Just Moved From z 5 to z 8 - What a Change! Pics, too!

[Endorphins]

I've always loved orchids and am finally, after years, getting my hands dirty. I had a couple of orchids in the past, but due to the climate and my lack of knowledge and ability, they soon withered away. Now that I'm in a better climate (moved from Southeast Alaska to West Texas) and have the time to research their care, I'm finding that they're really flourishing! I'm finding myself looking for "rescues" which would be typical of me with plants. I love to watch things grow, to help them grow, and to "fix" them. My main downfall is that I like to be a little too hands on at times. Orchids are definitely a good lesson in patience...

So, anyway, I currently only have three Phal amabilis. Two are in bloom and the third, my oldest (though probably not the oldest of the three), has three little buds forming. The one with the buds forming seems to love Schultz Orchid Food, which was the only thing available at the time, and shows a burst of growth after each feeding, which is pretty exciting to watch. The other two are rescues from Sam's Club at a severely discounted price where they were over-watered and sitting in soggy, dripping with condensation plastic bags. I've trimmed any visible rot away and washed off the beginnings of mold and they seem to be doing really well now having dried out. One's about to lose a big, beautiful leaf, but if that's all that happens and this guy lives, I'll be thrilled. They're all in my "sun room" because it gets a lot of indirect, bright morning sunlight and has probably the highest temp fluctuation in the house.

Some pics for you... there's a picture of the yellow leaf that I fear will fall off and a picture of the growing flower buds. The last picture shows most of the room, but that will change soon, as I'm moving the sofa to the other side of the room and installing shelves for the orchids as that is exactly where the sunlight hits.

So, that's it. I'm off to read the forums.

[Hummer344]

Welcome, Lots of friendly people here. From your note, it looks as though you moved from a freezer to a oven. LOL. Have you taken the plants out of the pots to check the roots? It might be helpful to know the condition. If the roots are not looking good you could repot them in new mix. I re-potted a couple of new, blooming phals just a few weeks ago. On one, the flowers are still going strong, on the other the blooms that were not opened failed but the plant looks better.

[Tobi]

Hi and welcome to the forum Endorphins. You've moved to a good location to renew
your love (and soon to be addiction) for orchids. That's one drastic temperature change.
Hope you love the heat more!! As Hummer suggested, I would examine the roots and make sure they are in hopefully good condition. They should be greyish-white and firm.
Bad roots are black and mushy. I can't tell for sure, but it looks like they are in a sphag
moss media. If you do repot, you can either replace the moss with a NZ sphag type or
you can try other types of potting media such as coir or a bark mixture with charcoal
and perlite. Each type has different water retensions, so you should monitor that so
your Phals are evenly moist but not too wet or dry. A wooden skewer is a good way to
monitor the wetness of the media.
Once again welcome and enjoy your stay!!

[Endorphins]

Hi and thanks, Hummer and Tobi! The two bloomers are in plastic pots inside the clay pots. I have lifted them out and noticed light roots with dark spots. I'm thinking that's not a good thing, so after I run out to pick up some potting media, I'll take them out and see what I'm working with. The sphag is driving me crazy, so I'll be happy to get rid of it. I'll go read the wooden skewer thread, too.

Thanks for the welcome!

[jay]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Very nice flowers you have there. Congrats on all the blooms. Now that you are in a new climate, are there any type of orchids that you plan on adding to your collection?

[fred]

Hi Endorphins
welcome to the forum
feel free to ask questions as we are more than happy to pass on our knowledge
we have a friendly and caring lot of members here so don't be shy

[Bolero]

Hey welcome to the forum. You were learn heaps here that will enable to grow with your addiction......err I mean hobby.

[NancyH]

Your new addiction could be worse. Orchids are such a great hobby. It will be fun to see what you purchase next!. Nancy

[Endorphins]

jay, fred, Bolero, and NancyH, thanks and yes! Right after I got offline here yesterday, I ordered some orchids. Y'all are gonna be horrible for this obsession. LOL Of course, I can't be held responsible for buying orchids like mad, can I? Good thing my husband loves them, as well. Now, if only I can get him sold on the rose bushes I want to put in around the house...that's another forum, I guess. LOL

I've ordered one Blc. Campobello 'Mendenhall' HCC/AO (I have no idea what the abbreviations mean, but I'm slowly figuring it out!), one C. Dupreana 'coerulea' subvar. 'Kodama'. (C. warneri x C. warscewiczii), one Cymbidium 'Hawkes Hill', and five little plugs of Cat. Blc. Hawaiian Passion 'Carmela'.

I've been reading up on Cats and am so excited for them to arrive. They won't be shipped until next week and I'm praying that they arrive safely. They were purchased off of eBay, but the sellers all have great feedback. I'm super excited about the plugs. I'm confident in my abilities with the mature orchids (albeit what little actual hands on experience I have), but know that I'll need to adjust some things for the plugs. Anyway, sooo excited.

Thanks for having such a wonderful, positive forum!

[Hummer344]

For roses go to rosarianscorner.net. Lots of friendly people there also. To get information on roses go to Helpmefind.com. The have thousands of roses and LOTS of pictures.

[Endorphins]

WOW! Thank you!!!

[patticake]

Hi Endorphins! Glad to have you with us! This is a GREAT place for info and to shoot the breeze with other addicts. I started with rescues, but as my space dwindled, I've gotten fussier- I love my rescues, though! They're the ones I trained on, so they have a soft spot with me.