Just water it regularly and the bark will even out. Pre-moistening is good but not vital, and not enough better than the disturbance of re-potting a second time.

Often the surface seems dry but the medium underneath is wet. If you want the top to stay wetter, you can use a thin hayer of sphagnum on top.

I agree. Bark is deceptive. It can appear bone dry on top, when it is actually moist down in the pot. Since your plant had root rot, drier is better at this point.

I would be concerned where you have the plant now. 12 feet from a south window is too far away. I'm in MN, so we have similar conditions. When I grew phals, I had them maybe 9 inches from a south window and gave them even more supplemental light from CFL bulbs. I know your plant is still recovering, but 12 feet from your light source is too far away IMO.

In answer to your question about the sphag, yes it should be soaked prior to use. I really hope you don't use this however. With your cool conditions, I think you're asking for trouble.

Kevin

Thanks for your responses! I will continue to water the bark mix regularly and see what happens. Kevin, I'm curious about a few points:

You mentioned that the distance I have the plant from the window (12 feet) is too far. I've been keeping my Phals in slightly lower light conditions during their blooming periods because I read that it helps the blooms to last longer. So far, it has worked....one of my Phals has been blooming for over 4 months and all the blooms (8) are still in good shape. However, I knew that in summer and fall I would want to get the plants in better light locations. I only have south and north facing windows upstairs (my cat lives downstairs) and I worry that a south-facing window would be too bright. I always read that Phals don't like direct sunlight. Did you have your Phals behind a sheer curtain? If not, did they mind the direct sun? I also have the ability to put them under fluorescent lights in the basement.

Regarding the sphagnum moss, do you recommend not using ANY sphagnum moss? I was anticipating just putting in a few strands here and there to help with water retention.

Thanks again!

It is yet again one of those "it depends" questions.
Everyone has a different answer because we all live with different conditions and we all have differing watering habits. My first orchid was a phal about 12 years ago and I lived in PA. I used pure bark and laid off of watering and they would still be damp from humididty and took a full southern window all year long.
Since then I have lived in CO with 0% humidity and fierce sunlight. It has taken me all those years to adapt what I read to my growing conditions.
It is really warm in my house all year long. So I use a mix like yours but I half it with long fiber sphag. But mine can dry out in a day and I need a little extra moisture. I do soak everything before I use it.
The best advice I ever read about trying a new potting mixture is to only do one plant at first and wait and see how you like it before you repot everything. And since this is a new and better medium than you waterlogged bark from before, you may have to alter you watering. I find with new mix I always water more than ones in medium that has broken down a little more and therefor has the ability to retain more H2O.
I also keep mine about 12 feet from a row of southern that I shade somewhat but I also have another wall of western windows about 20 feet away. I have a vaulted great room with big widows and the whole room gets illuminated. And my phals are insane. Constantly blooming one spike after another on some.
What I am yapping on and on about is that you should listen and read as much as possible and form your own pattern that works for you. I would hang out and see what this one you just repotted does before touching the others. And too if it were me and my gut was telling me it was dry I would water it a little more.

The previous post is right on. It can be so hard to give watering and light advice to another person. The only reason I took a stab at it is because we are so close to the same latitude. I would never even consider doing that with someone in Florida for instance.

I don't move any of my orchids from their grow area when they are in bloom. If they grow in full sunlight, I let them bloom in full sunlight. Maybe it shortens the life of the flowers, but I've never noticed anything dramatic. My phal flowers would also last for months and I often cut them off just because I was sick of looking at them. Yes, harsh I know. Nope, I never used a sheer curtain. During the winter when the plants are inside, the sunlight just isn't that intense.

Again, at our latitude phals like sunlight. Maybe not in Florida, but here they do. You just have to play around with that and see what happens. If the leaves look like they might burn, back off a bit. They also love being outside in the summer with partial shade if you can protect them from squirrels. I had mine on the east side of my house where they received some morning sun.

Don't be afraid to play around. One of the biggest mistakes folks make with these plants is light starvation.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

Having an orchid 12 feet from a window for display purposes is different from growing it there. I prefer to keep my plants in the growing area all the time, but for domestic tranquility I bring some of the larger plants in while in bloom and don't worry about light level. I wait until the flowers are fully opened in those situations.

Light level falls off as the square of the distance. 12 feet is practically dark as far as a plant is concerned. The human eye is very adaptive so it is hard for us to tell how dark it actually is.

