Hello - Phalaenopsis Propagation and Transpanting Questions

[gitano]

Thank you very much for the instructions estacion seca. Your comments only endear me to this plant even further. It not only has survived my abuse, it has almost 'flourished"!

I have a couple of more questions if I might be so bold.

1) Many of the aerial roots are "areal", meaning that they are considerably above the level of the "crown" of the main plant. Getting them "below grade" will be a challenge. Should I just try to get their tips into the new sphagnum?

2) Should I sever the keiki and start it anew? I could easily get its roots in a sphagnum/bark medium.

3) Can I use the naturally growing sphagnum from my property? Is there any harm associated with that?

Trying not to be a pest.

Paul

[estación seca]

Some people grow some orchids in sphagnum moss, but I don't know of many phal growers doing this. I would think you could get away with it if you use a very shallow container, don't pack the moss tightly, and take care not to keep it soggy wet.

I wouldn't put a hybrid phal into 50 degree nights during the summer. It will be better staying in your house. In the fall, when days are around 10 hours long, let it get down to the mid 50s at night for two weeks or so. Don't let it freeze.

You won't be able to propagate it from roots without a tissue culture lab.

I almost hesitate to say this to a beginner, but there is a section on this board devoted to semi hydroponic culture for orchids. You might find that interesting as well. I bet I get spanked.

---------- Post added at 09:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:41 PM ----------

If I had that much fresh sphagnum available, I would learn how to use it for my medium no matter what other people told me. It holds more water than other media, and phal orchids in typical growing conditions shouldn't stay constantly wet. They shouldn't dry out, but they shouldn't be soggy wet. You will have to learn to pay attention to your media and use the skewer to check moisture below the surface.

You could separate the keiki or not. Up to you. You might put the plants into two different growing media and see what works best for you.

It's fine to leave the upper roots out in the air.

You're not a pest! Everybody here wants you to succeed.

[gitano]

THANKS to all!

I think I'm 'set' for the time being. I'll wade through the "Phal abuse" thread. (I'm currently on page 8.) Here's hoping I don't kill it in the transplant. BUT... I am encouraged to try again, even if this one does become 'compost'.

I'll try posting pictures again some time in the future when I have completed the transplant. Maybe after my membership is a few days old I can use a third-party host. I'll probably get a translucent "orchid pot" and "orchid growing medium" from Ebay or Amazon.

Oh yeah... "Fish water"... "Good", "bad", "waste of time/effort", "what orchids live for", makes no difference??? It's no trouble, so I'll probably continue, but I don't like perpetuating mythology.

Thanks again,
Paul

[estación seca]

Fish water hasn't hurt your plant so far. I don't use mine on my orchids - it goes into an outdoor planter - but that is because I'm focusing on getting rid of 5 gallon bucketsfull and replacing the water in the tank. Also my tank water is over half Phoenix tap water, which is very high in (barely) dissolved minerals.

[gitano]

I hear ya about the "5 gal". I have a couple of 50 gal tanks, but a cupful gets to the orchid when it needs it. The rest goes down the bathtub drain. I should start putting it on my garden I suppose, but my garden is a long way from my fish tanks.

Paul

[fudJy23]

Chiming in on the sphagmum moss as someone who does have a phal planted in it. I don't have it packed in around the roots in the pot. I've basically just stuffed it in as best as I could and stuff the whole thing in the plastic pot. There are drainage holes at the bottom of the pot. I water it every 3-4 weeks, depending on how quickly the phal is soaking up the water. Best description I've heard of about when to water is when the moss (all of it) is "crispy dry". After a while, when you pick up the pot, you really do learn the difference in weight/feel of the whole thing between "soaked full of water" and "cripsy dry". Only water when crispy dry. If in doubt, don't water. This phal is still going strong. It has spiked for me and is currently growing a new leaf.

[gitano]

Let's see if I'm out of quarantine on posting images:




Note the keiki on the left.








That should give you a good idea of the 'nature of the beast'.

Thanks fudjy23 - I may go the sphagnum route. "They" are pretty proud of a handful of bark called "orchid medium" on Ebay. I'll look around locally and see if I can find some. It does beg the question though: If sphagnum is a poor growth medium for Phalaenopsis, why is that the preferred medium for "box store" orchids? I'm sure it has something to do with economy and/or marketing, but I would have expected it to be "OK" if the plants get transported and have clearly grown some in it.

Thanks again,
Paul

PS - I think the 'darkness' of the leaves is an artifact of photography. Compare the green density in the pictures with flash - the last two.

Paul

[fudJy23]

Sphagmum retains water really well. So, big box stores tend to have them planted in sphag (or something else that retains water well) so they don't have to water as often - less maintenance. Orchid growers tend to shy away from sphagmum because of the fact that it retains water so well and usually, it's packed in so well it ends up rotting the roots, not letting air flow circulate around the roots, and killing the plant.

So, you can plant in whatever is your preferred orchid medium of your choice. You just have to be aware of how you plant it and how often you're watering. Now that I've figured out how to not over water the phal planted in sphag, it has become another tool in my arsenal. For example, when I went away for a two week trip, the only orchid I really didn't worry about was the phal in the sphag because I knew it could survive 2 weeks being untouched and watered. It ended up getting a sunburn. The rest, I had to get a friend to water every couple of days while I was gone.

[gitano]

Funny how 'things' happen. Estacion seca PM'd me this evening inquiring into how my plant was doing. I had just finished transplanting it and planting the keiki this very day!

Here's what I told him about the move I made today:

I cut the 'pup' off and mounted it to a piece of bark to which I had secured a large wad of sphagnum. I embedded the air-roots in the sphagnum and soaked the whole assembly in water to "water-log" it. For the the time being I am going to keep the base of the assembly resting in a plastic container to maintain some humidity until I figure out how rapidly the sphagnum dehydrates.

I removed the main plant from the solid glass 'box store' container. The plant was rooted in a plastic cup approximately 5cm in diameter filled with sphagnum. (You were right AnonYMouse!.) Surrounding that was "orchid medium" - small bits of black bark. The cup looked hand-made and had a hole about 13mm in diameter in the bottom.

As was mentioned/thought, the roots in the cup were all essentially dead and rotted and the sphagnum was rotted. I removed the rotten roots and sphagnum, retaining the living roots, and transplanted the whole into a larger ceramic pot with drain holes and a drip plate. I used the orchid medium from the original container and made a depression about the size of the original plastic cup. I put sphagnum in that depression along with the living roots of the plant that had been in the plastic cup. I then filled the pot to the rim with sphagnum and soaked the container.

I covered as many of the air roots of the plant as I could with sphagnum. I assume they will "head for water" and grow down into the sphagnum as long as it is kept moist.

Paul

[estación seca]

Sounds good! Keep us informed.