# Phaelanopsis potting mixes



## TheLorax (Nov 17, 2007)

Re: Phaelanopsis potting mixes

I have a few of these and need to re-pot them. 

I've gone online and the mixes are pretty varied. So far I'm finding most people are potting up in basic fir bark and perlite. Does anyone have any suggestions for the handful of phals that I have? They really need to be re-potted as I can visibly see the medium breaking down.


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## Brabantia (Nov 17, 2007)

For my phalaenopsis I am using as potting a mix 30% CHC / 70% bark and a little bit sphagnum. I know a professional grower which use 30% coarse peat / 70 % bark.


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## TheLorax (Nov 17, 2007)

Thank you, I've been finding everything from fine bits of charcoal to small hydroton to coconut fiber and everything in between in some of the plants I have un-potted to re-pot. I had all the different potting mixes spread out on the counter on pieces of white paper and was picking them apart. Rather interesting how many different mixes were used on the plants I bought. I even found one in straight LFS and one in straight Canadian sphagnum peat which defies logic.

So far; I'm thinking a mix of fir bark, perlite, coir, and a little bit of very fine charcoal should work for me.


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## bwester (Nov 17, 2007)

i use a mud mix for phals


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## TheLorax (Nov 17, 2007)

What is a mud mix? Sorry, not familiar with that term at all. Actually, please just list out the ingredients for your mud mix.


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## Candace (Nov 17, 2007)

I'd use the same mix as for your paphs or you're going to ask for trouble, having to water them differently.


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## Corbin (Nov 17, 2007)

I grow mine in strait New Zeland sphagnum. Candace is right though I water the Phals about half what the Phaps in bark mix require but with my small collection that is not a prroblem.


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## Rick (Nov 17, 2007)

I can hardly grow phals potted and all the ones I keep end up mounted. I have a couple that I've potted in clay orchid pots (lots of holes all over) in straight sphagnum moss.

Keep in mind that all phals are epiphytic and always have their roots exposed to light, air, and humidity. So their roots are prone to suffocating and rotting in dense wet mixes. Pot culture is a compromise for ease of culture, so as long as the mix is open and drains well, just about anything will work once you figure out a watering regime.


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## TheLorax (Nov 17, 2007)

Hmmm, connection timed out. 

These plants must be bombproof then because they survived me and bloom quite frequently. They've got roots shooting out of their pots in all different directions. I'm going with one of my Nep mixes on them which includes a little bit more rockwool. I'm not one to over water generally.


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## Rick (Nov 17, 2007)

TheLorax said:


> Hmmm, connection timed out.
> 
> These plants must be bombproof then because they survived me and bloom quite frequently. They've got roots shooting out of their pots in all different directions. I'm going with one of my Nep mixes on them which includes a little bit more rockwool. I'm not one to over water generally.



If the roots outside the pots aren't dessicating then you may not need to repot since they are heading towards "mounted" status.:wink:


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## TheLorax (Nov 17, 2007)

No, no dessication. Nice big fat lime green roots that look like alien worms. 

Same thing is happening to the two Neofinetia I have only what's shooting out of them looks like angel hair pasta. I have not re-potted those because I had no time to start looking up info on them.


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## Mrs. Paph (Nov 17, 2007)

S/H. Seems pretty foolproof for Phals. Water, ignore, water, ignore...until they bloom, then water, admire, water.... Honestly though, I have all 4 of my Phals in a different mix and can't see a difference other than it being much more convenient to see when to water with the S/H one. If I don't have to heft the pot, stare through clear plastic to look for condensation, stick my finger in it, etc, that's a plus! Paphs I haven't found it convenient for, but for Phals I do like S/H.


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## Corbin (Nov 17, 2007)

TheLorax said:


> Hmmm, connection timed out.
> 
> These plants must be bombproof then because they survived me and bloom quite frequently. They've got roots shooting out of their pots in all different directions. I'm going with one of my Nep mixes on them which includes a little bit more rockwool. I'm not one to over water generally.



Sometimes this is a bad sign though trying to tell you that the conditions "in" the pot are bad. Do you grow in clear plastic? If so how do the roots look in the pot?


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## streetmorrisart (Nov 17, 2007)

Straight New Zealand sphagnum moss in clear pots or else a pad of it on cork or Manzanita wood. I like a lot of the little species Phals. with diminutive starry flowers...those are the ones that get mounted. (My javanica is in spike--woo hoo!)


