Phal NoID "rescued" today, need help!
 

I went to Lowes to pick up a humidity gauge for my orchids. They had this one lonely Phal. It's in bloom, but the sphagnum moss it's in is really nasty! It looks like it's been water way to often. The leafs and some of the roots look good (the ones on top, not so much).

My plan for this was to remove it from the pot and sphagnum moss. Let it sit under my lights and dry out for a day while I soak some bark chips. Tomorrow repot it in a nice 3" aircone pot and soak the bark with KelpMax. I'm not sure if I should cut off the spike now or see how it responds to repoting?

My other idea was to just leave it alone. Let it dry out, and then water like I do my other Phals in sphagnum and see how it does that way.

Any other opinions are welcome! If I do lose it, I'm only down $5. Seemed like it was worth a shot!

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Almost every phal I have has looked like that when I got it. The roots and leaves look good so its up to you if you want to cut the spike. If the moss is really nasty and you want to repot it I would do that and then give it time to adjust. Phals dont usually mind being repotted while in bloom, the flowers might drop a little early but thats it. When get a new big box phal I usually just let it do its thing unless it really looks like it suffering and then I might repot or cut the spike.

The roots look fine. If it were my orchid, I would immediately repot it in fresh sphagnum/bark or straight sphagnum moss. The media is probably tightly packed and is suffocating the roots.

Thank you both. I'm trying to get the moss dry now so that I can really see its condition.

If it's not to bad, I'll hit it with some KelpMax next time I water. If it's really broken down, I've got some NZ sphagnum moss on its way, and I'll repot it.

Thanks again!

I agree. I always take the plant out of the stuff it's in because the moss is so tightly packed at the center, it's like particleboard. I don't know how the roots can breathe in something that tight! I've repotted a couple in bloom because the mix looked nasty and the surface roots were in sorry shape, and they all held their blooms. It looks healthy in the root department. Good luck!

For now, you can try to take out some of the moss so it's not so tightly packed.

Honestly that phal looks like it is in pretty good shape. The roots are fat and green, so it's hydrated, nothing looks to be dying on it– it looks like you got a good deal to me!

If the leaves are floppy and not firm, it might be a little dehydrated. It doesn't appear to be dehydrated at all, though. I would repot now because I don't trust the store packaging of orchids to work very well in a home environment.

Just pot it up in a clear pot with good ventilation and your favorite potting media and it should do just fine for you!

The roots look great. If you want to repot it in bark I don't see any reason not to. Many orchids do fine if you repot them when they are in bloom, because they are usually in growth at that time. I do it all the time with my Masdevallia. Phals are even tougher, and probably won't miss a beat with that spike. Just be gentle and the plant will be fine.

Unless the OP lives in a humid climate, I would advise against using bark in small pots as the bark tends to dry out very quickly.

For a Phal? I use a small orchiata bark with perlite for my Phals and Onc. type plants. Phals don't tend to do well wet all the time, at least that has been my experience. Saturating the Phal weekly provides enough water for these types. We are fairly dry half of the year (low humidity) and I haven't had any problems using bark for my Phals.