Small Success
 

Just wanted to report that the phal I repotted into s/h a while back has decided to live after all. I pulled it out of the pot a couple weeks ago and trimmed off all the rotted roots which left it with about 2 viable roots. I was sceptical about it's survival at that point but kept up with the watering and feeding for the subsequent two weeks. Yesterday when I went to water I noticed not only a new leaf but a new baby root as well!:cheer: :banana: :bananaslide: I did the same thing with my Lc. last week. It's starting to send out new baby roots so I'm hoping they'll both be survivors.

Let my experience be a lesson to anyone considering s/h for the first time. Wait for new root growth before you repot! You might not be as lucky as I was.

Congrats, Terri! :cheer:

Terri,
When you put your phal into the s/h without new root growth, did it go through the limp leaf stages and then bounce back? How long did it take it to bounce back if so? I tried this out as well with a phal that did not have new root growth....I freaked out and put it into some moss....one leaf is soft, but not limp, and two other leaves are limp and soft, kinda wilted looking. It has been a few weeks since I put it back into moss...I should have just left it I guess, but like I said I freaked out :) Congrats on your success!

Becca, sorry for the late reply, but I was out of town last week. The leaves did (and still are) limp, soft and just a tad wrinkled. The new one is not. It is just the way you'd want a phal leaf to look. I have a feeling those leaves will never bounce back but merely hang on until the new leaves & roots are able to fully support the needs of the plant.

I have several phals that went through the limp leaf stage. i was almost ready to throw them out and decided to just wait. I now have new growth and the old leaves eventually dried up and fell off. The plant now looks healthy and has lots of roots. So the moral of the story is to wait, wait and wait some more. Mojo

Love the success story Terri, it's always a great feel of direction when you can bring what we once thought was dying, but now it provides us with growing strength:biggrin:

No kidding Cheryl. You should have seen me doing the happy dance around the kitchen when I spotted that baby leaf. :bananaslide: :crackup:

Here are a couple of pics of the recovering Phal. Check out the new root. :biggrin:

Way to go...excellent, you should be dancing around.
Something to be very proud of.....:clap: :clap:

Hi Terri,
Congrats!:cheer:
Your story is an inspiration!
This board is just the best!:banana:
By the way, I used an African Violet as a guinea pig to try out s/h. It has only been 2 days, so far so good.
I can see why it can be quite a 'shock' for plants going from traditional potting medium to s/h.

I have sold tons (literally) of the fine grade of PrimeAgra to AV growers. The plants take to that like ducks to water.

LOL Buds, sometimes I think my sole purpose in life is to be a warning to others! :dumb:

Hi Ray,
I just want to ask you if AV will do OK in medium size PimeAgra?

Thank you,
Buds!

Hi Terri,
I am learning heaps from the member of this board. :nod:
My orchids also thank you! I think I would have killed all of them if I transfer them into s/h now.
I am growing all of my catts outside on the patio, it is their winter resting time.:yawn:
The Phals and dens are just starting to flower.
So there is not a lot to do!:scratchhead:

I don't know - I've never tried them in other than fine (so the void space is closer to the size of the very fine, hair-like roots).

Thanks Ray, I have one AV in s/h in medium grade, it looks very happy so far. I am not an AV grower, I just have itchy fingers for s/h!

Terri were any of the orchids roots or stem rotted or did they just not have any? I have a phal with sever rot that I had to cut down completely. The only thing left are the leaves and one aerial root and I am scared it won't turn around anymore.
What's the best thing to do?

My phal only had one and a half roots left after I cut off all the rot. I stuck it back in s/h and crossed my fingers and toes. The Lc. roots were severely cut back too. It did have some new baby roots peeking out so it might make it yet. The plant is looking pretty bad though. If I can pull this one back from death's doorstep it will be a miracle. Neither plant had stem rot.

I think I'd sphag n bag yours and wait for some new roots. The aerial root is still a root so the plant is still better off than if it had no roots. Keep us posted.:nod:

Another small success: I recently got in some new plants that I added to the list, one of them, one of the in-spike Beallara Hawaiian Glacier 'Queen Anne', had gotten beaten up a bit in-transit, and many of the roots were broken off at the medium level.

