Are these phal hybrids ready for S/H?

[grasshopper]

I should start out with the qualifier that I'm brand new to orchids and have been "winging it" the last few weeks based on the hours spent reading posts from OB. I haven't killed anything yet, and I'm hoping to keep it that way (no promises, though). That said, I've got 2 small phals (both are hybrids) that I have a few questions about.

I received these lil' guys a few weeks ago and they came shipped in 4" plastic pots in a sphag/bark mix medium with a few styrofoam peanuts in the bottom of the pot for air circulation. Their roots look great, and I've noticed some new roots coming in. Everything I've read about repotting to S/H says to wait until there is new root growth so that the new roots grow into the new medium to support the plant (because the older roots will generally rot). My question to those with experience in this area is are these new roots sufficient to repot to S/H? Or should I wait until they are a bit longer?

Also, one of the phals has a yellowing and shriveling leaf (see photos of phal2 yellow leaf)? Am I underwatering it? This phal has more peanuts in the bottom of the pot than it's friend, but it also has sphag/bark lightly around the top. I've been watering once a week, but I'm thinking I may need to bump it up to twice a week.

I keep these little guys in an east windowsill in a room with high/low temps of 78/64 degrees F and average humidity of 55%. I've got a cool mist humidifier running on medium all day, as well as a ceiling fan at medium speed on 24/7. I water the phal1 plant once a week (it has more sphag in the medium) and the phal2 plant once a week, but am thinking of upping it to twice a week (depending on the advice received on this post).

Oh, and my watering routing includes watering with a KLN solution to try and stimulate new root growth. Should I continue to do this?

Thanks!

[Ray]

First a little about phal culture.

Those leaves are their only (and meager) water storage vessels, so they need to be kept evenly moist (not soppy) at all times. They also like it warm, and your range is OK, but they can handle - and actually grow faster - if kept warmer. Your east window is probably fine for them.

K-L-N is not a fertilizer, and you didn't mention feeding them, which is necessary, as orchids basically get no nutrition from the potting medium.

As far as moving them into semi-hydro culture is concerned, it's not the length of the new roots that's important, it's the fact that the plants are actively growing roots that is.

You're close on the assessment of the roots, but missed the fact that if they continue growing in a medium other than S/H, those roots will not be right for that environment.

Repot them now, and keep them particularly warm until they really start to take hold, and they should be fine.

[grasshopper]

Thanks Ray! Typically, this room will get much warmer, especially in the spring and especially in the summer. We've had a cold blast here in Dallas, and I don't run the heat during the day while we're gone, but I guess I could to keep that room a little warmer.

I will get everything ready to repot (soaking the LECA, etc.) and they will be in S/H by Wednesday.

Thanks again!
Mary Helen

[Undergrounder]

Out of interest did the little Phals come potted in bark like that? I recognise the tag as coming from Peter Lin (P.S. I hope you post a picture of the Chingruey's Fancy x Taida Lawrence when it flowers!) and i thought he potted his stuff up in sphagnum. I might be wrong. IME repotting sphagnum grown plants like that into coarse bark is always going to be a big shock.

But if they were in sphag they'd already be a pretty good candidate for S/H.

It does look like you're drying them out too much, that bark is so coarse, and there is so much styrofoam in the pot you should probably water them every day.

So I would pot them in S/H sooner rather than later.

[grasshopper]

I did receive that phal from Peter Lin (along with the other one), and it was potted in bark with a very small amount of sphag. The other phal was potted in sphag with a bit of bark.

I will definitely get them into S/H ASAP. And I will definitely post pictures of this one when it blooms. In fact, I'll be so thrilled to get one of them to bloom that I'll post so many pictures that I could be compared to paparazzi!