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  #11  
Old 12-02-2010, 01:46 AM
King_of_orchid_growing:)'s Avatar
King_of_orchid_growing:) King_of_orchid_growing:) is offline
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Can't say much about Superthrive, KLN, or other products like it, they may just be hype. Nobody's done an actual study on these products.

You can use moss on the mounts, but sparingly, and only 1 layer thick. Have the roots go on top of the moss. You can also put a few strands of moss over certain parts of the roots. By no means whatsoever, should the roots be completely covered in moss on the mount though.
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  #12  
Old 12-02-2010, 01:56 AM
LeanneS LeanneS is offline
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okay thanks King

For Katie:
i'd got a ceramic (i think, some home decore thing) dish filled with pebbles to put it on and have any water drain into. then watered whenever it looked too dry with occasional flushing under the mixer tap with tepid water. it was on my windowsill (north facing) until it started to get too cold on there - it's really drafty!!! so moved it to otherside of room onto desk and underneath a small like office fluorescent tube light which leave on during the day.

I don't know if this set up is any good for them, they've been kept away from the radiator and removed from their ceramic pots they came in and into clear pots. But they're still quite dark leafed so have been looking into a seperate "natural daylight" lamp, but it's still a little confusing and don't have much money to spend on a special light.
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  #13  
Old 12-02-2010, 04:54 AM
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camille1585 camille1585 is offline
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I fail to see how mounting will help the plant unless you have a terrarium or GH to put it in. It needs humidity to keep the leaves from losing too much moisture while it grows roots, and a mount will not do that. Not to mention that caring for mounted phals is much more difficult that potted ones unless you have very high humidity! I personally have had success with sphag n bag, and have never had issues with mold. I put the nearly rootless phal in a tiny little pot with bark, prop the entire thing up in another pot, and then add damp sphag to the bottom of the bag and stick it in a warm spot. I leave the bag open a bit at the top. Within a few weeks new roots start.

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Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:) View Post
Most places will sell messed up Phals anyways, it's not just the florist. It's the sphag that it's being grown in. That keeps the roots way too wet. Especially for you guys in Britain - and especially during this time of year!
In Europe Phals are very rarely (I've never seen any) sold in sphag (only the little mini ones) So I don't think the medium itself was to blame, just the way it was watering before and/or after purchase. Like in the US, if you don't buy the plants as soon as the arrive in stores you can be in for some nasty surprises in the pots.
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  #14  
Old 12-02-2010, 08:37 AM
RosieC RosieC is offline
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I haven't had success with sphag and bag either, and like Philip had problems with mold when I tried that.

The advantage of mounting is that I've found that quick drying roots with very frequent watering seems to be apreciated by strugling plants, especially if you have at least some root (which you seem to have in the form of an arial root).

However, mounting might be difficult if you've not done it before (OK I might be biased from being scared of actually mounting something myself). Also remember that with mounts you have to think about where you are going to grow them. I do have 4 mounted orchids which I bought that way and the problem I have is that they drip drip drip after watering and I don't have time in the morning to wait for them to stop before putting them back where they grow... therefore they either grow outside (not possible in this weather) or they are in my mostly tiled bathroom so they can drip drip drip on the windowledge without damaging my walls/wooden windowledges. If you can mount on something that will stand on it's own, rather than hang then you can stand them on saucers, but mine are all designed to hang and so I hang them on the sides of other orchid pots and let them drip on the tiles.

Another consideration is that mounts need daily attention and you need to think about whether that's something you want to do.

So... my method would be as follows, and the fact you have at least one arial root is good and gives it more chance than with none. It requires daily attention to begin with, but once it's recovered it can go back to more like weekly.

I would pot it in a tiny tiny tiny tiny pot. I have some which are just 5cm pots and they work great for rootless or nearly rootless plants. If it has problems standing as a result of the small pot then use another empty pot outside it to help it stand.

If you can't get a tiny pot then try a standard size yogurt pot (you know the sort sold in the UK in trays of 6 for plain old non-fancy yogurts). Makes several holes in the bottom, and even slits up the side would help.

You will need some medium and I would not be inclined to re-use the stuff it went rotten in as that could be too broken down. This is a difficult bit, because in my experience the stuff you can buy in garden centers can actually do more harm to the roots. I get mine from www.orchidaccesories.com and it's good quality.

If you can get the remaining roots in the pot without breaking them then do so, otherwise leave them out and just poke the base in.

Now what you really want is for the medium to fully dry in just a couple/three days (hence the reason for the teeny tiny pot). You then want to water regularly, just make sure it's dried between waterings. If the arial roots are out the pot then spray them with water whenever they look silvery (they go green when wet). If no roots are in the pot then perhaps don't water so often but spray the arial roots.

Until you can get hold of new medium/pots keep spraying the arial roots when they are silvery. This is likely to be at least daily, possibly twice a day. Just make sure the center of the leaves (where new leaves come from) is dry at night as leaving water in there can lead to crown rot.

I rescued one with only a fraction more root than yours using this method as well as others with a bit more root than that.

Last edited by RosieC; 12-02-2010 at 08:39 AM..
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  #15  
Old 12-02-2010, 12:16 PM
katierkincaid katierkincaid is offline
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Not trying to over rule what the others said, but I would def. change the potting medium if you put it in a pot, mounting is scary to me but it could work if you spray the roots a few times a day and have high humidity. What is your humidity like over there? Do you have a meter?

Do you have any East windows? East windows really are the best for Phals ( in my opinion ), I kept mine in a North window and it never did anything and the leaves look wilted and limp and the roots look shriveled. I moved it to the orchidarium (where it gets light, air circulation, and humidity) to add some humidity and I am about to re pot it and change the medium. Your Phal needs light though, I dont think a North window provides enough light.

Maybe you can build a little terrerium (sp) out of a fish tank and put a glass top on it with a mini fan inside and a grow light and that way you can provide what it needs? (and maybe add more orchids if you choose to).

I once bought 50 orchids and then realized I wasnt going to keep any of them alive if I did not have an Orchidarium or some way to provide the proper lighting, water, humidity, and air circulation. I made a LARGE purchase on an orchidarium and it worked well until I stopped caring for them. If you do choose to go on with this project and the East window idea does not work, look into buying an orchidarium or terrerium. You can probably make one for cheaper than you can buy one pre made. Keep us updated on your journey, the orchid board has lots of advice and good members who know what they are doing. Sometimes I wish I could take some lessons from some of them a little more often than I do.
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