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#1
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Moldy moss questions
One of my Phals that is potted in moss keeps developing mold in the moss,
and this looks really bad. Before leaving for vacation, I went to a local nursery, and they told me that this will not harm the plant, and that all that needs to be done is that the surface of the moss should be replace with fresh moss. Well, when I came back from the two week vacation, all other orchids that had stayed without watering in the apartment were dry and needed to be watered, whereas this one had the mold growing on its moss, and the medium is still quite wet. Should I repot it completely, and replace all the moss? I am thinking of replacing the plastic pot with a clay one. I would even consider switched the medium, except that most of my Phals thrive in my apartment in moss, and I can't really tell whether bark is dry, and I have no experience with any other medium yet. What would you recommend? Why is this one Phal's medium growing moldy and not drying out, while adjacent Phals are doing well? Any ideas? By the way, I had repotted this plant earlier this year, so the moss should have been fairly fresh. I think I even repotted another plant at the same time, probably in moss coming out of the same bag, and this is the only plant showing this problem. Baffles me. Were the staff in the nursery correct that the mold will not actually harm the plant? It's a white fuzz kind of mold, and it is only in the moss and not on the plant, and as far as I can tell the mold pervades the Is the mold preventing the medium from drying out quicker, or is the mold developing because the medium is not drying out quickly enough? Could the mold be a sign of another problem, if so, what? Mainly my concerns right now are aesthetics, that the medium is not drying fast enough and thus root rot seems more likely, and also that it may be unhealthy for us humans to live in a small apartment with a moldy thing. Should I be worried about anything else, or should I worry less? The plant appears healthy otherwise. Thanks for any advise, Joanna |
#2
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Moldy moss questions
Joanna: Even though I tend [cautiously] to agree that the mold itself is
probably not harming your plant, it sounds like a symptom of the moss staying too wet -- which this plant still being wet when the others were dry tends to support. Perhaps you packed that one a little too tight when you repotted? Or maybe, even though it was in the same bag you used on the other, you got a couple handfuls of "old" moss, or finer shreds, in that particular pot. Phals are so easy to repot, why take a chance on leaving it? -- Kenni Judd Juno Beach Orchids http://www.jborchids.com "J Fortuna" wrote in message ... One of my Phals that is potted in moss keeps developing mold in the moss, and this looks really bad. Before leaving for vacation, I went to a local nursery, and they told me that this will not harm the plant, and that all that needs to be done is that the surface of the moss should be replace with fresh moss. Well, when I came back from the two week vacation, all other orchids that had stayed without watering in the apartment were dry and needed to be watered, whereas this one had the mold growing on its moss, and the medium is still quite wet. Should I repot it completely, and replace all the moss? I am thinking of replacing the plastic pot with a clay one. I would even consider switched the medium, except that most of my Phals thrive in my apartment in moss, and I can't really tell whether bark is dry, and I have no experience with any other medium yet. What would you recommend? Why is this one Phal's medium growing moldy and not drying out, while adjacent Phals are doing well? Any ideas? By the way, I had repotted this plant earlier this year, so the moss should have been fairly fresh. I think I even repotted another plant at the same time, probably in moss coming out of the same bag, and this is the only plant showing this problem. Baffles me. Were the staff in the nursery correct that the mold will not actually harm the plant? It's a white fuzz kind of mold, and it is only in the moss and not on the plant, and as far as I can tell the mold pervades the Is the mold preventing the medium from drying out quicker, or is the mold developing because the medium is not drying out quickly enough? Could the mold be a sign of another problem, if so, what? Mainly my concerns right now are aesthetics, that the medium is not drying fast enough and thus root rot seems more likely, and also that it may be unhealthy for us humans to live in a small apartment with a moldy thing. Should I be worried about anything else, or should I worry less? The plant appears healthy otherwise. Thanks for any advise, Joanna |
#3
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Moldy moss questions
Joanna: Even though I tend [cautiously] to agree that the mold itself is