Notwithstanding the great replies from earlier posters especially those stressing the light angle, some observations: The 66F daytime high for one will make any potting medium slow to dry. The o.p.'s believing it is not holding water well enough is because a mix that is 8 parts bark doesen't hold water well! True, as has been said, it actually holds more than one may think but bark was and is never considered a 'moisture retentive' media. In Zone 3 I should definitely think the addition of as much as half (by volume) of the stranded sphag moss should be of benefit. The milled stuff is peat moss, this is not the same as sphag. Milled, peat moss is like dust. It is too fine to be useful in an orchid mix but 'cut' or 'chopped' is ok. Chopped peat is not widely available in the U.S. Sphag in any form will not cause, and was not the cause of any root rot that was seen. Roots do die, no matter what you do, lets get that out there first. This should not be overreacted to. I would question how the o.p. actually knows what condition the roots are in. Obviously he or she has done some kind of root inspection. I believe the only time one should see the condition of the roots is at repotting time. If you don't intend to go through with a proper repot, don't bother the roots. Second, no matter how 'bad' your mix your orchid should not 'die' because of it! Only one thing actually sickens orchids to the point of death and that is a long term lack of light and/or proper degree of warmth for the particular species.

H

Thanks everyone for your responses! I totally agree that I will just need to experiment and see what works best. I think the main advice I got here is the light issue. I guess I just kept reading everywhere that Phals are medium-light orchids. I also have a Sophrolaeliocattleya and a Phrag, which are higher light orchids and I guess I was apprehensive to keep the Phals in my south windows with them. Perhaps I'm just being optimistic about the amount of light that is actually coming through my windows up here in northern Wisconsin. :-) That said, I will try getting them closer and see how they react.

Howard, I did a lot of research prior to repotting this Phal so I would do the best job I could. When I got it out of the pot, I determined that the potting medium was pretty broken down. There were significantly more black mushy (dead) roots than "living" roots (I say that loosely because the "living" roots lacked green tips...they were just a pale yellow and root rot had begun on some of them already so I trimmed them...also my other two Phals have beautiful green long roots, visible through the clear plastic pot they are in...is my reasoning on "healthy roots" correct here?). I carefully removed every mushy root and treated all the wounds with cinnamon to help prevent the spread of the rot. I also let the plant sit out for a couple of hours to begin the healing process on the roots before I potted it into the new medium. I got much of this repotting advice from reading other threads in this very forum. I guess I'm not as optimistic about its survival because I'm a beginner and am not sure how good of a job I did or how well the plants bounce back.

So, that said, thanks for all the great advice and I will keep practicing, experimenting, learning, and hopefully have success!

Vermiculite is seldom used in medium mixes for orchids. My guess is that's because it compacts and doesn't allow for much air to the roots. You're better off with the long strand spagnum moss and large perlite. The article in the February AOS magazine on raising phals recommends 80% bark and 20% moss. You might start out with a similar ratio and then possibly amend this as you see how the plants grow in it under your conditions. Keep a record of the mix on an index card so that you know what you used for that particular plant. I have one for every orchid in my collection and am constantly making adjustments.

And yes, as you have sermised, above the Mason Dixon line sheer curtains are seldom necessary as the sun is much weaker. On the contrary, we need as much sun as we can get.

If you feel your medium is staying too dry, perhaps it's because you don't wet it enough each time you water. On the other hand, bark can be deceiving. It can look bone dry on top and be soaking wet in the center. Try keeping trimmed down skewer in the medium. When you go to water, take out the skewer and touch it to your cheek or lip. If it's wet, don't water. If it's almost dry, water. You may be surprised at how wet the medium is in the middle of the pot.

orchid126,

I did read that AOS article, which is sort of what sparked the initial question about adding sphag moss to my mix. I like your idea about note cards keeping track of the various mixes. I have a spreadsheet to keep tabs on these things since I have so many other plants. :)

I used pretty fine vermiculite in my mix (the particles are smaller than the perlite I used, which is also small), so the particles basically just attached themselves to bark here and there. I'm sure that there's some pretty good air flow in the medium because the bark is so large and I used a relatively small amount of the perlite/vermiculite.

When I water, I soak the medium over the sink and let the water run out the bottom. I try to make sure I get EVERY part of the medium wet.

In case anyone is interested, here's a photo of my orchid, just after I removed the dead roots and treated with cinnamon. Do these roots look healthy enough?

Thanks again, everyone!

Here is a link that might be useful:

This is a great example of how good a plant can look and still have bad roots.

Looks like you don't have many roots remaining, but I have a feeling if you give this plant some warmth, new ones should start growing pretty fast. The plant itself looks to be in great shape.

I'm glad you posted the photos because there's something else we should have told you. Put this one in a really small pot. I mean REALLY small! Only large enough to accommodate the few remaining roots. If you go too large, the medium is going to stay too wet for too long and the remaining roots are going to rot. Also skip the fertilizer until you see evidence of new roots well underway. At this point in time, it would do more harm than good.

