Well not to highjack the thread, but I tried a few phals in s/h....I had new root growth and new leaf growth at the time....but they all seemed to take a turn for the worst...I tried being patient....I don't know, maybe a couple of months....could have been shorter...but I ended up yanking them out and putting them back into spag and they have since done much better. I wish I could get my phals to be happy in s/h like yours! I must have been doing something wrong!

Hi Becca,
We are all here to help each other.
There are plenty of 'very' experienced s/h gurus here on the OB!

One of the more common issues with phals in semi-hydroponics is being kept too cool or in too dry of an environment - both of which leads to the roots being too cold for the plants' liking, with the latter due to evaporative cooling.

Ray, do you have a recommended temp range? When you say 'too cool' would that just be outside of the Phals normal range, or should it be a slightly higher temp for ones being grown in S/H?

Many thanks in advance!

Well I must admit I started mine before I had the orchidarium...but then they got moved into the orchidarium afterwards and I think I gave them about a month in there as well....I probably wasn't patient enough...lol.

My personal feeling (and experience) is that they should be kept quite warm - maybe a minimum of 65°F - when first transplanted.

As to the root growth "slowing down" once they reach the reservoir, I suppose that makes sense (although I can't say I've necessarily observed it).

If you consider that a plant has to grow it's root system as a mechanical anchor and as a way of absorbing sufficient water and nutrition, then finding the reservoir is like "plugging" directly into the ultimate source, so it need not look further.