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## TheLorax (Nov 18, 2007)

Being as how I just re-potted all of them I can tell you the roots looked great! They are happy plants that flower for me repeatedly so I must have been doing something right by accident because I sure didn't do much for them other than to set them out in their pots. My bad! 

No place to grow mounted orchids here. Wish I could but I can't. Humidity is way too low in this house. 

You know, I was going to grow in clear plastic and bought a boat load of plants but my husband said he didn't like the look of the clear plastic pots. I checked into the costs of buying ceramic over pots for all of them and decided against that because the over pots were running anywhere from $9.99 a piece up to $39.99 a piece. I don't have a lot of orchids compared to others here but I have enough that buying overpots would have been way too costly. I went with plain white plastic pots for everything.


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## Mrs. Paph (Nov 19, 2007)

If he doesn't like the clear pots, he doesn't have to Look! They are the best switch I've made in culture - allowed me to see what other switches might be helpful to make (watering frequency, time to repot, air/water holding of media, eek fungus emergency repotting needed, just plain cool to watch root growth...), so perhaps your hubby will get over the irrational dislike of the clear pots  My guy is un-nerved by aerial roots, from Phal's in particular, but they're not going away, so he's learned to put up with them for me LOL


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## TheLorax (Nov 19, 2007)

Tee he, almost all of them are in our bathroom. 

Mine likes the aerial roots shooting out. He thinks that's cool.

editing to add, just looked up the blooms on a phalaenopsis javanica. Very pretty.


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## Paul (Nov 27, 2007)

Hello, 
I'm growing all my Phals (and most of my epiphytic orchids) into pure rockwool (grodan growcubes).
I never have to repot (only when the plant is very big and needs a bigger pot), just have to keep wet (but I water only once every 2 weeks or more, depends on the pot size) and fertilize. growth is very fast, even for just deflasked plants.


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## TheLorax (Nov 27, 2007)

Mature plants are grown in rockwool too?


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## Paul (Nov 30, 2007)

yes, here is a first bloom of a Phal bellina (deflasked june 2005)







I have other Phals into rockwool, all are growing very fast with nice blooms for the mature plants. Never had any rot with any of the ~60 Phals I have or have had. 
pH must never drop under 5.5, or rockwool will be slowy destroyed (I have pH metre and EC metre)


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## goldenrose (Nov 30, 2007)

Nice Paul! This is one I'll get at some point!


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## cnycharles (Jan 26, 2008)

I have lots of phals and they are in many different mixes. I use small chc's, smallish charcoal and sponge rock around 4:1:1 for smaller plants, larger chc's, charcoal and sponge rock 4:1:1 for larger pots or plants with coarser roots/more aeration requirements, s/h culture for some of the plants that like it wet all the time, pure sphagnum usually fairly loosely packed, s/h pellets in clear pots (normal, no reservoir) for species that liked to be doused but then dry quickly, I mount most of my lindeniis and equestrises on cork bark. There are a few species that like to dry out more between wettings like fasciata and they go into a bark mix small/medium size mixed 4:1:1 with charcoal and sponge rock. There are a few species that I've bought that are on grape or other sticks, and a few others that are on tree fern mounts or posts.

I like s/h culture and have seen others that have had great success with it, but sometimes it just doesn't work for some of my phals. Ray Barkalow tells that some phals just don't like s/h, and since we both live generally in the same part of the country (temperate) I think low air temps have a lot to do with it. The plants get cooled by evaporation from the top of the media, and I think that makes the plant much cooler than the air temperature and many like to be warmer in general than the room temps that we can provide without a lot of extra warming. I try to really soak the pellets like suggested because they can sometimes have residues, maybe I need to soak them even more in hot water to get rid of this stuff.

I had a hybrid that was in a mud mix, and I think if I tried there are some that like wet that would do well in this if you let it completely dry out between waterings, but since I have many that get watered more frequently those would stay too wet. I have seen great plants grown in peat moss and perlite, needs a whole different watering regime and though the mix always looks good it can build up waste salts and should be changed every year or so especially if you fertilize heavily and don't flush with clear water.

I was amazed to see that some plant I had received from Asian growers had the seedlings in pots with sphagnum jammed into the pot as tight as it could be. The roots looked good and the plants were happy, so there must be something to it as long as you water correctly. It took me several minutes to get all the sphagnum out from around all of the roots, where normally loose sphagnum can be stripped off in less than a minute. Sphagnum can also soak up waste salts and should be changed even if it looks good.


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