BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Orchids I need help/advice

I've had orchids before. They may have been phals from a big box store, but they're still orchids. My first one bloomed and bloomed for the better part of a year until my cat ate it. I no longer have that cat. Every subsequent phal I've had has bloomed wonderfully for me. I have never outright killed an orchid (wish I could say the same for those Tulips I got that one time...) nor do I ever plan to. But I've only ever bought plants that were in good health and already in bud and bloom. However, my mother is not the kind of person to pay $20+ for an orchid when they're "so hard to care for". Her words. So it surprised me when she came back with two tiny phals from Lowe's one day. They were all but dead in tiny little pots. She gave me one and I made a deal with her. She had to learn how to care for the other one. Especially since a friend of hers had divided a different orchid and given her the second one. Anyway, I brought the little phal home and in my hurry to get inside and make my daughter behave and calm down, I forgot it in my car. *face palm* It was REALLY hot that day and by the time I got it out of the car the leaves were kind of yellow and shriveled. I watered it generously and put it on the windowsill in our dining room (East facing), and slowly over the last week or two it has come back. I have several questions about it: 1) I have no idea what kind of phal it is. I know it's a phal because of the leaves and the fact that it came from Lowe's. I have noticed some dead roots near the top of the pot (I noticed them before forgetting it in my car). They are dead and crispy, not dead and soggy and rotting. Should I risk repotting it now, since I'm pretty sure it won't be spiking/blooming for a while, or should I wait for... what? 2) The leaves are back to fat and happy green, but not really dark. It's got one faint yellow spot on one of the larger leaves which has been fading over the last week or so and turning back to a more normal green. I've been putting it outside during the day and bringing it back in at night, and that seems to be helping it. Is there anything else I should do for it? I turn the fan on outside if it's not already breezy so it gets plenty of air movement. I live in Texas just south of San Antonio (if that means anything) and we haven't been having our usual record humidity yet. Should I mist it during the day? It's in a pot, so would misting it really even do anything for it? 3) It's in a tiny pot. It doesn't have a spike yet, but does have a new leaf coming through. I'm thinking this is either a very recently divided plant or a very young plant. Either way, it's tiny. When can I expect it to spike and start blooming? Should I do anything different at a certain time of year to encourage a new spike and blooming? 4) What fertilizers are recommended? I really only have Lowe's and Home Depot and one small nursery near me out here in the boonies. I've read about the weakly weekly fertilizing thing, should I be doing that for this little guy? How often should I flush the roots since it's in such a small pot? I already have to water it twice a week since this pot dries out so quickly... 5) I know I will have to repot it. Eventually. Probably sometime this year since it seems to have filled its pot up. I know the newest leaf just emerged recently, when the others started plumping up, so it's pretty much in the midst of a grow cycle. Should I wait to repot it or what? How long will it be enjoying this tiny pot? Sorry for the long post, but I've never had an orchid that wasn't already in a four inch pot or bigger with at least one spike. I plan on getting more phals as soon as this little guy seems to be fine for the long haul, and then maybe branching into different species (I love cattleyas). Now that we're in a house and not an apartment, I can pursue my love of orchids more than just a single plant that I wind up giving away. Thank you for any help you can give. :)

Thanks! This little phal hasn't spiked yet. I don't see a cut spike either, so I don't think it's spiked at all. Now that I have the leaves back to a more normal state, I'll have to get a small basket and repot it this weekend. My mom got two of them for $0.25 each and has been trying to shove them both on me since she got them. I'm thinking I may take the other one too and repot them both this weekend. Like I said, I have noticed dead roots, but nothing squishy. It is in the pot really tight. I'll probably be taking a hammer to the pot to get it out. I let it dry out almost completely before I water it again (I soak it and let it drain til there are no drips) and that seems to be working. I'll have to look for a fertilizer. Right now I think it just needs something to help it grow. On the two roots that have started peeking over the edge of the pot I can see new growth, so I must be making it happy. I read somewhere that this is a good time to re-pot because it's in the beginning of a grow cycle and will handle it better. I honestly don't think I'll see flowers on this one for a year or more, and any advice I can get is a great thing. Especially since I've never re-potted an orchid before. Is the orchid media from Lowe's good for them? I mean, they have the separate sphagnum, but they also have mixes. And I've seen orchid fertilizer too, so I'll try that. If something bad happens I will run to the nursery and have them order some stuff. I would love it if this little guy grow up nice and healthy and spikes for me every year after I get it back to orchid happiness. :)

Sounds like you're doing great so far! 25 cents?!? I'm jealous! I paid 2.47 for my half-deadlings! Then again, if they were .25, I would have bought a million of them :) I use just the mixes in the bags - phal, dendrobium or "special" orchid mix (they all seem relatively the same to me), and recently have experimented with mixing A LITTLE spahgnum in with the bark mix. I don't know if this is a good thing or not yet, but seems like it'd be good for retaining a small amount of moisture for a little bit longer than the bark mixes, which dry out daily. I'll have to let you know how that goes though! Good luck with the orchid kittens! Let me know if you learn any good secrets.