Kevin

Thanks Kevin!

Seeing as I repotted this Phal a month ago, is it too risky to transfer it into a really small pot? I have a feeling the plant would be disturbed even if I simply transplant (medium included) into a smaller pot. But I'm not the expert here. When I originally repotted, I ended up putting it back into the same pot (just with new medium), which, after reading your post, may be too big for the roots (it's a 4.5 inch diameter pot that's also 4.5 inches deep). See my link below for a photo (btw, I had just watered it moments before). Also, if I transfer, would I need to repot sooner than one year from now (assuming roots grow)? My gut says it's pretty risky to repot again so soon, but, then again, you point out the risk of keeping it in the big pot. Hmmmmm.....

Thanks for the fertilizer tip. I was holding off for the first month, but I did fertilize it a few days ago. I will wait until I see new roots as you suggested.

You are all saving my plant, and I really appreciate it!!!

Here is a link that might be useful:

I would repot if you think there is a lot of empty space around the roots. I can't tell you how many times I've changed my mind and repotted something I just did. In fact I did it today with some seedling things. At this point in time it's not like your plant will have grown tons of new roots that are attached to the pot or anything. It will also let you take a peek and see if anything is happening yet.

A couple of years ago I received a paph with around an 8 inch leafspan. It was in a huge pot and all the roots were rotted. I repotted that baby in a 2 1/2 inch pot and waited. It took many months, but it finally grew new roots. After they were growing nicely, the plant went into a larger pot.

I see you used cinnamon liberally in your first picture. Yes, it is great to dab on a cut end but having it all over the roots will keep the roots from growing.

Truthfully I don't use cinnamon when I cut away dead roots. I cut the bad ones off and just watch my watering habits plus I've usually soaked the remaining roots in a Physan solution. I also use the Physan solution to water the new plant after potting.

I also think the plant needs to go into a MUCH smaller pot. I would use straight sphag (not packed but very loose) for my growing conditions but I've had great success with it. I don't know about your growing area but it works great for me. For me, the sphag is crunchy dry in two days and I water it again. I usually have roots growing within the week. Your plant won't care if you repot it now, IMHO it will thank you.

Brooke

Thanks for the cinnamon tip, Brooke...I was a afraid I might have gotten carried away! :) Hopefully it won't be too much of a problem, but if it is, I guess I will have learned my lesson.

On a related note, I read in one publication on orchids a suggestion to spray the plant's roots with a fungicide if there is significant root rot found when repotting. Is this a good idea? I had reservations about it since I only read it in one place, and that's why I went the cinnamon route. Does anyone here use fungicide for this purpose?

In any case, I think I will repot my Phal since it seems to be the best course of action. I will let you know how it goes and what medium I decide on...lots of considerations to mull over. Thanks again!

Physan is a fungicide which is why I use it instead of the cinnamon. You can also water the plant with hydrogen peroxide after repotting it to help with any stray bacteria on the roots.

Brooke

I think phals will forgive just about anything except poor lighting. Sphagnum helps to add a little moisture retention to bark. I use approx. 60% bark and 40% sphagnum and it seems like an ideal mix. I also like clear pots, they allow me to see what is going on below. But again, light, light, light!!!

Hey everyone....thanks again for all your advice. This has been a great learning process for me.

An update: I repotted my Phal into a smaller pot today and to my dismay, the roots looked worse, plus the rot has spread to the crown. I repotted nonetheless and also sprayed the roots with a fungicide. I'm not too optimistic, but at least I have knowledge to use for the next 2 Phals I will need to repot later this month. Fortunately, these other Phals have healthy roots.

In any case, I posted a photo. Thanks again!

Here is a link that might be useful:

I don't think I have ever read a posting by someone growing in clear pots where poor roots were seen. There is a good reason for this: the only roots that can be seen are those growing in the narrow airspace between the medium and the pot. It could be argued that roots growing outside the medium but in contact with it are grwoing much like roots running along the bark of a tree. These roots will nearly always be healthy looking. By contrast, those roots living more interior in the medium have a much more difficult assignment and it is probably fair to say that there will 'always' be some rot present in this area no matter what. Addressing potting issues without addressing the light situation is like changing a flat tire with a pucture for a spare with no puncture but no air in it!!

H

Howard,

I agree with you...light seems to have been my biggest issue. I spent the afternoon rearranging some of my plants in the windows. :) I'm sort of new to the houseplant scene (and new to my house!), so I think I was optimistic about the light intensity in certain windows. Also, thanks for your explanation of how roots can be in varying states within the medium depending on their location.

Finally, here's a photo of the apparent crown rot now in my Phal.

Here is a link that might be useful: