can then smoosh it into an opening on the trellis, or use a clip to wire it onto the trellis.

I water by spraying daily, and can take then down easily to dunk them weekly or so.

This set up has several advantages for me: It is portable, the plants are easily moved around, it is decorative in my sunroom, I can take the plants in bloom and put them in a cache pot for display easily. I also hang decorative suncatchers, etc. on the trellis just for fun

I think two pictures are attached of the individual mounts, but I can't get the shot of the entire trellis uploaded for some reason. I will try that again in the next post.

I love my phals this time of year, because the fun is just beginning! Many are spiking!

Thanks,
Ann

[Phal in love]

I think my picture was too big and that is why it wouldn't upload. So here is my second attempt

Have a good day,
Ann

[WhiteRabbit]

looks great!

[Zoi2]

Cool idea.
Joann

[Lagoon]

Clever idea, I like the way its looks, phals seem happy hanging out there too. Looking good, Ann

[jeem132]

one looks really light green as if it is close to sunburn

[Phal in love]

Hey jeem123,

I think the one you are refering to is one mounted on wine corks? I have a close up of it in my first post. It was a division off a larger plant, and some of its lower leaves are dying. I think that is why they look light green in the picture...they are yellowing. But the new leaves that have come in are a darker green.

These plants are in a southern facing window, and we are in North Georgia, so they do get a lot of sun. The trellis shades them and holds them away from the glass. On another plant I have an actual burned spot where the leaf sat touching a western window in the summer. I have learned to keep them back a bit! That was two summers ago, and the plant still has that leaf and is doing fine, though.

I have read that phals can tolerate more light than we think they can, and the darker green leaves should really get more light. Mine get moved around a lot, so I don't have an answer as to where they perform better....

Thanks for your input,
Ann