Growing phals outside in Florida

[Boshia]

Hi, calling out to those who live in Florida. I live in Central Florida and just started out with a few phals. I don't know if these are cold growing or hot growing plants. What I'm looking for is your experiences with growing phals in Florida- what should I look out for, is there anything special I should keep in mind? How often do you find you have to water during certain seasons, and what potting material do you use? I have mine in a mix of mostly bark and some perlite and charcoal.

[WhiteRabbit]

[ChryT]

Watch out for bush snail and crown rot. I am using orchiata now but I found it a little on the dry side and need to water it every other day or everyday sometimes. I used better gro phal mix before and the phal seems like it better = grow more leave, and less watering. I am planning to add some chopped sphagnum moss to the orchiata. I grow them in a east facing covered porch.


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[tucker85]

I grow outdoors in Ft. Lauderdale. I've tried 100% Orchiata bark which didn't work well for me. Then I switched to coconut husk chips with some charcoal and Hydroton but the root growth after a year was very disappointing. This year I'm experimenting with sphagnum and sphagnum mixed with tree fern fiber in plastic net pots. My guess is that sphagnum with tree fern or sphagnum with Orchiata might give me the best results. Only time will tell. I have friends that grow their phals mounted, with the leaves facing down and they do very well but they need to be watered every day and you can't even leave for a weekend. Two things I've learned about growing phals in Florida is to grow them under a roof so you can control how much water they get (mine are on a patio under a roof), and secondly, to repot every year. The heat and humidity cause any mix to deteriorate quickly. Good luck.

[KellyKhaos]

I live in central Fl & have been growing phals outside under a large magnolia tree for a couple of years. I use wood vanda style baskets, slotted plastic orchid baskets & plastic orchid pots in ceramic pots as well as having several minis mounted to the tree itself. All that are in hanging baskets are potted with a mix of miracle grow orchid bark mix & sphagnum moss. For me the mixture works really well. I have 2 sprinkler heads that go off 2x a week for 30 minutes in the morning that water all of my orchids hanging in the tree which for most of the year seems to be sufficient for them. I do sometimes have to water a 3rd time a week during the summer months. The biggest thing I have to worry about with all my outdoor orchids besides lizards hiding in them, is when the weather gets down to freezing temps at night during the winter, they don't take the cold well from what I've witnessed.

[cjm3fl]

I'm with Kelly on the mix. I go about 80-20% when I mix mine.
My phals are in those wire baskets with the coconut husk shells.
Presently I have 4 hanging baskets. The are under an oak tree.
Only issue I have is early morning sun burns any blooms that still have dew on them. (I have to move them back a little.)

Three of mine started blooming this past January. The 4th began in March. Presently those 4 phals have (finally) stopped blooming. But one has a new plant developing and it's throwing off a flower stalk.

Phals grow awesome for me. All of them were started while I lived in the Tampa Bay area and are a few years old. I moved to central Florida in May and the blooms never stopped until just recently.

edit: I forgot. These phals have been kept outside except for those few nights when the temps dropped below 40*(f). Then I'd bring them into my screen room for the night.