potting media for frequently watered phals?

[greengarden]

I use coconut fibre a lot already for moisture lovers like masdevallias but it stays very wet, wouldn't the phal roots rot in it?

[Leafmite]

I usually put larger rock in the bottom and middle, smaller rock on top. I have never had any trouble with it even when we have had a few weeks of rain. I think the trick is the extra air space in the lower part of the pot.

[james mickelso]

Bluestone is a metamorphic rock derived from greywhacke. Neutral pH. Would work well. I still grow one of my phals in lava rock and it does well because I can water to my hearts content and not worry about it staying too wet. Just use the medium size which is around 1/2 inch diameter. Lots of air flow through it. Unless you have high temps and low humidity you shouldn't worry about underwatering your phal. They can stand quite a bit of underwatering. I water mine about every 7 to 10 days right now in the late winter here in SoCal. 35f night temps with 50-60f day temps. From single digit humidity to 60 % humidity. Are you sure you can't get lava rock in NZ? Most of the islands are made of it. If you use the gravel from behind your house make sure you wash it thoroughly. If road base material it may have antisurfactants in it. Keeps it dry when layed as base for asphalt. But you can also mount your phals. They do great mounted. And it is very easy to do. Then you can water them twice a day if you want. I think your initial problem was that the media you had them in was either moss or too fine a media. 1/4 inch I assume. Use 1/2 inch or larger bark and you won't have any trouble.

[greengarden]

I'm in Australia We can get lava rock here but it's only easily available in certain areas and I am yet to find anyone around here who stocks it. I come from Victoria originally and go down there a couple of times a year to visit family so I will get some next time anyway.

[james mickelso]

Oops! Sorry! I just saw the Jack and didn't go any further. You can grow phals in spagnum moss if you just wrap it very lightly around and through the roots. That way the moss can dry during the day so it is not too damp when evening comes.

[greengarden]

I've tried the sphag but the stuff I can get here seems to go mouldy, rot and coat itself in that horrid dark green slime so I'm avoiding it at all costs. For water lovers I use the coco chips and for almost everything else I use bark or mounts but I'm struggling with the phals.

[RosieC]

I've found that non-porous pebbles don't work very well. They actually hold more water in the gaps between them (thus blocking air flow) than porous ones. Porous ones draw the water inside and the gaps between the stones is therefore more clear. I had problems when trying to use non-porous stones to bulk out the bottom of pots and reduce the amount of media in the pot.

Something like lava rock, large perlite, or hydroton/lecca should work well. I grow a lot of phals in lecca as an standard medium (rather than S/H) and it dries really well, gives plenty of air to the roots and I can water really frequently without worrying about them.

I have some fine perlite which I mix with bark, but I find that actually helps increase water retention, and slows drying. It absorbs water and because it's fine doesn't really increase air flow. Larger perlite would act more like the larva rock I would guess, but I haven't tried it.

[greengarden]

Hmmm, maybe just some terracotta chips then or even a half half mix of terracotta chips and the rock.

[Ordphien]

My friend has her phals is Styrofoam that she crumbled.
She's s habitual over waterer...
Maybe that would work well for you.

I'll have to ask her how long it stays wet

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[james mickelso]

If the size of the stone is say 1/2 inch or 1 cm I doubt it would block any airflow. I like the lecca for potting because it holds water well but keeps it away from the roots just like lava rock does. And it's reusable. Styrofoam is a good choice also as it doesn't hold much water at all. Terracotta would also work but it would have to be broken up to the 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch size. I saw an article in AOS magazine awhile back where someone was buying used clay pots and breaking them up in a machine to that size and potting in it. Claimed good success. Also most any orchid can be grown in a slatted basket and then can be watered every day. The media dries out very quickly. They are easy to make too. I have some orchids that I just wrapped in spagnum moss and hung up with no pot at all. Grows quite well. Here is an idea I tried last year and it worked very well. Any wire mesh, metal or plastic would work well. The mesh is wrapped into a tube and spagnum moss is placed inside while the orchids are mounted on the outside. They push their roots into the spagnum moss and as long as the moss isn't to compressed in the tube it dries fairly well in a short time. Also there is a pic of a nearly dead catt that I wrapped in spag and hung up. It is growing very well still in it's moss cacoon. The phals are planted in a basket with bark inside while a thin layer of moss was laid on top with small wire holding it on. Then it was hung up. No water sits in the crown and until a dreaded virus wiped it out it grew very well flowering twice. Just some ideas. Cheers.