Spent 6 hours trying to get a single orchid cutting to root. Moss box method finally worked.

I had this phalaenopsis that dropped a keiki and I tried everything. Water, perlite, straight sphagnum. Nothing took for weeks. Then a lady at the garden center in Portland told me to put it in a closed clear bin with damp moss and forget about it for a month. Tried it, roots showed up in 3 weeks. Why did nobody tell me this sooner? Has anyone else had a plant that just refused to root?

3 comments

3 Comments

emmam6727d ago

Trust me on this, you don't need to open the bag every few days. That's actually a really common myth. I kept opening mine every other day the first time and the roots took way longer to show up. Once I just sealed it tight and left it alone for a full three weeks, that's when things finally took off. The whole point of the closed bin is to keep humidity super high and steady. Opening it up lets all that moisture out and messes with the environment you worked so hard to create. Your plants will be fine if you check once a month instead of fussing every few days.

bethj441mo ago

Man that's EXACTLY what happened to me. I used to be all about the water method for everything - thought moss was too messy and complicated. Then a friend brought over a sad little cutting of her grandma's hoya and said "just trust the damp moss bag trick." I laughed at first but tried it out of respect. Now I'm a TOTAL convert, it's wild how fast roots pop when you stop fussing with them. The closed bin creates this perfect little greenhouse effect that just works.

holly_price1mo ago

Did you switch fully to moss for everything, or do you still use water for some plants? Because I've had the moss method work amazing for finicky stuff like hoyas and philos, but I've killed a few succulents by keeping them too wet in there. My big question is how often you actually open the bag to let air in. I've been told to do it every few days but sometimes I forget and it still works fine.