Yes, this actually is a legitimate way of potting orchids. Water then wait until the moss is dead dry crunchy before watering again.

Another yes for a legitimate way to pot. What kind of light do you have the Phal in? Do you know your temperature range each day? If it's in too little light or temps that are too cool, it wouldn't dry out fast enough.

You might just pull the plant, moss and all, out of the pot, take a picture of the roots, and post it here, if you can. If it's a plastic pot, you can squeeze the pot to loosen the moss. If it's a clay pot, you can run a knife around the edge to loosen it.

Whitecat8

I really hate growing in moss, but it can be done if you're careful with watering. When time for repotting, though, I usually switch to something more traditional.

Sharon

"It seems to be thriving, but I have only watered it once in about 3 weeks because the moss STILL feels damp. Should I be concerned?

Yes, you should be concerned and yes, Whitecat is asking good questions to steer your investigations. In a plastic pot moss should be approaching spongy dry in about a week to nine days. If conditions are typical it usually runs around twelve to fourteen days. Longer, is absolutely an indication of low light, low temps, poor ventilation or all three.

H

It's still blooming, so I don't know if pulling it out would stress the plant too much. According to my thermometer its about 70 (most 75) degrees during the day, and in the morning its about 60. It's in a shady southern exposure window, unfortunately, I can't say much about the light right now because it's been raining nonstop :( The roots are still green and I can see condensation on the plastic, but I'll work on a pic for everyone who has been so wonderful helping me out :)

Here are some pictures. Sorry they're so dark and huge :/

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Long strand New Zealand or Chilean moss is fine for potting. It saves on watering. Here in S. California, where we've had a bad drought, growing in moss saves appreciably on constant watering (and water bills). I usually put styrofoam peanuts in the bottom for drainage.

Your pictures are fine. The outside root looks okay, but roots farther toward the middle can be in trouble, and we can't see them.

The sphag looks fresh - good. The pot has extra drainage and is perfect for Phals.

For Phals, it's fine to pull them from the pot when they're spiking, budding, or blooming. You can even repot them. The only time I've run into trouble was by hitting the spike/flowers on the kitchen window or counter while handling the plant. :)

If you take it out of the pot and gently separate the moss so you can see the inner roots, the plant will be fine. You can also see if the moss is packed very tightly, which could keep it from drying fast enough.

The temp range sounds good. Your night temps might get a bit cooler than 60, but that would likely affect blooming more than staying wet too long.

Can you get the plant into an Eastern window where it could get a few hours of direct sun, when the sun's out? The deal about Phals needing low light doesn't seem to apply in the house - they need higher light.

Regardless, it might be good to pull the plant from that pot now, separate the moss so more air can get in, and put the plant and moss in a larger pot - not adding any bark or moss - so the sphag can dry out. It's okay if the spike or leaves rest against the rim. If you don't have a larger orchid/flower pot, you could put it in a mixing bowl or a cooking pot.

While it's drying, you could go to a big box store or garden store and get a small package of orchid mix or orchid bark. It might have perlite (or sponge rock) and charcoal in it. Either plain bark or the mix would be fine.

Then, you could gently take the moss off the roots, tear it or chop it into pieces a couple of inches long, if it's longer, and then mix in the bark so it's about 1/3 of the medium. Repot the Phal in that mix, which should dry out faster.

Long-term, consider artificial lighting to supplement your natural daylight. An incidental advantage is that CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) throw a bit of heat, so plants dry faster.

Hope this helps. Whitecat8

I grow my phals in pure sphag, mixed with a little perlite roc and tree fern to keep it from compacting. I find it is an excellent medium for phals -- the roots in clay pots with sphag are really wonderful.

If you are worried about the medium staying wet for too long, there are a number of things you can do, most of them mentioned above.

You can pull it out of the plastic pot and put it into a clay pot. Or, if you want you can repot it into a looser mix, either bark or looser sphag.

You may find that having both orchids in the same mix makes caring for them a lot easier, so whatever you are using for your older orchid should be fine.

I also agree that if you can up the light you will get more blooms.

Great info above and the only tip I can add is to soak the entire mass of roots and sphag in water for a few minutes and the sphag will be very easy to remove.

Repot it in the mix you are familiar with and enjoy your new plant.

Brooke

I am also with mehitabel - I grow in pure sphag too..but that's because I'm a chronic under waterer!

Thanks for all the advice, I gave it a little water on top so hopefully that will be enough since the sphagnum moss holds water so long. But I think I'd better stick to bark once its done blooming. I should stick to what I know :) Thank you so much everyone!!

I agree with mehitabel, I always by phals from big box stores, and my collection grows exponenetially (which is why I usually have to sneak there when my girlfriend or mom isn't paying attention). Anyway, they always seem to be potted in compacted sphagnum moss, and never seem to dry out. I have found that a mixture of large chunks of wood, old wine corks (I ma a wino), and 70% sphag in a clay pot works best for my water routines. I like to put a few corks on the bottom of the pot, and a few in the center, and set the phal on top. Then I use loosely placed sphagnum around the edge of the pot. I think phals like constant moisture around the roots, but they also like air, which is kind of counter-intuitive, but orchid people understand that.