| Q Last
year, I potted a phalaenopsis in sphagnum moss due to a lack of bar
medium. It was hard to control the degree of dampness in the moss because
of its easy absorption of water. I changed came dormant and stopped
growing. The center of the plant turned red and then black. I’m not sure
if the plant is sick or dying because it has stopped growing. Please give
me some advice. A You have lost the crown (or growing point) of your phalaenopsis plant, probably from allowing water to lodge in it overnight. Your evaluation of sphagnum moss is possibly incorrect. Many commercial growers successfully cultivate phalaenopsis in this medium but the plants need to be potted fairly high to keep the crowns dry at night. Sphagnum moss, whether living or dead, does, as you say, efficiently take up water and will generally maintain very good root growth when you learn how to water it. Occasionally, a phalaenopsis will survive the loss of its crown and re-grow a new plant off to the side where a growing point was located. Also, many phalaenopsis in flower that have lost their crowns will still maintain the blossoms without any shortening of flower life. But eventually it is all over and the plant must peter out. My advice would be to buy a new healthy phalaenopsis and, having learned a fairly inexpensive lesson, move forward with a strong plant and build your knowledge on it. —Andy Easton |
Reprinted, with permission, from "Orchids" - The Magazine of the American Orchid Society, June, 2001.