Questions about Phal and re potting

[Fenrirs_Rage]

Hey guys, been a while, crazy summer.
So I've got my one lonely Phal, still doing really really well but I am concerned about it's current living situation.
It's still in the pot it came in. I apologize for the picture quality, my phone just can't seem to get the white balance straight.

Got a couple roots poking out of the top of the pot, and the roots at the bottom pushing the rest of the plant up and out of the pot.
I've seriously considered mounting it, is this something that's reasonably easy to do if you've got the determination? Would you mount this one or just repot?
What kind of bark is best if I do look for a big slab to mount it on?
If repotting is the way to go, how big of a pot do I need to go for?

[ThePinkCucumber]

Well, all my phals actually live hanging upside down in plastic bottles that I cut half way, drilled some holes in them and hang them by the neck. I add some larger back. The plant is secured by a wire that goes around an old inflorescence and through holes on the side of the bottle. I also put some netting around the top roots and tape it around the bottle so the bark doesn't fall out.
This way, at least in my environment, the roots stay moister than they would if the plant was mounted on a slab with moss. It also saves space.

If you'd like to repot I'd go one size bigger pot with either pure medium sized bark or a mixture of bark a moss (just as a slight additive, not too much of it).

[estación seca]

First, your plant looks excellent. A lot of people overwater Phals in sphagnum moss and the roots rot. You have been letting it get nearly dry before watering, which is the correct thing to do.

There are a lot of opinions on repotting Phals. In your low-humidity climate, I would advise against mounting it on a slab. You would have to water it almost every day, and sometimes multiple times per day during the dry hot summertime.

Since you're doing so well with sphagnum and a transparent pot, I would suggest maintaining the same technique, but perhaps using a larger transparent pot.

If the old sphagnum is truly in good shape (which isn't likely), you could just move the plant to a larger pot, wrapping some new long-fiber sphagnum around the old root ball. Otherwise, remove the old sphagnum and replace with fresh. In a larger pot, until the plant grows more roots, it will take longer to dry out.

Best of luck, and keep us informed.

[snowflake311]

Repot into a larger pot not too big but enough to fit the roots. I like to use a bark moss mix I make myself I use fine bark, perlite, sphagnum moss mix. I like plastics pots for my orchids.

[bil]

As a Barkista, I recommment wide shallow pots filled with bark and nothing else.

Mossites are beyond the pale, of course.

Kidding aside, I cannot see any good in constricting a plant's roots lke that. Also with sphagnum, it is so easy to overwater.

[Luizacft]

If you're repotting with sphagnum do not compact it in the pot. If you're well adapted to sphagum - why not? I avoid it because I love to water my plants and would rather keep them too wet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[turock]

Originally Posted by ThePinkCucumber

Well, all my phals actually live hanging upside down in plastic bottles that I cut half way, drilled some holes in them and hang them by the neck.

Man, that sounds really cool! I'll bet you could get all artistic with those!

Fenrir, you've got a lot of good advice here. I'd echo the concern that mounting is not good for this plant at this time. If you want to mount it in the future, I'd suggest waiting a year or two for two reasons:

1) You'll have time to get a feel for your growing conditions and how to keep that plant happy throughout the year.

2) Your plant's roots are used to higher moisture levels from the sphagnum moss. To suddenly place them on an airy, dry mount would shock them and might even cause the plant to suffer until it grows new roots. Consider using the suggested bark / moss mix to help ease its transition.

Phals are pretty tough. It will most likely survive if you go with a drier solution, but be prepared to water it a lot more frequently, and expect it to sulk for a while until it can get accustomed to its new conditions by growing new roots.

[ThePinkCucumber]

Turock - I really like the way it looks, even my pink duct tape I don't mind. Though I'll have to re-do this one (I no longer cut out the holes, I drill a few around), as it dries out too fast now in spring (I could have realized that we live in hot Africa..sort of slipped my mind, whoops )

[turock]

That is sooo cool! It reminds me of this hanging upside-down garden. http://cdn.goodshomedesign.com/wp-co...ant-Lights.jpg

OK, you've definitely convinced me to try this out, maybe with some of my pendant dendrobiums...

[ThePinkCucumber]

Oh, LOVE that garden! I originally did it to save space, but even with us moving next year and having a separate sun room for the orchids, these guys are going to stay this way!