Best potting medium for Mini Phal?

[Emerald27]

I have a Mini Phal with about a 5 inch leaf span that I repotted a couple months ago in a mixture of coconut husk, perlite and lava rock. It was originally potted in sphag moss. Since repotting, many of the visible roots have gone all brown, wirey and dry. I saw a new root starting to emerge a few days ago, nice and green, then checked for it yesterday and it had already shriveled and turned brown. The leaves are still healthy looking, but the roots are worrying me. I think that perhaps I don't have the orchid nestled into the medium enough, and maybe this is causing so many dried out roots. Should I try to get the base of the orchid deeper into the medium, might this solve the problem?

I read in an article that large Phals do well in bark or husk mixtures like the one I'm using, but that smaller Phals do better in spagh. Was it a mistake to repot this Mini Phal out of spagh and into a coco husk mixture? Should I transfer it back into sphag?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

[Tindomul]

It might do better in sphag because at this point you need to get good healthy roots. Once the roots have grown back you might be able to try bark/husk mixtures. The sphagnum will provide the necessary air/moisture quantities that the plant will need to produce new roots. Use some rooting hormone. I am assuming your plant was left without any good roots. If so, act fast.
For me the problems with sphagnum is that it dries out very fast and suddenly. Before I know it, my orchid has been sitting in bone dry sphag for 3 days. So just keep an eye on your sphagnum.

[Emerald27]

Thanks for your quick response!

It did have plenty of healthy roots when I repotted into the coco husk mixture, and I believe it still has healthy roots that are buried in the medium, though I'm not positive of this since I potted it directly into a ceramic pot, not a clear one. Several of what once were healthy aerial roots, as well as the exposed tops of roots that go into the medium lower down, are totally dried out now when they were not before repotting. It still has 2 maybe 3 healthy, green aerial roots but other than that, all visible roots are brown and wirey now.

My concern with the coco husk is that it is drying out too fast, I thought that spagh would hold moisture longer than the coco husk is and I suspected that's what I would need to rectify this dry root problem.

[WhiteRabbit]

Fresh bark will dry very quickly - added lava rock, probably more so.
Using a skewer in the media is extremely helpful for judging when to water for all types of media, weather, etc.

I have a very small Phal potted in medium bark mix. Bark is a few months old, and stll needs very frequent watering (there's also some clay pellets in the mix, and a styro pnut in the center - contributing to fast drying) - But! it's growing roots crazy well!

[Tindomul]

It sounds like coco-husk is not working out for you, I would switch to sphag.

[No-Pro-mwa]

I have 3 of these minis only 2 of which I have re-potted yet. One is still blooming and I don't re-pot them till they stop. I am just careful about watering them and they do well in the sphagnum till then. I put them into a 3" clear pot with slits in them into a seedling - paph mix I got on line. They are still drying out fast and I water them every day or every other and they really need it every day.

They are doing great and both are already putting up new spikes and I just bought them this summer.

[Brooke]

Did you soak and rinse your coconut husk? The quick reaction of the roots turning brown and drying up could be from massive salt content in them.

I soak my coconut products for three days in water, pour and rinse it with fresh water and repeat the process three times.

Brooke

[Emerald27]

I rinsed it for a few minutes, but didn't soak it. I thought that might have been the problem after further reading after I repotted. I emailed someone from RepotMe.com asking the same question and they said that thoroughly flooding the pot a couple times should rinse any remaining harmful salts away, but a couple flooding soaks doesn't seem like it would do the same as a thorough soak for a few days.

Do you think I should repot it into new medium that has been properly soaked? Are you saying that you soak it for three days, each day draining it and soaking it in fresh water?

[WhiteRabbit]

I've not had a problem with coconut husk products - I usually just rinse - but I suppose it could depend on the product / source ...

Coconut husk chips retain moisture well - Drying out too quickly is probably not the issue. Do you use a skewer for determining how moist (or dry) the media is?

I see you are in Canada ... perhaps aerial roots have died due to dry air? If dry heated air, I suppose the media could also be drying quickly ... Again, I'd recommend using a skewer to be sure.

How are roots in the pot?

[Emerald27]

I only first read about the skewer method today, and was curious about whether you keep the skewer in the medium all the time, or if you just stick it in and leave it for a couple minutes and check it when you suspect it's time to water? Isn't accidentally stabbing through a root a concern?*

I have the mini phal on a humidity tray, but the air in my house probably is on the dry side right now from the heaters being on all the time. As for roots within the pot, I'll have to check tomorrow. I'll try my hand at posting a picture of it too.*