Two phals in one pot?

[Olivia]

A couple of weeks ago I went to my very first orchid show, which I would highly recommend doing for all beginners Among the plants I picked up was a pot with two phals in it. The vendor said they normally get separated before sale but there wasn't time for this one. The roots, leaves, and blooms all looked healthy so I figured I'd deal with the question of separating them when it was time to repot. Unfortunately that time is now. A couple of questions:

1) Do I have to separate them? They've grown together like this to blooming and I actually like the look.

2) The reason I think I need to repot them before they're done blooming is because even though I was careful and thought I could handle the sphag they came in (until repotting) it did not work out. I can see a couple of the roots are not in good shape anymore. The crux of the issue is that I wanted to try them in S/H because they're already used to sphag so it should be less of a shock that it would be for the ones in bark... is it safe to transfer them now or do I need an intermediary step?

[Eyebabe]

Nice looking plant
Most people choose a bark mix for phals and I also think Aussie Gold medium works well.
I tried phals in s/h and lost about 50% of the ones I transplanted primarily to low household humidity issues...I even had seedling mats beneath them.
Not that s/h won't work. But I personally think it is harder on plants that require higher humidity such as phals.
Imho, if your indoor humidity is not at least 45%, I'd try an orchid bark mix or the AG.

[Zoi2]

Your phal is very pretty, I would not separate the plants. The roots are probably all entwined and you may have some problems and besides the next time it blooms you'll probably have multiple spikes.
Personally I would not transfer to S/H while in bloom and no new root growth. Others have done it and the plant has not missed a beat but I have not had such luck.
Joann

[silken]

That's one unique looking phal! Does it have a name?
I was just reading another thread here, but can't remember which one, and the person said they have had good luck using S/H for many types of orchids but their phals did not like it. So proceed with caution, although I realize everyone has different situations. I like a mix of moss and bark.

[Olivia]

Thanks! Its called Phal. Huar Jin Diamond 'YPM 6040' (Golden Peoker x Ching Her Buddha)

I've heard mixed results about phals in S/H and figured this one was a good one to try since it's already in sphag and my others are in bark. I would have just taken a deep breath and given it a shot if it had finished flowering and started putting out new roots. Now I'm not so sure.

[Zoi2]

I am a big fan of S/H, I grow everything in it. Your chances of success improve with new root growth before transplanting.
Joann

[pedidiva]

I bought what I thought was a really big phal. After it bloomed, I repotted & discovered it was 2 separate plants. I put each in its own pot.

Yours is really striking.

[silken]

I guess you could always split it and try one in s/H and the other in bark and then if the S/H doesn't work, you haven't lost everything!

[Paul Mc]

One thing to note is that you don't necessarily have to pot them in separate pots. They can be potted together, in fact when phal's have keiki's they sometimes recommend leaving the keiki potted with the mother for a year or so. However, the drawback to this is that if anything should happen (i.e. virus, bacteria, over/underwatering, etc...), then both will be affected and you could potentially lose both of them.

That being said, I love the look of two being planted together and hope to do that some day with a few of my own.

[Olivia]

So the general consensus is that I can leave them together if I want to... as Paul said there are some risks but they don't necessarily need to be separated. I really like the look of them together and since they're used to it already I will try to keep them that way.

Zoi2- Is there anything special you do with your phals in S/H? I was thinking of just temporarily using the LECA as a regular potting medium and then when the new growth started treat it as S/H. Any idea if that would work or if it's even a good idea?