Bare Root Method for Phals

[estación seca]

I've found anything with Ascocentrum in it needs even more water than a Vanda.

[Marlena]

I have several Phals this way. I am using ordinary drinking glasses or canning jars. They are not heavy because the water only covers 1/4 of the roots. Two were ready to be tossed and they are coming back - growing new roots. Once a week I soak the for 1/2 hour in my fertilizer mix, when I am changing the water. Sometimes, with ones new to this you need to change the water daily. There are a lot of good videos about this on Youtube.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Marlena

I have several Phals this way. I am using ordinary drinking glasses or canning jars. They are not heavy because the water only covers 1/4 of the roots. Two were ready to be tossed and they are coming back - growing new roots. Once a week I soak the for 1/2 hour in my fertilizer mix, when I am changing the water. Sometimes, with ones new to this you need to change the water daily. There are a lot of good videos about this on Youtube.

Isn't this basically S/H ?

Another reason I smile when people say 'You have to let the roots dry out between waterings."

[Marlena]

If that is semi-hydroponic, I guess it is, I have only seen it referred to as full water culture. It seems to work and from all I've read and watched, which is a good bit, it works well.

---------- Post added at 04:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:59 PM ----------

I use some crumpled aluminum foil, made to hook over the side of the glass to hold them upright. it doesn't go in the water and it's on the side you don't see. I found chopsticks etc. just took up too much room or I cut them too short and so... I also use the crumpled foil under a plant that's too short for its outer container.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by bil

Isn't this basically S/H ?

Nope. Semi-hydroponics, by definition, is the use of inert media and a constant reservoir of nutrient solution to be wicked up through it.


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[jh0330u]

I had a sick phal which lost many roots due to root rot.
I had removed all the rotten roots and put uncut root tips into water for five days.
They all became mushy.

I guess the mistake I made was leaving root-to-water contact for too long (some people leave their plants having water contact all the time but these plants have been given a chance to slowly adapt?). In a earlier reply I read that you should only keep the roots in water for approximately 15min~1hour a week.
I am guessing this is the mistake I made? Am i right?

[Marlena]

Mine have been in only water, all the time and I've not had that problem. With the 2 that were awful I changed the water every day and added some 3% hydrogen peroxide. I have read that if you have a root rot problem, spray the remaining roots with the HP and let it dry before putting them in water. Are you just letting the bottom 1/4 of the roots be in the water? More than that isn't good.

[jh0330u]

Originally Posted by Marlena

Mine have been in only water, all the time and I've not had that problem. With the 2 that were awful I changed the water every day and added some 3% hydrogen peroxide. I have read that if you have a root rot problem, spray the remaining roots with the HP and let it dry before putting them in water. Are you just letting the bottom 1/4 of the roots be in the water? More than that isn't good.

I have heard this technique promotes root growth.
This is my first indoor plant/phal/orchid ever which gave me a beautiful 4-5 months of bloom but I think it stopped due to root rot.
About 80% of the roots were cut off (about 2~3cm into the healthy root) due to mushy and some black rotted roots from the tip. Only uncut healthy root tips made contact with the water but the plant was already sick to begin with which may have been a contributing factor.

I had angled the plant perfectly to have only approximately 1.5~3.5cm submerged in water on each uncut tip.
This was my first phal/orchid/plant ever. I couldn't stop the root rot even after returning to sphagnum moss, and now it has zero roots and 2 leaves (drying edges) + 1baby leaf remaining.
Currently, I have the base of the root submerged in water during half of the day.
I don't know... I am just trying anything and everything to give it any chance possible.

I also bought another phal, this time a sick one from the same store which had recently lost all it's petals for $3.50.
This one has had all it's rotten roots removed and planted back into moss for one week. Although there was much root loss, there is great signs of improvement; very few rotting roots. It has been cut off, dried for two days (with few drops of water daily on healthy roots), and about to be replanted again in moss.

Although I was unsuccessful the first time (I literally thought it might have been someone's sick joke) but after seeing this thread, I really want to be optimistic and try this again.

I will take your advice, so I completely soak the entire roots with 3% hydrogen peroxide and let it dry (maybe an hour?) before placing tips (+up to 1/4 of a root) into water?
Also, what ratio did you mix your 3% hydrogen peroxide with water?

[Marlena]

No, don't soak them, just spray heavily or if no sprayer, soak for just a few minutes and let dry. Sometimes, sadly, you just have to say it's done. Comfort yourself by buying a healthy Phal in bloom. Check on the roots before you buy, make sure there's no bugs and that the leaves are in good health. Our grocery store carries them all the time for reasonable prices. And if you get friendly with the florist, you may get bargains.

---------- Post added at 09:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:17 PM ----------

As to peroxide, I forget the ratio, but if you google Hp and orchids, there are a couple sites that say, Best of luck

[Arizona Jeanie]

I've had one phal growing in a vase with no media for several months now, and it's looking good. I broke the first pint size glass vase and moved the phal into a quart canning jar, it quickly filled in the jar with healthy roots. When it was very hot and dry this summer, I filled the jar daily, let it soak about 2 hours, then drained completely. The roots were always dry by nighttime. Weather has cooled off now, so I'm soaking it three days a week for several hours each, again draining it completely and letting roots dry by night. I fertilize weekly/weakly, and have been draining that water off to the irises outside-we'll see if that helps! The roots seem ok with the amount of movement they get, and the leaves are quite healthy, holding the top of the plant up out of the jar. It's sitting on the kitchen windowsill, it's fun to see the roots in the jar. I'm not sure what this is called, to me it's hydoponics, nothing "semi" about it. I wouldn't put peroxide anywhere on my plants--use some KelpMax from First Rays if you want to get the roots going. If there are no roots left, you can still sometimes salvage the plant but it's a slow process, again the KelpMax will speed it up.