probably not harming your plant, it sounds like a symptom of the moss staying too wet -- which this plant still being wet when the others were dry tends to support. Perhaps you packed that one a little too tight when you repotted? Or maybe, even though it was in the same bag you used on the other, you got a couple handfuls of "old" moss, or finer shreds, in that particular pot. Phals are so easy to repot, why take a chance on leaving it? -- Kenni Judd Juno Beach Orchids http://www.jborchids.com "J Fortuna" wrote in message ... One of my Phals that is potted in moss keeps developing mold in the moss, and this looks really bad. Before leaving for vacation, I went to a local nursery, and they told me that this will not harm the plant, and that all that needs to be done is that the surface of the moss should be replace with fresh moss. Well, when I came back from the two week vacation, all other orchids that had stayed without watering in the apartment were dry and needed to be watered, whereas this one had the mold growing on its moss, and the medium is still quite wet. Should I repot it completely, and replace all the moss? I am thinking of replacing the plastic pot with a clay one. I would even consider switched the medium, except that most of my Phals thrive in my apartment in moss, and I can't really tell whether bark is dry, and I have no experience with any other medium yet. What would you recommend? Why is this one Phal's medium growing moldy and not drying out, while adjacent Phals are doing well? Any ideas? By the way, I had repotted this plant earlier this year, so the moss should have been fairly fresh. I think I even repotted another plant at the same time, probably in moss coming out of the same bag, and this is the only plant showing this problem. Baffles me. Were the staff in the nursery correct that the mold will not actually harm the plant? It's a white fuzz kind of mold, and it is only in the moss and not on the plant, and as far as I can tell the mold pervades the Is the mold preventing the medium from drying out quicker, or is the mold developing because the medium is not drying out quickly enough? Could the mold be a sign of another problem, if so, what? Mainly my concerns right now are aesthetics, that the medium is not drying fast enough and thus root rot seems more likely, and also that it may be unhealthy for us humans to live in a small apartment with a moldy thing. Should I be worried about anything else, or should I worry less? The plant appears healthy otherwise. Thanks for any advise, Joanna |
#4
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Moldy moss questions
On Sun, 08 Aug 2004 21:17:33 GMT, "J Fortuna"
wrote: Should I repot it completely, and replace all the moss? I am thinking of replacing the plastic pot with a clay one. I would even consider switched the medium, except that most of my Phals thrive in my apartment in moss, and I can't really tell whether bark is dry, and I have no experience with any other medium yet. What would you recommend? Why is this one Phal's medium growing moldy and not drying out, while adjacent Phals are doing well? Any ideas? By the way, I had repotted this plant earlier this year, so the moss should have been fairly fresh. I think I even repotted another plant at the same time, probably in moss coming out of the same bag, and this is the only plant showing this problem. Baffles me. My guess is that this one pot is staying wet because the sphagnum was potted a bit tighter than your other pots. I have never been able to handle sphagnum in plastic pots bigger than 4" and even at that size the pots don't all dry out in the same amount of time. Clay pots w/sphagnum work great for me up to about 8", but require at least yearly repotting. I've switched almost all my phals over to a CHC (coconut husk chip) mix in plastic pots. Works much better for me than a bark based mix. deg |
#5
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On Sun, 08 Aug 2004 21:17:33 GMT, "J Fortuna"
wrote: Should I repot it completely, and replace all the moss? I am thinking of replacing the plastic pot with a clay one. I would even consider switched the medium, except that most of my Phals thrive in my apartment in moss, and I can't really tell whether bark is dry, and I have no experience with any other medium yet. What would you recommend? Why is this one Phal's medium growing moldy and not drying out, while adjacent Phals are doing well? Any ideas? By the way, I had repotted this plant earlier this year, so the moss should have been fairly fresh. I think I even repotted another plant at the same time, probably in moss coming out of the same bag, and this is the only plant showing this problem. Baffles me. My guess is that this one pot is staying wet because the sphagnum was potted a bit tighter than your other pots. I have never been able to handle sphagnum in plastic pots bigger than 4" and even at that size the pots don't all dry out in the same amount of time. Clay pots w/sphagnum work great for me up to about 8", but require at least yearly repotting. I've switched almost all my phals over to a CHC (coconut husk chip) mix in plastic pots. Works much better for me than a bark based mix. deg |
#6
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Moldy moss questions
Joanna,
I tend to agree with Kenni and Deg about the moss being packed too tightly, but there is one more possibility. I know that your plants are in close proximity to one another, but each one still has its own micro climate. Is it possible that this plant is a bit shielded from air movement, even a little? As you may remember, I grow outside under screening. A week ago, a Phal began losing its leaves for no apparent reason (not crown rot - I know what that looks like!). I pulled it out of the pot and found it soaked and rotting, while three others right around it are fine. For whatever reason, it wasn't drying out in that spot. Diana |
#7
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Joanna,
I tend to agree with Kenni and Deg about the moss being packed too tightly, but there is one more possibility. I know that your plants are in close proximity to one another, but each one still has its own micro climate. Is it possible that this plant is a bit shielded from air movement, even a little? As you may remember, I grow outside under screening. A week ago, a Phal began losing its leaves for no apparent reason (not crown rot - I know what that looks like!). I pulled it out of the pot and found it soaked and rotting, while three others right around it are fine. For whatever reason, it wasn't drying out in that spot. Diana |
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