I'm looking forward to some advice here too...whenever I repot, the lowest leaf usually withers, regardless of the condition of the roots prior to repotting...
nick

You have to find the mix and the pot size most appropriate to your growing conditions and your watering habits. There is no easy one line answer.

Even the lump size of treated pine bark can make a difference.

Maybe just putting a little bit of that spag into a bark mix to make it less arid can make a difference. Sorry, there is a lot of trial and error in orchid growing.

Frowine's new book on phals states that phals love to be repotted when in a growth phase-- green root tips. He also states that the commonest cause of withering leaves in newly repotted phals is too dry-- underwatering. I've been paying attention to this since reading that, with better results.

Sphag's negative is that it becomes "sour" suddenly, from built up salts in the fertilizer, and goes seriously downhill, *holding too much water*. Using fresh sphag is one thing-- keeping a phal in the possibly ancient sphag it came in is something else entirely.

What I've noticed about phals bought in sphag is that the plant has been repotted upwards several times by merely wrapping new sphag around the roots, keeping the old stuff on older roots. So it comes off in "layers". This method probably saves labor,but the sphag in the center has got to be pretty bad. That is IMO.

Try a little more frequent watering after repotting into new bark, see if that doesn't help.

The phal I have with 2 withering leaves right now has 2 flower spikes. Would it be too risky to unpot it and wrap some sphagnum around the roots at this point? Darn, and I thought I was finally figuring out the watering thing!

You got to remember as seedling they were potted in sphagnum. They might of gotten repotted once maybe two times. and never changed again. They came from commerical operations repotting was not a prioity. As soon as I get a new Phal I take it to the sink and wash out all the old sphagnum
The past couple of years I was growing Phals in semi-hydro. They reponsded to the ceramic pellets quite well. About half I had in Dynarock II the medium size diatomaous rock. Those did not do as good. I felt the rock is so course and rought that it evaporated water so fast and the Phals got dry.
Now I repot in medium or large bark usually in a hanging basket. I put a layer of sphagnum accross the top of the basket. About once a week I take the basket and soak it in the sink or bucket, w/fertilizer in the water, for about 1/2 hour.
My Phals are looking beautiful. It even caught the eye of my wife. She came out and said these Phals never looked so good.
All my other orchids are in semi-hydro or plain "S" hooks in the case of my Vandas. But in all cases I wash out the sphagum of a new purchased orchids.

OK, I bit the bullet and took the phal with the withered bottom leaves out of its pot. I believe it was shipped in sphagnum and I removed most of it when I took it home (maybe 2 months ago). I probably should have removed ALL of it because the roots were badly rotted except for a few. I cut off the withered leaf, all the dead roots, removed the black goo, sprinkled cinnamon all over and repotted with only the fir bark that had been in the pot, so it's quite moist but not wet. Then I patted some lightly moistened sphag over the surface only. I'll refrain from watering it for 2 weeks. Would someone tell me if this all sounds OK?

Everything sounds great except for the "sprinkled cinnamon all over" part of it.

If the good roots have it sprinkled all over them, the cinnamon will act as a sealer/repellant of the moisture. If you cut off roots where the lower part was rotten but the remaining length of root was still viable, you only dab the cinnamon on the tip of the cut part.

If you only dabbed on the cut ends, then disregard this well intentioned blather :>)

Regardless, good luck - I hope it makes a full recovery. They are very tough plants.

Brooke

Some people seem to do better with particular potting mediums. I tend toward underwatering and have everything in sphag that can take it... and some that shouldn't. :)

When repotting last spring, I put a Sophrolaelia in sphag by mistake, rather than replacing its bark. A few months later, it rebloomed at my house for the first time, right on schedule.

All my Phals are in sphag, and all of the Dens are, too except for 1 or 2, and they should be, because of my underwatering.

One downside is that I repot once a year because the sphag gets old and compacted, and I flush every 3rd watering to clear out fertilizer salts. Bark may not be quite so demanding for most growers.

OTOH, some people avoid sphag no matter what and have success with bark or semi-hydro or coconut husks, and some grow specific plants in rock.

All that said, I agree it's important to repot a new plant. Phals are usually quite tolerant about repotting when in spike/bloom.

Post a picture of your Phal when it blooms.

Whitecat8

I've tried and tried, but I can't grow orchids in sphag. This bothered me, because so many people do grow in sphag that I felt I should be able to also, and if I couldn't, I wasn't a competant grower. But plants were dying for me grown in sphag. So I struck a happy medium. I use bark with some sphag in it. This works out well for me because I tend to underwater.

The other problem I find when I buy plants in sphag is that the sphag has been compacted extremely hard. Much harder than I can ever compact bark.

