The Phal abuse ends here.

[alley]

Thanks Rosie, I think you're right. I went ahead and repotted them.

[alley]

Is it ok to use seaweed extract and a fertilizer as well?

[shanahoo]

Originally Posted by Mango2007

Also the underside of the leaves have chew marks. The orchid came this way. The marks look like they are healing but they are still there. I think I saw a small, translucent-like bug crawling around in the phal's soil a couple weeks prior.


Any suggestions on how to help the phal?

I was really hoping someone would have an answer for this part of your question.

I think I have the same bugs and have been researching what they are and how to get rid of them for months, with no real answers.

They are teeny tiny, extremely fast moving, live on the roots and I am 95% sure they are killing my plant. I had 4 leaves yellow and die in the last 4 months. I do not feel like that is "normal" shedding of old leaves. It is down to only the 3 new leaves it grew this summer. I've also had an alarming amount of root decay. Old roots, new roots, all dying. I've seen these bugs in my ficus now as well, which is now also having a problem with leaves yellowing and dying.

It is very sad.

[silken]

Originally Posted by shanahoo

I was really hoping someone would have an answer for this part of your question.

I think I have the same bugs and have been researching what they are and how to get rid of them for months, with no real answers.

They are teeny tiny, extremely fast moving, live on the roots and I am 95% sure they are killing my plant. I had 4 leaves yellow and die in the last 4 months. I do not feel like that is "normal" shedding of old leaves. It is down to only the 3 new leaves it grew this summer. I've also had an alarming amount of root decay. Old roots, new roots, all dying. I've seen these bugs in my ficus now as well, which is now also having a problem with leaves yellowing and dying.

It is very sad.

How about a photo or why not just water the soil thru with malathion added to the water. I have never killed a plant using it and it sounds like the bugs are killing it anyways. Flush thru and you will likely see DEAD bugs come out with the water.

[shanahoo]

Originally Posted by silken

How about a photo or why not just water the soil thru with malathion added to the water. I have never killed a plant using it and it sounds like the bugs are killing it anyways. Flush thru and you will likely see DEAD bugs come out with the water.

I wish I could get a photo but they are SO TINY that they never show up. It is frustrating.

[Jayfar]

I just stumbled across the most amazingly comprehensive website:

Phalaenopsis Species
Ecology, Morphology and Cultivation

A few sections of the site are not in english, but most of it is.

This section is what I'm reading now:

Habitat Distribution and Ecology of Phalaenopsis Species

[nenella]

Very Interesting! Thanks for posting!

[Rowangreen]

Two questions from me:

Do the lights have to be specially for growing plants? I have various plants (including orchids) in a room that's safe from my cats but is proving too dark, and I'm wondering if I can just put a 'daylight' bulb in the ceiling fitting to help things out. For example this one: Ecozone Biobulb, Energy-Saving Daylight Bulb, Bayonet Cap, 25W: Amazon.co.uk: Lighting It does say it produces 6,400 kelvin...

2nd, is there anything I can do for a phal with leaves but basically no roots? Phal has been in said room. I thought it was nice and healthy since it was a good dark green... have now realised that dark is not good with orchids!

I was also watering said plant once a week, with tap water, allowing the water to run through and away on the draining board. Not sure if that contributed to the root problem?

[nenella]

Sorry can't help about daylight bulbs..as have no idea. If it has no roots or very little a soak or 2 in rooting hormone will definitely help as roots are the first thing the plant needs. Once roots are growing you can give it more light so it can continue to grow and spike. I would use a skewer in the pots as it sounds like you overwatered and the roots rotted.
I sometimes water my phals every 10 days or more ... as preferable to be on the 'drier' side than too wet.

[Rowangreen]

Thanks! I've been doing a little reading and got some answers myself. I think I'll be getting some rooting hormone when I can (long story... have the money, can't currently use it online grrrr, hopefully sorted soon...). I have found references to 'sphag and bag', so may try that if there's no sign of roots by the time I get the hormone!

Re lights... I was always under the impression that plants can't use most artificial lights. Having done some reading I've found that's not strictly true. They can photosynthesise under household lights. However... as has been said above, the best type of light to grow under is one of around 6,500 kelvin, which is the same colour as natural light. The bulb I posted fits with this. Other colours of lights do something, but even if strong enough might promote certain types of growth, which would not be ideal in the long term.

The other important factor is strength of the light. It's not really possible to assess the strength of light with the human eye because our eyes are very good at quickly adapting! Here's a list of light requirements for different orchids:

Light Requirements by Genus -

That gives light requirements of 1,000 to 3,000 foot candles per day. Unfortunately most bulbs give light strength ratings in lumens...

According to this page you can't really convert candlepower to lumens, however they give a very rough formula of lumens / 12.57 = candles. Using that, my example bulb rates at around 127 candles. Therefore, to use them as the only light source for Phals, you might need between 10 and 30 of those bulbs... A full under lights set up might work out cheaper if that is correct...

In my case, where I do have light coming in from a window, but have signs that it's not enough: for now I'm leaving the bulb I already have on during the day. And I'm going to get a couple of these bulbs to see if they are enough of a suplement to natural light.

And hopefully I'm not talking total rubbish *G*

Now if you want instructions on what bulbs you need to grow cannabis... no problem finding that out! LOL