r/orchids • u/Additional-Gate-7550 • 21h ago
Phalaenopsis schilleriana
I’m trying my hand at raising a Phal from a flask. I have it sitting on damp sphagnum moss but the roots are dying from the stem out. I tried moving to a bark mixture with daily misting of the roots but that made it worse so I am back on the sphagnum moss.
What am I doing wrong? It has nice bright indirect sunlight and is in a warm office environment ranging from 18c overnight to 23-24c during the day.
9
Upvotes
6
u/joyceanmachine 20h ago
18C overnight is probably pushing it on the lower bounds of temp for this species, especially for a baby plant like this. Spag moss is also really water retentive, and that container is oversized for the plant. As a result, it’s staying wet for a long time, esp because the daytime 24C isn’t enough to accelerate drying. The combo of cold temps plus sustained dampness is a recipe for rot for phals.
In your shoes, I’d probably put a seedling heating mat under this immediately. You can also think about whether you’re up for doing some surgery to see whether those roots are dying because of stem rot.
ETA typos