Mold/ fungus/ bacteria in the medium?
 

Hi there,
Several of my phals have recently started to develop something white in the medium which I don't know how to threat or prevent.

I don't have enough posts to post photos yet, so here are they on my Dropbox:

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/8xh9qox561sd7xv/OmdOrcirdR#/

I've repotted 2-3 months ago for the same reason and now it's started again.
All phals are in great condition, lots of new roots and/or leaves, no other damage.
I don't know whether to repot them again or threat them somehow.
Maybe there's not enough drainage... Anyways, your help is much needed guys!:-)

Thank you!

I am not a fan of coco husk but it looks to me to be salts leeching out from the husk or your water. if its happened before and you re-potted with fresh husk and it did the same thing, you either arent flushing the plant enough w/good water or you have really hard water. More fresh water like Rain water.
I dont know what you use for fertilizer and that could be the source of the fallout. looks more like a salt formation to me.

The word salt is a general term which applies to the products of all such acid-base reactions. The combination of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide produces common table salt.

The H(+) cation of the acid combines with the OH(-) anion of the base to form water. The compound formed by the cation of the base and the anion of the acid is called a salt.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu...e/acidbase.gif

:twocents:

Looks to me like you have too much media and not enough drainage and air exchange. That's a deep vase w/only some holes in the bottom...which doesn't give much in the way of air flow so the result is going to be fungus issues in the medium.

I know this whole glass thing is all the rage these days...but I believe w/out extra holes on the sides...over the long haul...it's going to be a recipe for disaster. There simply isn't enough air exchange occurring in that type of set up. It might work for some terrestrials but for most epiphytes...it's simply not the best set up if the goal is a strong and thriving plant.

This looks like fungus, not salt. Salt deposits aren't fuzzy.

You don't have nearly enough drainage at the bottom of the pot, so the coconut husks get waterlogged. The tight, constantly wet medium will eventually rot the roots.

First, put more holes in the pot. Second, replace the soggy moldy coconut with lava rock, expanded clay pellets or some other non-decomposing porous material. You can even use gravel or glass beads - anything that drains. Then if your phal likes the coconut husks at the top of the pot, keep them and place them on top of the lava rock.

I use coconut chips but I mix them with perlite and I put drainage in the bottom such as styrofoam peanuts. For me it's the best medium for most of my plants. I also like to have some holes in the sides of the pots.

I agree with fruit bodies of a fungus. Taking a pot with more holes on the bottom and sides helps the medium to dry faster.

You're all so great, thank you everybody!

I've drilled more holes and I'm going to do everything else that you suggested and make the medium less tight. I'll also consider repotting in smaller pots, these are really too deep.

As for the water it's soft here (Sofia, Bulgaria). pH 7.4, kh 3-4. The fertilizer used is NPK 3:5:7 with the addition of B, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn.
It's the only one I've used so far but might try something else for a change.

Thank you once again!

You should try a fertilizer with more N and less P and K.