Phal Seedling needs some expert TLC

[Jenn]

Hello guys...

I have a Phal seedling that I purchased about a month ago. It came in a plastic seedling pot in moss. I noticed that the moss stayed soaking wet, even though I withheld watering to give it time to dry. Yesterday, I figured I should check and see if there's some rot going on since it has remained so incredibly wet for such a long time. Sure enough, I was right. The longer roots were hollow and dead. There are a couple viable roots up toward the base of the plant that are seemingly okay right now, but do not show any signs of active growth.

I took it to a friends and she cut off all the nasty roots, which I was going to do, then put it in a small 3 inch clay pot packed really tight with moss. However, I'm not sure if this was the best thing to do for the little guy. What do you guys think would be best? Leave it alone in its current state in the moss and clay pot, or take it out of the pot and do the sphag and bag trick until I get more new roots?

[Cruetsonly]

The fact that you only had good roots up near the base of the plant means to me that that was the only place with any decent air exchange.

I would leave it in the clay pot, which allows more rapid drying, but pull out some of the moss. It does not need to be packed so tightly. It will only rot again. The 'tight-packed' method is used by many commercial greenhouses because they can quickly wrap up roots and pot really fast, but that is not what you want. You want AIR getting to your roots. Cut down on the moss and you should be okay. I have some babies in a fluffy moss mixture and they are growing like crazy. Alternatively, you could add some larger chunks of something to provide air spaces: charcoal, aliflor, etc.

[Citra]

Sounds like what happened to me. I purchased a baby phal too about two weeks ago. And the moss got me suspicious so I pulled up the baby to check the roots. And yes, the are on the verge to rot. That's why I do not like moss

I did remove the black tip of the roots and then re-potted it in a fresh charcoal and coconut husk medium (in a clay pot) And yes, there's an improvement as I saw a young root (that greeny lump thing), I think it does really well.

I water my plants (both phal and dendro babies) everyday as I live in a tropical country and it's very hot here. The medium will be dried in just a few hours

Oh, we Indonesians, water our plants with the rice water. If we cook the rice, we save the rinsing water for the orchid (not only rice, but also fish, or meat). It makes the plant grow vigorously with big fat green stem/leaves. And my mom's orchid rebloomed about 3 times a year.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Just mount them. It's easier. No worries about what kind of pots, or pot sizes. No worries about wood chips or moss. Tie it onto a piece of bark with just enough moss to lightly cover the roots and you're done.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

You could also try rooting hormones or Superthrive. The first time I heard of people using these products on orchids was on this board. I didn't know if this was just some crazy fad or if it really worked, so I tried it out.

It works, but results are slow, especially with Phals. I've tried using rooting hormone and Superthrive on my Phalaenopsis javanica and Phalaenopsis appendiculata. I think it worked better on the Phalaenopsis appendiculata, 'cause I saw a new root bud growing out of an old root.

I also tried this method on a bunch of Polystachya sp. seedlings that also went through the root rot and staying too wet stuff. But I also removed them from their compots and potted them individually in tiny thumb pots with a tiny wad of moss to cover their roots. They look better than they did before all the changes.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If you're wondering where to get 1/2" pots, you can buy them at Michael's (it's an arts and crafts store).

[Jenn]

Thanks for all the suggestions. My gut instinct was right... loose sphag and a clay pot with some rooting hormones. I should have just done that before and skipped the whole letting the friend do what she wanted to with it. When I saw how tightly that moss was packed in that little pot, I knew that I was headed straight for the same thing.

Before I left town this afternoon, I pulled out a good wad of the moss and fluffed up the stuff around the top where the seedling is. I hope that will do! The seedling in question is one I got from Orchid View in SC, and is one of their violacea crosses. Supposed to be really dark blue, so I don't wanna lose the baby!

Thanks again!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

For Citra, you could actually try growing Phalaenopsis orchids on trees in shade outdoors. You live in Indonesia, the place is tropical, which means you have an easier time growing tropical orchids outdoors. There are species of Phalaenopsis that grow there.

For example, I grew Ascocenda Princess Mikasa Blue, (a cool to intermediate growing plant), outdoors here in Southern California a long time ago. I didn't like how it was awkward to handle in that silly little plastic basket and the long thin wires that are used to hang them. So, I removed the Vanda from the basket and tied it to my father's nectarine tree. After two months, the roots stuck to the tree trunk. Needless to say, I couldn't remove it without messing something up, so I left it alone. It grew fine for a year or two before I had to move. If the new owners of the house left the tree alone and still grow the orchid stuck on it, I believe it would still be alive.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I think it's better to mount Phal violaecea. I mount all my Phals here. Potting was a pain for me, I kept loosing them to root and crown rot. Mounting made everything easier with Phals.

[Citra]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

For Citra, you could actually try growing Phalaenopsis orchids on trees in shade outdoors. You live in Indonesia, the place is tropical, which means you have an easier time growing tropical orchids outdoors. There are species of Phalaenopsis that grow there.

For example, I grew Ascocenda Princess Mikasa Blue, (a cool to intermediate growing plant), outdoors here in Southern California a long time ago. I didn't like how it was awkward to handle in that silly little plastic basket and the long thin wires that are used to hang them. So, I removed the Vanda from the basket and tied it to my father's nectarine tree. After two months, the roots stuck to the tree trunk. Needless to say, I couldn't remove it without messing something up, so I left it alone. It grew fine for a year or two before I had to move. If the new owners of the house left the tree alone and still grow the orchid stuck on it, I believe it would still be alive.

Oh yes, that's what we did in my parents house. All of our orchids were mounted on the mango tree and they all looked happy. But since I move here and live on my own, I'm not gonna risk my phal to be owned by my landlord (when I move out of here later) just because I can't pull it off the lardlord tree

Have a nice day!