The clear pot with the healthy roots.

Nick

Now out of the pot, which will be discarded.

Nick

A metal stake, 12" longer than the plant is tall is bent into 2 x 90 degree angles on one end.

Nick

A simple hook for hanging on the other end.

Nick

Ready to insert into the moss of the plant.

Nick

Firmly inserted into the moss.

Nick

Spike is clipped to the stake of the plant.

Nick

Plant is now hanging from that black basket. It will remain hanging, not necessarily there, until several new root tips emerg. Watering is less of an issue now as the roots are exposed to air. When there are definite new roots emerging, probably 4 to 6 weeks from now, some of the moss will be removed and the plant switched into a pot full of bark.

By going through this process, the transition is made easier and there is a greater chance of success. Instead of hanging the plant, one could also just place it in a fairly large pot so that all sides will be exposed to air. The key is that the new roots will be ready for life outside the tightly packed moss.

The alternative is to simple remove all the moss in the beginning and pot it in bark. Curtis thinks this is more traumatic for the plant and believes the stake method makes the transition easier.

I will post picture in 4 to 6 weeks when the now roots emerge.

Nick

Another view of the final disposition of the suspended plant.

Nick

This is a very fascinating and valuable tip. As someone who can't resist those cheap noid Phals most of the time, I will certainly try this. I usually take the chance and immediately repot into bark and hope. This makes sense as a method with a much better chance of easy transitioning since I admitted can't water those tightly packed things without killing roots for even one second :) Thanks for that.

-Heather

Thanks for the tip Nick, I honestly see this method as much less stress on the plant now this is worth tryingâº.Velleta

I am one guilty of buying many orchids at Trader Joe's, as indeed they are cheap and beautiful. I agree about the spaghnum. it is a horrible soggy sponge. When you pull the roots apart (gently) to repot in bark, which is what I do the moment the plant comes home, usually the roots in the middle are dead and the only ones living are those at the outside, which get some air from the slits in the pot.

For a greenhouse setting, where it is humid, the hook hanging method looks novel and good. But just for the record, i've never had a phal. show any signs of stress when being immediately repotted in bark. I gave one to my sister last august, done this way, and she was horrified when I told her i'd repotted it, but it continued blooming through Christmas, which surprised even me. The airy bark is so much safer than the spaghnum moss. I think it could be intentional so people have to buy replacements, but also, when shipped, they won't spill like bark would. I honestly wonder how the growers manage to grow healthy plants in it.

J

For the growers it's the cheapest and best way to do it. Uses very little water, pots are small and cheap, the moss last 5 years if watered and fertilized EXACTLY correct. For us it doesn't work because we over water and over fertilize, we just love them too much. That's where the much ridiculed 'Ice cube orchid' concept comes in. The growers attempt to get us to do it correctly by asking us to place one or two (depends on the size of the pot) ice cubes on the moss per week. That's just about the right amount of water but few people do it.

If unpotted correctly with a trauma free removal of the moss followed by potting in bark and correct bark watering, there is every expectation that it should work even if done anytime. Since Phaelies grow continuously 24/7/52, there is no correct or incorrect time to repot, being in bloom is no deterrent.

The wire method I described is just an alternative, it offers only minimal advantage to correctly done transition to bark. It's always nice to have choices and to have as much info available as is possible.

Nick

That is excellent idea but I have a hard time getting even thinner wires to bend even using pliars! I saw a hanger made with wire, it had a loop around the bottom part to set the pot in and hung with a loop at the top.....it .would be a lot cheaper than buying those wood baskets, I tried to make one but couldn't get that wire to even bend...that's what arthritis does ,keeps reminding one how old one has gotten....... I find success just removing the moss from the top and outer part of the plant, then repot it with Styrofoam in the bottom and some bark along the sides, so it gets air all around but still has some of that moss in the center, but not dried out so no shock.....I lost a lot of orchids, Phallies mostly, before I found this method works pretty good for me...LOL, sally

That's kind of brilliant! I, too, have a problem resisting those little phals at TJ's. Partly because there are so many colors, and pretty flowers are hard to resist, and partly because I'm compelled to RESCUE the poor tortured things.

I usually just remove about half the moss, as gently as possible. I try not to disturb the roots, just pry out some of that tightly packed, soaking wet gunk from the center of the root ball so it can have some air. Then I just spray it every once in a while to dampen the moss. Once the flowers drop, it goes in bark. I've tried repotting immediately, and both times I lost the orchid.

Next time I'm giving this method a try! Thanks for another awesome tip, Nick.

Definitely going to try- thanks! I kept a phal alive with 2 giant sprays of blooms despite being in sphag. It bloomed from Mother's Day until about a week ago. I literally watered it once a month. Transitioning it to bark but love it and don't want to lose it- it's the biggest one I've got!a

Nick,

Received 4 plants from Norman's last week and they were all packed in tight spagh. Pulled their pots, loosened up the spagh a bit and then placed them loosely in 4" pots. 2 of the 4 were in bloom, so we'll see how they fair. In the past, I've always struggled to get these things from tight spagh to my preferred bark mix. Last year I moved them to CHC first and then to my bark mix which seemed to work well enough. We'll see if I can skip the CHC step with this routine.

My timing is a bit off as they will have to re-adjust to my indoor conditions in a few weeks, so that may set them back a bit. I'm hoping to be able to move them to bark before the end of the year.

Bob

That's a cool trick, I'll have to try that.

Saldut, I find I need two pairs of pliers one to hold the wire and one to bend it.

I could be wrong but that looks like thick aluminum bonsai wire. That's what I would use anyway. It is very easy to bend

I'll try it with my minis. Thanks for sharing the trick.