My phal experiment a year later
 

Well, I think its official - I actually can grow phalaenopsis orchids.
thanks to lots of help from members here.

though i seem to have my set up a little backwards....they are all semi hydro in bark....once the roots get long enough i let those ones grow into the water...the biggest one is a rescue from work, i found that when trimming these guys it seems to work better if i leave the middle part of the dead roots attached. i just strip off the outer parts that rot..

I have 3 of these in spike atm - now i have to wait to see which ones they are. one i know is large white phal - the rescue, one should be the color of daffodils and the other might be one the mini phals... and a pic of a mini catt that happened to come home with me recently...

i am going to have a problem with the large white one, i know the spike will be longer than i have room for in the tank...now i have to decide when to pull it from the tank and hope it doesn't go into shock. I would be putting it right on the outside of the tank, the only place I can ensure the correct light exposure... maybe i can build it a little box for warmth...have to think of something.

Congratulations!
Joann

How about a plant heat mat?

Congratulations, those all look like very healthy plants. Good job.

How can you grown semi hydro in bark without all of the roots rotting off?

If the roots travel by themselves into the water they don't rot. That's why s/h works. The only thing I guarantee is that the bark will rot quickly = less than a year ! I used to put bark at the bottom of my Bulbophyllums but because I leave water in the tray after I water every time, the bark decayed quickly and I had to repot using leca at the bottom. That's all I use in the bottom for them now.

Merkity, those dead brown things are old spikes and I would cut them off as close to the bottom as you can. Also, I do the same thing with rotted roots and pull off the rotted velamin leaving the core of the root. It helps anchor the plant especially if there's not many roots.

I was thinking that if this went well i would start to look at investing in a longer lasting s/h medium - guess i its time.

and yeah I left the old spikes on the long side - was still sorting out watering and rot issues at the time, besides they make great handles :)

in order to grow the roots into the water, i have them all in two pots basically, with water in the outer pot and something to hold the inner pot just above or at the water line...as the roots grow down into the water, they are conditioned for it. it seems to work, but I also have a very warm tank for them - which means high humidity, the bark dries super quick, but i seem to be really bad a moss, so bark it is!

We don't have any hydroponics stores nearby, so I'm using lava rock. So far the 2 reed stemmed epi and the phrag that are in s/h in lava rock are really loving it.

Those are some beautiful roots!

Share a link to this growing method?