Had To Repot a Phal

[lexusnexus]

I had to repot a phal I had purchased about 7 months ago. It was potted in old spaghnum moss, and was never really draining. The blooms had dropped off and new spikes (keiki?) had started to grow. Yesterday I read that keiki might be started because the plant thought it was dying and was trying to preserve itself. Here is the picture of the roots when I took it out of the pot. The gunk in the background is the old moss



I soaked new bark in hot water then went to this forum to find out if I should let it dry before putting the phal into the new medium. Of course, the site went down while I was waiting.

So, I decided to repot into wet bark. There is plenty of air to get to the roots. Here:

[Ray]

Judging by the condition of the roots - or should I say "the few that remain" - you should do whatever you can to maximize the RH around it while it gets reestablished, so that the plant does not get desiccated while it grows more capability to absorb water.

Even inverting a clear plastic bag over it to simulate a greenhouse can help.

[lexusnexus]

Thanks, Ray. Hadn't thought about a plastic bag. Good idea. Yeah, I was a bit shocked over the condition of the roots. We shall see. I'll keep the gang posted on the progress.