Hi, I'm new to all this.

[whiteraven]

Hi.

I'd been longing after the orchids in my local DIY store for months and hadn't gotten any because I was repeatedly told that I couldn't keep them (gotta love family advice). Weekend before this last one I got annoyed with that and started researching. This last Saturday I ordered a couple of plants from the internet and yesterday I bought a Phalaenopsis in bloom from the store.

I have the Phal in a east facing window by the fire-bellied toad's cage. Since we started the air conditioning yesterday as well I put my new lovely on a humidity tray. My house drys out in A/C to the point that I have to blow humid air into the hermit crabs' cage. Since there is the pine tree in the front yard the sun doesn't get a direct line on the table the Phal is on, but it gets a lot of indirect light.

I'm a bit worried about the medium having been sopping wet when I bought it. I asked the nearest worker and they thought it probably had been just watered, but it didn't dry out the least bit by dinnertime (over half a day later). I pulled the moss away from the base of the leaves a little bit. I pulled the pot up and looked at the clear pot inside of the clay one. I could see one white root and a lot of bark. Everything looks packed in there way too tightly from the pictures I've seen.

Should I wait until the flowers are gone before repotting or should I repot as soon as I get the medium to do so?

I'd post pictures, but the file is too big to attach and the URL won't take since I'm under five posts. *sigh* I tried to change the file size, but since I'm getting horrid results pictures will just have to wait until I've can use URL linking. Sorry.

[whiteraven]

Oh, wait...I got pictures. Ran them through Livejournal's userpic upload and that shrunk the file size down enough to suit.

I'm not quite certain exactly what Phal this might be. The tag just says Phalaenopsis orchid grown by Costa Farms in Goulds, FL.

[patticake]

Hi Whiteraven! Good to have you with us! I'll bet you do fine with the orchids! Your lighting sounds good for the Phal. Sometimes they pack a lot of sphagnum moss around the roots, and that holds a bit too much water for my taste. You can re-pot while in bloom, but it's kind of hard to do without messing up the blooms, etc.-I would wait until after it's done blooming. Just keep an eye on the moisture. You want it moist, but not soggy. Keep us posted!!!

[solay]

Nice to have you on the forum. Welcome! I recently bought a Phal. that was potted up in nothing but moss. It soaked up so much water when I watered it. I think I will report it in bark mixture. I'm afraid of rot. Of course mine has no blooms yet. I think you might want to do the same later.

[Chele]

Welcome to the forum. Lots of information here to absorb. Enjoy

[mayres]

Welcome whiteraven - most of us here that grow phals would tend to check on the roots soon after purchase - especially if purchased from a DIY type store such as Lowes or Home Depot. Unfortunately most of the employees tending plants at these stores will water orchids WAY too often in the store - every time they water the rest of the houseplants and outdoor plants - everything gets soaked together. Plants at these stores are also often potted up in sphag packed very tight - which doesn't allow for good air circulation to roots - though some members here love sphag I don't think in general it is a good media for most (not all) newbies. Commonly the roots are in very sad shape when purchased - and then the poor purchaser has no idea why in weeks down the road their plant is now doing poorly. It often takes some time for the effects to truly settle in and be obvious. I've repotted phals in full bloom and it doesn's seem to affect them. Some types of media in some conditions will take much longer to dry adequately out - which isn't necessarily bad if you allow them time to get to the point of needing water. During the cool damp humid winter months my phals may go 2-3 weeks (some plants/pots may even push a month!) before I need to water them. During the hot dry months the frequency is reduced to weekly for most of them. So, each person has to go through the process of determining their own media they like and how it is going to react in their conditions. Look forward to hearing more about your venture into the orchid world - YOU CAN DO IT!

[whiteraven]

Okay, that's sounds good. I'll repot when my shipment gets here. If I bump off the blooms it won't bother me as much as losing the plant would. I've pulled off as much of the moss as I can get at without disturbing the plant. There's some bark in there too it looks like. Nothing I've uncovered looks black, but it is definitely packed in too tightly.

The frog seems to like the plant. He usually is hiding behind his wandering jew, but since I sat the orchid down next to him, he's been watching it. Probably watching to see if it'll do anything.