I find I get much better results when mixing medias together.
Sphag is a great media for phals they take off in this stuff. Why not mix sphag with bark? Try a 50/50 mix. I find this works best for me when I chop the moss up to the same size as the bark.Tumbles well together - stays moist and open. Catts also love this mixture.

Don't be afraid to use sphag, just use it in a different way - adapt it to you're conditions.

Happy Growing!

I guess I now have a negative view of sphagnum mixed in with the bark medium, at least for phals. It's probably OK for paphs which supposedly like to be less dry. I'm new to this hobby, but for me the biggest puzzle is how often to water. Apparently for my conditions, if the leaves are withering up, the roots are dying due to too much moisture around them and sphag is the culprit. Hope my phal in spike manages to grow new roots.

VTandrea, in the winter, my humidity runs from 20%-50%. The Phals don't get watered till the top of the sphag is crunchy dry. This can take a few days, which is why I like it. :)

The criteria in summer is the same, and it takes even longer for the sphag to dry.

Because my bark dries out every other day in winter, I often put a layer of sphag over the top, even when sphag's mixed w/ the bark.

Of course, the crunchy sphag may not work for everyone. I trust you'll find a medium that suits your style.

Whitecat8

vtandrea, if you need new root growth, use a rooting hormone. It speeds up the root-forming process enormously. You should get root nubs or roots in about a month.

I use Clonex gel rooting hormone, painted liberally all over the stem, and on any roots, wherever I'd like them to branch. I've had even better results since I switched from sealing cut root ends in cinnamon to sealing them by dipping them in powdered root hormone. (Yes, using both the powdered and the gel). There are also liquid rooting hormones like Hormex or Dyna Gro K-L-N that can be used in your watering that will stimulate more roots in plants that have some.

I've used all kinds with great results. But if you need new roots, use *something*

Where cut root ends were dipped in the powdered hormone, I usually get several branches on the roots, beautiful green root nubbins that grow quickly.

It takes time to improve your growing, and get confidence in what you're doing. Along the way, you make mistakes, adapt, improve, and even lose some. I've always found reading all I can from as many different sources as I can find to be very helpful.

I think the biggest mistake folks make with sphagnum is that they fail to put styrofoam peanuts (or enough of them) in the bottom of the pot. Roughly the bottom third should be peanuts -- a single layer if the pot size is under 4", a double-layer for 5" and 6".

I've seen phals happily growing and blooming in nasty-old, ancient sphagnum. I don't have that many phals, but it works great for me. I also mount on cork with sphagnum pads as well.

-Bruce

Bruce, Thanks for your tip. Why are styrofoam peanuts and sphagnum a good combo?

--Stitz--

Mehitabel, thanks for the advice. I pulled the orchid out of the pot today (2nd time in 2 days!), washed the cinnamon off the roots and sprinkled liberally with rooting hormone, then repotted. The bark medium is still damp and I put a very thin layer of sphag on the very top. Should I still wait about 2 weeks to water?

Hey Stitz -- nothing special about the peanuts...it's just that they are usually readily available, and offer a bit more airy drainage than most other materials (use only the "S"-type, BTW). Peanuts are not suitable for heavier mixes, since they will compact and crush under weight. In those cases, lava rock or river stones would be a better choice.

Sphagnum used as I described can be watered until the cows come home, and not hurt the plant.

-Bruce

I will only use the stuff in open plastic or wooden baskets. Otherwise I feel it does not breath enough and remains wet too long. I prefer to use bark mixed with coconut chips and crushed packing peanuts.

I like to use a layer or 2 of large grade aliflor in the bottom, then a smaller grade mixed with sphagnum in the rest of the pot for most things. Aliflor doesn't get compressed down the way peanuts do.

And in the bottom of pots, I use a layer or two of glass marbles and small stones. They provide drainage plus give the pots some weight so they don't tip over as easily.

It was funny - a friend who's extra protective of her orchids said about the peanuts "We don't know where that styrofoam's been."

WC8

I don't grow phals anymore and always hated sphag for most things, but I think the quality of the stuff makes a huge difference. This fall I ordered a bunch of plants from New World Orchids. They all came potted in sphag and plastic pots - a combo that has always been deadly for me. However, the quality of the sphag was incredible. All the plants dry out in less than a week even at my coolish, winter temps. I'm sure it's because of the great sphag they use.

I'm not recommending sphag to anyone, but if you want to use it buy the highest quality you can find. It will make a difference.

