Phal in water culture..
 

Hi Guys

I have a phal in water culture And it has alot of roots and 4 new leaves all together.. it is currently winter here. I was wondering should i keep it in water until the day it dies or can i pot it in spring? It is doing VERY good in the water and im jus a bit afraid if i take it out that all those roots will dry up because it is used to be submerged in water.. It went from No roots to 7 with alot of sub roots on the 7 main roots. This was my first time doing the water culture thing so i really dont know what the next step is or if there is a next step?

Love to see a pic. Sorry I don't grow mine that way..Bump!

Cheryl

Sorry for poor quility pictures.. there is alot of algae in water but dont want to remove as it provides some oxygen to roots..

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As a beginner myself, please take this with a grain of salt:
Phals need to have their roots dry between waterings, so if you are constantly keeping it in water the roots will suffer and you will kill the plant. Please read this sticky http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ends-here.html
Cheers!
Joy

I think it will drown. i'm a beginner though.

Wow! I've always heard that phals in water culture is tricky because they're so suseptible to crown rot if the center gets too moist.

Great that you manage!

I've got no idea how to replant it back into a drier medium though.

Good luck!

It's awesome that yours is doing so well! I think I've read that phals can do well in water culture but not indefinitely. I can totally understand your worry about the roots drying out when you switch it into a different medium, have you considered S/H? The roots won't dry out and you can keep it there forever, what do you think? :)

@joy the orchid is in water culture so basically what that means is. When your orchid has almost no roots left and it starts throwing its leaves off, you cut all the dead roots off and then place it in a jar of water but you need to make sure that the crown ( the core of the plant) does not touch the water. It will then grow water roots. That is just a way of encouraging your plant to grow new roots and keep it alive.. Normally you do this because of root rot.. If you need any info about this please send me a msg anytime.

@Silje & escualida
Thanx! I do not use S/H at all. S/H is the reason the poor plant is there. The S/H doesnt dry out fast enough then i get root rot and sometimes crown rot. Ive lost about 30 phals to S/H before i actually read about Water culture since then ive lost only a few to crown rot non to root rot because i repot every orchid i get that is in S/H into a bark mixture..

---------- Post added at 09:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 PM ----------

Hope by S/H you ment Sphag moss hahaha..

S/H=semi-hydroponics

There is a section on the board semi-hydroponic-culture/

For the what/when/how, Ray's semi-hydro will have the best and most info. (Ray also frequents the OB)

I find this fascinating. I've seldom seen them growing well in water. I used to grow veggies hydroponically but this is interesting. How long has this been in this type culture? It looks as the entire root system is submerged. More info please.