Thanks for the welcome and advice. I've been exhausting myself reading about all this. I did the same thing with hermit crabs (of which I have 17). This forum is a wonderful resource.

I've ordered a couple of more orchids that'll come this week. I'm addicted. That's okay though, I'm having fun worrying about my plant just like I worry about my crabs.

[Firecat]

Hi Whiteraven!
Welcome to the the fun place. I am a newbe too. Hope you find all the information you want.. Milt

[Orchidementia]

Just wanted to say Hey! I'm originally from KCMO - born and raised - as is my husband, though he's technically from Perfect Village. Welcome!

[Michelle]

Hello! I recently began attempting growing phals inside, and after some great advice (from here of course) I decided to pull my Home Depot plants out of their potting medium and stick them in new pots w/ nice dry phal mix..I did not soak it prior since the roots were already soggy with some rotted ones I had to cut off. I was having a lot of bad luck w/ phals inside, similar to what mayres described above. After repotting (with blooms and all) I only lost a few buds. The leaves were slightly droopy a few days after the change, but they have since perked up again. I'm guessing they are recovering from the shock of the repotting process. I've always had phals in sphag and they've always died of root rot, even when I only watered them once a week You may not have this prob since you are in Kansas, but here in FL I think it's better not to grow in moss, at least for me Good luck! Oh yeah, I also started using the skewer method for determining when to water, which I also learned on here. It's working out really well, takes the guesswork out and no more funky mix under my fingernails from sticking them in the pots to feel the mix. Not sure how to link the thread, but I did a simple search and it popped right up.

[orchid_girl]

Welcome!!!! I would most definetly take the moss off around the roots. I don't like the moss. It holds too much water for my taste and causes rot if it stays too moist. I have my phal potted in bark, perlite and sphagum peat moss mix. It seems to work on mine. But I wish you luck in finding the right mix. It is a pretty phal!!

[kid a]

Hi and welcome!
I love hermit crabs and used to have several. I also have a white's tree frog and I have two store bought orchids from Costa Farms. They have some issues but are getting better.One had some sever rot on the rhizome and the other had a fungus issue from deteriorating mix which I repotting but popped up again over the last few days. I had to repott both and clean them well with brookn's recipe to get rid of the pests and fungus. The one that had a rotting rhizome had the sphag on top, so I definitely agree with orchid_girl! It took about a week for mine to dry out to the point they were just damp. They have been getting lots of attention and care. They also had some root rot when I bought them.

Also I repotted them both the one with rotting rhizome was in flower and the flowers did not drop and it has a new spike growing which I may cut off so the plant can heal better. As long as you are careful you should be ok. On the other one the spike was broken but it is now re-spiking. I let them dry up a bit before repoting. I soaked the mix overnight before using because it helps it retain moisture better but a mix will help with drainage better than sphag. Depending on your are if it is t dry because of air conditioning this summer you may want to get a small humidifer or use a humidity tray. You can use a tray with rocks in it and out some water in it then put your plants on top making sure they are not sitting in the water.

[whiteraven]

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

Hi Orchidementia! I don't often get to KC, but last time I did I got hermit crabs that are called Ruggies.

Hi kid a. I got addicted to the crabs really fast. My avatar is Zoe, my baby Straw. She trucks around the cage everyday she isn't digging in the sand. The rest have gotten much more active since I put in the Ruggies.

As for the orchid, I've pulled all the moss off and I'm waiting on some supplies before I repot. The plant is doing good, no dropped flowers and only one leaf is floppy, but that's the one with the injury (a hole from rubbing the side of the pot). I do have it sitting on a humidity tray at least until my house levels out. The A/C usually reduces us to 60% or so in summer. I have to monitor the crabs, so I just moved one of the extra gauges in by the plant.

I've laid some of my crab's coco fiber 'dirt' on the top to help even out the moisture content in the pot. I had been letting it dry out from expanding it (got it too wet and it was soppy). It's a little dryer than the moss stuff left the bark underneath so it is pulling up some of the extra moisture.

Everyone is being really welcoming and I'm finding loads of neat stuff. Thanks.