As I wasn't going to sell a plant in that condition, I just dumped the old medium and moved it to semi-hydro culture. The thing hasn't missed a beat, is blooming and putting out new roots.

This is it:

Oooh Ray! That's gorgeous! Another one to add to my must have list. Weird how some plants could care less about being repotted and others act like drama queens and try and die on you. It doesn't seem to be species specific either.

There are lots of factors that play a role in determining whether a plants acts like the drama queen or not.

The first one that comes to mind, of course, is their general health and vigor. A strong plant will just be "rarin' to go" no mater what.

Next is the growth cycle. Some plants are basically always active. Others, with more definite growth / blooming / rest periods just won't grow roots until they're damned good and ready, and if your repot timing doesn't coincide...

The growing conditions, I think, also play a role. A low-stress environment allows the plant to focus its energies on getting reestablished. If the humidity is too low, or the temperature too extreme, or if anything is outside of the plant's "comfort zone", it will have to contend with a lot more than simply growing new roots, and might not have the wherewithal to do so.

Update on my s/h experiment. The phal is doing great, growing new roots every day. The Lc has finally turned the corner, and is sending up 2 new growths and lots of new roots. It looked completely dead for about 3 months. My OH has commented on more than one occasion that it looked dead and I should throw it out. I'm glad I decided to just wait it out and see what happened. :cheer:

Hi Terri,
I am so happy for you! It must be a great feeling to have your chids doing well.
I am also a big fan of s/h, my phal population is now 30, it was 3 in August....:biggrin: heheheh! They are all in s/h!
More to come.....

Thought I'd resurrect this old thread and give you all an update. This is why we do what we do. This project has taught me that patience is most definately a virtue, but by and large good things come to those who wait. Here are a few :photo: of my Phal. SIO's Night Leopard that was my first plant put in S/H. I made all the predictable beginners mistakes. It had no active root growth at the time and also had severe root rot. It was darned near a three strikes you're out situation. But with a bit of TLC look what finally happened! :biggrin::dance13:(/udb):groupwave:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...275_Small_.jpghttp://www.orchidboard.com/community...273_Small_.jpghttp://www.orchidboard.com/community...274_Small_.jpghttp://www.orchidboard.com/community...276_Small_.jpg

Alas the poor little Lc. did not make it. What I learned from this project is my Phals do just as well if not better in traditional CHC mix. However, my Onc. alliance plants are doing awesome in S/H, and I've always had trouble getting them to bloom. I will post :photo: of them tomorrow.

Thanks for posting the result of your successful experiment. There is nothing like examples of positive long-term outcome to help us persevere.

I am curious what are your growing conditions as far as approximate humidity, temperature and light?

Very interesting and healthy-looking flower.

Hi Maria. I'm growing indoors, in a south facing bay window with blinds. The grow rack has 3 shelves with 2 54W T5 bulbs attached to the bottom of each shelf. The temps in the winter are around 68-55 (we keep a cool house), but when the sun is out it can get significantly warmer. Summer is a tad warmer and the rack can get up in the 80's during the day. The T5s put out a bit of heat also. RH has some pretty random swings but probably averages around 65-70%.

I won't be moving any more Phals to S/H. All of mine are doing great in traditional medium. I really struggled with the Oncs. I could never get the watering right and was constantly getting leaf pleating. S/H helped me get that right and now they're blooming.

I haven't tried a Den yet. :hmm

Isn't it a great feeling to see that new growth?? Oh Yeh!!
Happy Growing

Sheridan

Thanks for the info. Terry. There are so many variables to take into account and other people's successful experiments I found to be the best guide.

I have quite some success with S/H, but it takes a long time for plants to establish, and this is one of the first to do. This phal had a lot of roots before going into S/H; it lost ALL of them in a quick fashion leaving the plant having no root! It is right now reestablish new roots into S/H reservoir. But the whole proccess took like a year.
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