One watering a month I am using Ray's discontinued SOLO combination of MSU and Kelpmax.

I have also read countless times that new roots must grow. What I have not read, is on average how long PHALS take to grow new roots and be fully acclimated to s/h. I'm sure the answer is "it depends", but on average would be great, and length of time before giving up.

Since this plant had been in s/h since last June, my assumption was that it should be fully acclimated.
If you s/h growers could please share your experience with the length of transition period you have experienced, that would be great.

Thanks,

Smokinjoe

There is no minimum, average, or maximum time.

What matters is if the plant has grown brand new roots sufficient to support it.

If the plant is actively growing new roots, then it is on its way and you may water as much as you want.

If you had the plant in my picture, and it was in s/h since last June, what would you do?

1. Give up and repot in another media?

2. Give it more time?

3. Other?

Maybe that is a better way of asking rather than for average time to acclimate.

SJ

I move mine in spring-summer-fall, when it's always warmer than the temperatures you mentioned in your first message. They begin growing new leaves and roots right away. They never seem to turn a hair. I think this is related to my plants having warmer conditions through the year.

So I can't answer how long it should take in your conditions. But I would expect new root growth within 2 months at the most, and new leaf growth at the next normal time.

Ray has stressed bottom heat helps a lot when acclimating plants to S/H. I don't do that because it's warm here, but have you considered getting a heating mat for newly-moved plants?

"
I have a variety of orchids in "Ray pots" and in gauge pots, there are pluses and minuses to both types. Over the years I have found that Phals are the LEAST FORGIVING for any mistakes in s/h. Even if roots look healthy on exteriors, they can be rotting in the interior. I finally moved my largest phals into wooden baskets, (still using the LECA) and they love it. As you can imagine the negative side of this is they have to be watered quite frequently (as in nature) and that changes depending upon the time of the year.

I have had a heating mat for transplants since I set-up the grow chamber. I usually turn it on for at least a month after the transplant, then shut if off. My night temp. never gets below about 68 degrees, but I have had it turned back on for some of my struggling Phals.

I don't seem to have any trouble with various other species, just the Phals.

MTORCHID - What specific Phal s/h mistakes have you corrected?

Yes, Phals are the only one's I've had troubles with in s/h. In baskets with LECA (and topped with Sphag moss) the roots (interior/exterior) are consistent and that's made all the difference. I think there is a tendency for Phals in s/h, for the interior roots to start rotting over time. Even if the exterior roots (closest to the wall of the container) look great, if the rotting continues, it will eventually kill the plant. As you probably know, since orchids respond slowly to anything (good or bad) by the time the rot becomes visible to the most easily accessed roots, it's usually too late. I've read that the best chances for Phals in s/h is to not water until all the moisture has been wicked up. That's easier to check on with the "gauge pots" or CLEAR "Ray's pots". I have a couple of small Phals in clear plastic "Ray's pots" that seem to do fine, but I'm very careful to not water if there's even a little moisture left in the reservoir part. Also because the containers are small, I think the environment is more consistent than larger containers. I'll try to post a few pics later.

MT - I think some of your observations maybe related more to the LECA than the pot size, directly.

Back when I was able to get really uniform material in the 10-16mm grade, it didn't matter what size pot you'd use. Now that I am seeing broader ranges, pot size becomes more of a factor.

Interesting. My original LECA was ordered through you but that was years ago.