What should pot it In?

[Undergrounder]

Originally Posted by quiltergal

If you put it in Semi Hydro the roots will rot for sure. That's just part of the process. I have several Phals in semi Hydro and while I like it there is a lot of nail biting that goes on while the plant is adjusting. For me the advantages aren't that significant.

That's just not true in my experience, if the root is thick, healthy and growing to begin with it won't rot in S/H. If the roots don't have green growing tips, if they're papery or wrinkled, or if they have splits along their length then they likely will rot, and the plant will go backwards until it can grow new roots.

Cattleya do whatever your comfortable with, and no putting sphag roots in bark won't rot them, just be sure to use a really open mix and water them well.

S/H takes all the worry out of growing orchids because it's impossible to 'over-water'. Which is exactly the thing you're worried about.

[Cattleya17]

Ohh gosh i am soo torn! this is my first species phal that i plant to grow to the best specimen in my small collection and i just wanna do it right! but im just torn! i think i will go to firstrays.com i have read all i can about it really, and get a starter kit, the ebay store i got it from said its ready for a 5 or 6 inch pot. so when it arrives, depending on if the roots are growing or not i guess that will be the best way for me to decide what to pot it in. if they are growing then i will do S/h if not growing i will do a phal bark mix.

one other question.... if i go the S/H route will i be able to grow outdoors in spring/summer

[Undergrounder]

LOL i don't mean to stress you out! Go with what you are most comfortable with.. if you have experience and success with a certain medium, stick to it. S/H is just what i've had success with so that's what i would do.

S/H takes a lot of trust, and honestly if its likely to cause YOU stress, then it's probably not worth it even if the plant makes it fine :LOL:. Certainly your prized bellina might not be the right plant to experiment with, may be better to cut your teeth on a plant you're less attached to...

[Cattleya17]

i suppose you are right! i usually kill plants i stress over. thats why all my first orchids died. micromanaging once i stopped caring(slightly stopped) things started working. i really love this plant and want things to go well. i will find an orchid somewhere that i am not so attached to, to experiment on.

Just curious i noticed you live in Australia and i wanted to know how you like it there? is it really as beautiful and the magazines say? and the whole Sydney funnel web spider thing have you seen one of those? if you have how scary are they cuz i hate spiders!

[Undergrounder]

LOL yes i have seen many funnel webs, we used to get them in our pool at our old house. We would also get red-backs (similar to black widows) in all the fence piping around the pool. My brother who lives in the mountains regularly finds large funnel webs sunning themselves on their front porch.

But i haven't seen either of the above for many years since we moved closer to the city. They're not that common except in the bush and i've never seen a funnel web indoors they tend to stay outside.

Yes the city is beautiful but i have to get off to university in it now so i'll gush about it later!

[Cattleya17]

oh gushing how i love it! do tell! and have fun at school.

[Undergrounder]

Originally Posted by Cattleya17

oh gushing how i love it! do tell! and have fun at school.

Not easy today, it was advanced stats and cognitive neuroscience

The spiders are scary until they get better acquainted with the heel of your shoe, which is the acceptable method of dealing with funnel webs if they get near your home. They go walkabout in autumn which is when you see a few, but the rest of the year they mostly stay in their nests.

P.S. if you're thinking of doing the bark/sphagnum mix thing, consider doing styrofoam chips/sphagnum instead. The styrofoam chunks (from non-biodegradable packing peanuts or broken up bits of packing you get with applicances or fruit boxes) will give you the airy benefit and free draininess of the bark, which is what you're after, except that it won't break down, doesn't rot and doesn't draw nitrogen like bark.

[Cattleya17]

U gonna be a doctor?
Thats a good idea! so i would just mix the two, styro and sphag, together and that would be my mix. that is a good idea, when i see phals growing in moss alot of times i see the peanuts at the bottom. i will definitely consider that! well squash a few spiders for me until i can afford to go see the Aussie sites my self.