phal culture

[goldenrose]

OK - I'm confused, I've often thought phals didn't do well for me because my conditionds weren't warm enough, especially during the winter months. I've read/heard complete opposites when it comes to watering. One would think with the thick succulent leaves & thick roots they should dry between waterings. Another grower using spaghum keeps them evenly moist, not sopping wet. So can one have this difference due to the media? What do you use?

 

[Paph_LdyMacBeth]

As with most things the key lies in your watering habits.
I would say from my experience if you are at all a heavy waterer go with bark.
The biggest problem I've had with them is rotting the roots in the center of the plant...it just goes outwards from there too.
I tend to underwater my phals (or at least I am inconsistent) so I use sphag, but I make sure to allow for plenty of air at the roots (in the middle esp) with Styrofoam. AOS had a great article on this method in a 93 issue I think??? I unfortunately cannot find it right now.
I have also found that a few of my species phals resented over watering more then others. I have since passed them on to others because I feared for their life. I was growing these in straight bark chips too.
Its definitely a good question!

 

[Shiva]

I use both sphag and bark depending on the pot. Usually sphag in slatted baskets and a mix of bark and tree fern in pots. I water nearly every day. About 15C (60F) lowest temperature for all, including that gigantea which finally began to grow a new leaf at the lowest temperature. (Go figure?)

 

[SlipperFan]

I've been growing mine in straight diatomite for about 3 years. For the most part, the roots are very good, at least compared to when I was using bark.

 

[Hera]

I let the species dry some between waterings. Hybrids can take damp conditions better. I keep the babies, compots and smallish ones in NZ Sphag and the mature ones in coco chunks, perlite, charcol and a little sphag thrown in. The mature mix is chunky, with pieces about 1/2 inch in size, including the charcol and perlite. Lots of air. I water the mature pots when I can stick my finger in the mix about an inch and I feel it dry. If its still damp I wait another day or so. I got some really good advice on Peter Lin's forum, and since I've been following it, I've had better results. I used to keep them too wet and had issues with rotting roots in the center of the pot. I would think that to keep the roots evenly moist would be ok in some conditions, as long as you maintained warm temps and good air flow around the plants, and the medium isn't packed too tightly.


BTW the Baptistonia echinata is just starting to open!! I'll post a picture when it does.

 

[suss16]

I grow most of my potted Phals in a bark based mix and let them dry between waterings. I used to *think* that I used to let them dry between waterings until I started to unpot some plants when I thought it was time to water. After testing some random plants I noticed that there was still a lot of moisture in the mix. I added more perlite to future mixes - right now I am at 70/30 Orchiata/perlite. This is working for my growing conditions. All of my Phals in baskets are in packed sphagnum - some only get watered every 14 days or longer in the winter.

 

[NYEric]

Except for 2 I'm rehabing in S/h, mine are in a multi-media mix.

 

[cnycharles]

sometimes you have to adjust your media depending on how high you can keep your outer humidity. I would have a problem (and have had problems with it) with sphagnum on it's own because my humidity often is too low. because of this, the moisture wicks up to the top layer of moss and nutrients settle there, and salts collect to burn upper and new roots. looking down in I'd see decent roots, but upper ones were scorched. have to find what would work for your growing spot. I can't seem to keep plants alive that have been growing elsewhere in tree fern; it seems like it should work great for me but it probably stays too wet (and therefore too cool at the roots) for warm plants

 

[Ernie]

Consider those succulent leaves against, say, a Cattleya pseudobulb. Now that's succulent. If you have high humidity, you can let the pot dry slightly, especially in cooler weather. However, I recommend to not let phals dry out between watering when in active growth. Almost all of our phals are in s/h and never better.

-Ernie

 

[goldenrose]

Thanks for the replies guys! I've never been comfortable with straight sphagnum, think with my watering I'm going to go with a bark mix & put a small inverted pot in the bottom. I have a lost tag phal that's been doing well, I stuck with a bark mix & added hydroton, another one I mounted! Now if I could get them to bloom!

 

[paphioboy]

I would drench them during watering, until all the roots turn completely green, then let them dry out before watering..

 

[Mrs. Paph]

I'm all semi-hydro for the Phals I have (can't let them steal too much space from the slippers! ) In the summer I supplement the rain and give them all the water they can take with the heat and summer breezes. Mine are really slow to dry indoors in the winter though, so I mist the top of the mix & leaves frequently, but don't fill up the well until I'm not seeing much condensation. Oh, and I use Hydroton, since I guess some are slightly different in how much moisture they wick. I'm in line for a P. violacea/bellina kekei though, and I'm going to mount that on cork, since the mother plant is in a basket.