Kevin

Happy New Year!!
I have about +20 phals and I think each one of them is potted somewhat differently, lol. Some are in clay, some in plastic, some in 100% sphag, some in 50-50% sphag/chunky bark. I always save wine corks to put on the bottom of all pots for drainage. I am trying to figure out what works for me since I don't like the plants in all sphagnum moss since they never seem to dry out quick enough and it gets compacted. I think my favorite phal is the one planted in a clay pot in both sphrag and chunky bark (I think Scott's brand). While it looks nice and healthy, it only flowers in the spring and never fall/winter. It seems to need water once a week in the winter and twice in the summer, which is comfortable for me. I have been playing around with planting orchids in different media and I don't think I have it just yet since I am really good about remembering what needs water when, so I am always adjusting.

This is the first year growing the majority of the orchids in our new sunroom and they are loving the light- although part of me misses the ugly light stand. I still find myself watering them more often this year than last since there is more available light. Also, humidity is much easier to control - I spray them down on sunny mornings and get the humudity up to 70% for a few hours and then it drops to 50-60% throughout the day - not bad for winter in Chicagoland. Since I am using three or four mixes, I am not sure if I have a favorite now since the only thing I do in the winter is water the orchids - and scrape the ice outside...lol.

PS There was a really good article in the journal of the American Orchid Society, discussing the pro's and con's of plastic and clay pots, sphrag, bark, and mounts. Basically the take-home message was -- adjust accordingly -- which is what we do.

Whatever medium you choose, you might consider using the skewer method of watering. Get a shishkabob skewer, the kind from the grocery store, trim it down and put it in the medium. The next time you think the plant needs watering, take out the skewer and touch it to your lip, cheek, or the back of your hand. If it's wet or very damp, don't water. If it's dry or nearly dry, water. How wet or dry the skewer is before you water will depend on what type of orchid it is.

This thread dovetails nicely with the one about dying phals. Not to beat a dead horse to death, but I went to the local garden center today to use my Christmas gift certificate and brought home a nice healthy-looking phalaenopsis with 2 spikes. The label reads like code: Dtps. (Su Red Lip-City Girl), then a bunch of other info. I got into a nice long discussion with a customer there about clay (her choice) vs. plastic pots and watering. All the orchids for sale were extremely dry; some looked healthy, some did not. Many were NOID. That's what we have to deal with in Vermont. The one I brought home was potted totally in very moist sphagnum. I unpotted it and while it had many nice firm healthy roots, there were about a dozen rotted ones. I potted into damp fir bark and patted a bit of lightly moistened sphag just on the top. Don't want to shock the newcomer too much. The orchid attendant said some of their orchids get shipped in sphagnum to keep the orchids from drying out and they don't repot them before selling. Some were in bark and some looked like half and half. The lady I was talking to says she uses only bark, never sphag. My head is whirling.

I love sphagnum moss - and at the same time, I cannot plant anything in bark mixes, as bark becomes nasty slimy over one summer...
I grow at least 30% of my collection (500+) in pure sphagnum (usually, clay pots, with rocks and/or peanuts on the bottom) Every so often, I order 5 kg bales of compressed Chilean compressed moss, and that is a lot of sphagnum!
I have some cattleyas in sphag, in open plastic baskets - laelia purpurata var carnea one of them! (and you know, this plant wants drainage)
But usually is it phals, zygos, oncidiums, etc...

Here is a plant from my collection, grown in straight sphagnum
{{gwi:141833}}From Orchid May 2008

Lesson learned: no one medium works for everyone...and for everywhere. The only way to figure out what works is to consider the plant's habitat, your own grown conditions, and then experiment...

For example, why does sphag work for me? Simple: high temperatures and high light, and my underwatering.

Good luck
Olya

It's really interesting reading this discussion of sphagnum moss. I have some grocery-store paphs, that at the end of blooming I decided to repot. I wish I did when I bought them, instead. They were in sphagnum, wrapped around sphagnum, wrapped around something that Im not sure what is was - maybe a sponge. Then there was sphagnum on top. This seems to be how they sell them here.

Most of the roots were rotted. I cut off the rotted roots, and repotted them in a locally available orchid mix. That mix contains bark, perlite, lava, and peat moss which has worked very well for my oncidium.

The different layers of spagnum had different degrees of moistness. The top was crunchy dry, but that inner core was soggy slimy.

I don't know yet if they will recover. Paphs seem to die slowly and invisibly. So far they look fine.

On the other hand, I have some oncidium backbulbs that I kept in moist sphagnum, in a ziplock bag, startin last August. One sprouted a new baby plant in one month, another in 3 months, and another in 7 months. That sphagnum has never rotted. The first baby plant is now growing in the same locally available mix, but the 2 recent ones are still in their sphagnum, which stays moister. Since they are growing, they are in the open, and the older of the 2 has new roots as well.