Ok. I bit the bullet and repotted it. First, I went to Wal Mart and got a 4" clay pot (they didn't have any smaller ones) for $0.86 USD. Second, I went to Lowe's and got the "special" orchid mix (a bunch of bark with some white stuff and some charcoal. I'm thinking the white stuff is perlite.) and MiracleGro water soluble orchid food. Third, I started the repotting process. I had to break the pot to get the orchid out and when I did I was appalled. I got all the sphagnum moss out of the roots which wasn't too difficult. At least, considering it ONLY HAD TWO HEALTHY ROOTS. I kept the packing peanuts from the original pot and put them in the bottom of the new pot to help with drainage. In hindsight, I probably didn't need to do this since the bark doesn't seem to hold water AT ALL. I read somewhere that you can prime the bark before the repotting process so it will hold more water initially, but considering the roots on this poor, poor phal had almost all died due to too much moisture, I didn't do this. I mixed about 1 tablespoon of the fertilizer in roughly 5 gallons of water. I will be using this through the summer to water the orchid, and I really hope to start seeing some new roots coming out. I did dust the roots with cinnamon (read it acts like a fungicide, but cheaper) before packing in the bark. I packed the little stick that was originally with it in right next to the plant to help stabilize it in the pot. Other than misting it (or watering lightly) for the first little bit and keeping it in slightly weaker light until I see new root growth, and rinsing it thoroughly once a month or so to keep salt build up to a minimum, should I do anything else for it? Honestly, the fertilizer and potting medium were cheaper than I thought they'd be (roughly $10 USD at Lowe's for both). Should I see how it does in the new pot with the bark and with this fertilizer before I try the Super Growth/Bloom or whatever-they're-called fertilizers? BTW: I went to both Home Depot and Lowe's today. BOTH places had full price orchids ($15-$25 USD) that looked absolutely horrible. I'm sure if the store has those (the spikes are dying, bud blast, falling blooms), that they should give a discount on those plants. Home Depot actually had some that were sitting in water in their pots. I did them a favor and dumped the water out of the pots before the orchids drowned. When I mentioned this to my mother in law who called while I was looking at them, one of the workers gave me the stink eye. >.<

hahaha!!! I have done the same thing at HD & have gotten the same look! I know exactly what you're saying. Too funny, but so SAD at they same time - they treat the poor things like they're disposable. Anyway, sounds like you're doing all you can for the poor little thing. Fertilizer is absorbed by roots and the underside of the leaves, so if you have either, it can't hurt to spray them down once a week. Can you believe how they're sold - packed so tight in something that won't keep them alive??? Crazy! I have two Phals now in the "Sphag & Bag" clinic in my bathroom. They were Lowe's victims, 3/4 of the way dead, potted in the same pot! I removed ALL of the leaves (they say not to, but these were too far gone already), dusted the cut surfaces with cinnamon, said a little prayer and bagged 'em with the sphag. We'll see what happens... Oh, they had no living roots whatsoever. They say it takes weeks, sometimes more than a month, to see anything...I remain hopeful and will keep you posted. Please do the same & good luck!!!

My mom gave me the second little phal she had and I repotted it immediately after I got home. The leaves are a tad wilted, but surprisingly this one had more viable roots on it. I haven't hit it with fertilizer yet because my husband commandeered my bucket to wash the cars with (yep, and he poured all the mixed fertilizer out, too. The grass will either be very happy or very dead in that spot in a week or so.) and I haven't taken it back yet. I need to, though. Right now the first one is doing fine sitting in my dining room (east-facing windows). I would put it in one of the bathrooms for the higher humidity, but the windows are north-facing in those rooms. The newest one is currently sitting outside on my porch in a shaded spot. It gets all the light it needs and the humidity is really good out there. When it starts looking better in the leaves I'll bring it inside to be with it's buddy. The sphagnum in the pot with this one was completely dry, so I had to soak it just to get it out of the pot. Going off the info that orchids live ON stuff and not IN stuff, I have them very lightly covered in a lot of bark with a lot of their roots actually open to the air. I have seen new growth on each, which about floored me considering the conditions they were in. I need to get a spray bottle and keep it filled with weak fertilizer. Should've thought of that when I went to the store earlier, I guess. Anywho... now that they're in bark that doesn't hold moisture at all, I'm watering them real good once every morning. I let the pot completely stop dripping before I put them back in their spots, just to make sure there's no standing water in the pot.

There ya go; now you're a pro like me! lol! Husbands and orchids don't mix - trust me, but you've already found that out. Actually, I think it's the "spouse" thing. I've read stories about spouses being jealous of the orchids. I can see it happening, I guess... Anyway, sounds like everything's fine (which is a bummer 'cause it leaves us with nothing to discuss!). Keep it up and hope to hear good things from you soon. Go buy another one (or two), they're fun - and addictive! I have a baby Vanda and a baby Oncid that I know nothing about (except for what I've read), so I'll keep you posted on how they're doing. Have you checked out "The Orchid Board"? Great and informative website! I'm "Seedling" on there too! Hope to see you there Viking!!! Peace...