Winter Phrag Care?
 

Hi everyone,
I'm still pretty new to orchids, only having them for about two years now. I have one phrag, a delassandroi, which I love.

I was told by the grower (and I've read other places) that during the summer months I should keep it in a dish of water to keep it always moist. However, I can't seem to find information on how to care for it in the winter.

Does it still need to be wet constantly? Do I fertilize it at all?

Also, since I bought it in March, it hasn't grown or shown any signs of anything. If anything, it looks like one of the leaves is very slowly turning a little yellow. I use rain water, have good air flow around it, use only organic fertilizers, and make sure it gets plenty of light (but not too much). What am I missing?

Thank you for any information you can give. I appreciate it!

Can you give us a little more information about your growing conditions? Like the temperature, the amount of light, how often you change the water, etc?

There are many growers that advise either growing them in a small dish of water or water them frequently to keep them wet. The big difference to worry about with the winter care of d'alessandroi/besseae is that what your temperatures are going to be for the winter. If your phrag is going to be considerably colder, you may not want it to be quite as wet to avoid root-rot (because it will take longer to dry out (of course you don't want it totally dry).

My besseae has pouted a few times whenever I have had to do a major cultural change in my growing area. They will seemingly do nothing and then all of a sudden sprout another leaf or send out roots or another fan budding.

Fox Valley Orchids advised me to fertilize at a rate of slightly less than 50ppm Nitrogen every moth or so (and if I skip a month, that's okay too). They also advised me that besseae and d'alessandroi like light levels around 800-1000fc, too much light and it can stunt growth and stress the plant.

Let us know!

When is the last time it was re-potted, and do you know the condition of the roots?

Post some pictures for us perhaps?

Thanks for the info, Bill! I replace the water at least once a week. It's usually between 65 and 75 in the house (we open the windows a lot, so it fluctuates throughout the day). I have a small fan on the table aimed at it.

It gets bright indirect light from south-facing windows. But it's back about three feet from the window because I heard it needed less light than most phrags. It's definitely not getting the same light as my cats and dendrobiums. Should I try moving it to a brighter location perhaps?

Since I trust the seller quite a bit, I haven't repotted yet or seen the roots. I've made the mistake of repotting new orchids at the wrong time of year, only to have them get mad at me. Now I wait until I see new growth before repotting.

Also, I've never posted photos before. How do I do that?

Most all orchids should be re-potted after a couple years (and for some, even more often). The reason I ask this is what Phrags like to grow a lot of roots. While some orchids do well root-bound, I've found with my phrags if they are -too- root bound and can't grow more roots, they will not be able to uptake water and nutrients - then the whole plant becomes stunted. Just something to consider.

You can post pictures by clicking "Go Advanced", and then adding them as attachments.

I would change the water more than once a week- I usually try to change mine every 2 or 3 days. Changing it every day is a wonderful thing as well, but my schedule doesn't allow that. The reason for the frequent change is that you don't want to develop any nasty bacteria that can promote rot- in addition to the fact that it can cause the media to leach out salts and minerals, which is something that phrags don't particularly care for.. If the leaves are really dark green, then try giving it more light. Or you can get a free Android app on your phone that does a rough approximation of light intensity in lux called beeCam- it's not perfect, but it's a somewhat helpful tool to estimate light levels. Although footcandles are a different unit of measurement, a general consensus is that 10 lux= approx. 1 footcandle. So for d'alessandroi, you want to be looking for something in the neighborhood of 8,000-10,000 lux.

Those seem to be good temps- so for winter care, I would think that you should be able to continue how you are as long as you just keep an eye on the water situation- let it approach a bit more dryness when in a cooler spell. Having a fan on it can be good, just make sure that it doesn't overly-dry out the top of the potting media.

You can post photos in the "advanced" option of posting to a thread and then you would select the paperclip icon for "attachments". From there, you should be able to use the window that will pop up to browse through and post whatever pictures you want.

Thank you both! I'm going to change the water daily, and I moved it a little farther back from the fan. The top of the potting media does get a bit dry.

I've attached a photo so you can see it. Please excuse the quality - I just took it with my ipad.

The bottom leaf on the right is the one turning a little yellow.

I wouldn't worry too much about that bottom leaf. It looks like it might just be going through the natural process of reabsorbing nutrients back to the heart of the plant and then that leaf may die off. Not too concerning at this point.

Looking good! Let us know how it goes! :D

Thank you again, Bill! It's my first phrag, and I really want to keep it alive and thriving.

I see a fair bit of surface roots there. And for a plant that age and size, in a pot that size, I'm going to guess the bottom is totally covered in roots, and the plant probably will thrive exponentially if it gets a good re-pot. I have a few plants (phrags) I got like that this year and was surprised to see what was under the surface!

I have a prag but I don't know what kind. I got it as a seedling 7 years ago and it is finally going to bloom. I have been treating it the same in summer as I do in the winter. For about 2 years it has been in s/h in lava rock and it loves it. It does seem to prefer a little less fertilizer than my other orchids. Our water here is fine strait from the tap for orchids. The grower couldn't remember which 2 phrags he crossed, so it will be exciting to see what it will look like.

Thank you, Jeremy. Shouldn't I wait until spring to repot? Or you think it needs it now?

So I repotted the phrag, and the roots weren't what I expected. They didn't look unhealthy exactly, but they didn't look happy either. I've repotted them in a clear pot with a net core to allow for air movement. I also included a bit of live sphagnum moss, since it's a boggy orchid. I know I'll have to water more often with the net core, but my other orchids seem to love it, so I thought I'd try.

They might have been that way from sitting for quite a while. I had a phrag besseae rescue I did (working on) this year that was in the same situation. And I did what you did. And it's coming back to life and growing new roots and the leaves are getting bigger. Do you happen to have any seaweed or other root stimulant you can give it? I soaked mine in KLN when I transplanted it, now I have some new white roots.

No matter what, it sounds like you are on the right track. If the roots weren't great in the old media/pot, I'm sure they will be happier with what you have done with them. Good luck!

Ooh, I'll try that the next time I fertilize, Jeremy. I spread about a tbsp of earthworm castings on the potting media today, as well. Thank you!

Sure!

Keep us posted please!

Seaweed really does help the roots of orchids. I used it all this summer and I can really see a difference.

Hi everyone. I just thought I'd give you an update. After repotting the phrag in a net core pot and changing out the water more often, there's been significant root growth, and it's now working on a new leaf. Thank you all for your advice. I really appreciate your help!

Thanks for the update... so glad it's going well! Post a picture or two down the road if you think of it.

Happy growing!

phrags in winter
 

I have the hybrid "uranus". During the summer I place it outdoors under the canopy of an apple tree. It is on an automatic watering system which waters it once a day with ordinary tap water. In September I bring it indoors and place it in the basement. It gets indirect light and more tap water which runs off into an aquarium. Winter temperatures in the basement are as low as 48F. The only thing I have ever been careful about is never letting it dry completely out. Other than that I have kept it in the same pot for over 6 years. This is a small plastic bucket with a hole in the bottom. The plant offsets well but has only bloomed once. Old leaves routinely turn yellow and die. This happens mostly during the winter when I can loose as many as three leaves. I don't fertilize this plant very often and when I do, it is a water soluble mix during the summer. I think it probably needs more light to flower, but I have found sometimes it is the size of the plant that determines when blooms will appear.

Mine likes a lot of light. I was surprised how much. The first years I had it, it didn't bloom. I increased light and cut back on fertilizer and now it's happy. It gets morning sun and some evening sun as well during the summer. East window for the winter.