Need help - have photos you can use!

[jimsocal]

Hi, these are my first orchids and I don't even know where to start, taking care of them.

Was hoping someone can identify them through the photo link below I think one of them is a Phalaenopsis because it says "phal" on the side. It also says "Sunnyside". It had the yellow flowers. The other one I'm not sure what it is ,maybe you can tell me from the photos, it had purple flowers.

I bought these 2 orchids about 6 weeks ago. They were very healthy, it seems, and stayed healthy for 3-4 weeks. Then suddenly the flowers fell off. I thought this was natural, but I'm not sure. I figure the one that had the purple flowers is healthy because it is making a new stem off the bottom of it, which is growing well. But what do I do with the long tall stems with leaves but no flowers now?

I cut back the stem where the flowers were, especially on the "Phal", because someone told me to do that; but after that one of big leaves fell off, so I dont' know... It now is just some leaves at the bottom and a long stem sticking up with no leaves or flowers on it. I cut the stem about 6" down above a node thinking that would allow new growth, but it dosen't seem to be doing anything; maybe dying. Now the roots seem to be drying out (?) and it doesn't look healthy although I'm watering it the same as I was before when it was healthy and had flowers.

(I water them both with just a few sprays in the morning, on the leaves, and 5-6 sprays into the soil (bark) every day. By sprays I mean with a mist spray bottle, so it doesn't put out a lot of water. I then give them each a few ounces of water in the pot, once a week or so.

Should I cut them back further? Repot them? or what?

Any info you can give me or suggestions will be much appreciated. I want to learn more about caring for these orchids but first I need to find out what their names are.

Here's the link to the photos:
[site would not let me post the link; I hope to post attachments instead]


You can click on the photo to make it bigger, then click the top left of that photo where it says "All Sizes", then when that page comes up click on Original at the top right to make the photo REALLY BIG so you can see it in detail. (May take a minute to load if you have dial up internet.) Then click your BACK button 3 times to get back to the first page and the other photos.

Thanks!

[arleneg]

Hi and welcome, jimsocal.

Firstly, the orchid with yellow flowers is a Phalaenopsis. The one with the purple flowers is a Dendrobium. Looking at the pics, both look rather healthy.

Secondly, don't do anything with the Den. Just care for it until it blooms again. As for the Phal, since I'm not have a lot of experience with one, yet, I'm sure someone will step up with helping you on that. Regarding roots drying out, the air could be rather dry in the environment the Phal is in. What is the humidity level of the room it's in?

What do you mean by watering them with a few ounces of water? If you mean by 2-4 oz. of water, this may not be enough and therefore causing some roots to dry out. For most of us in this forum, when we water, it's running water.

That's all I can offer for now. I hope I made sense since I'm doing this rather late at night and am sleepy.

[jerrymeola]

Your plants look fine.

It is best to water orchids by flooding them with water allowing the water to drain out the bottom. Then leave the Phal until it is almost dry and water again (usually 7-10 days in a home) and the Den can be watered more often. Dens are very forgiving in their care.

Do not be concerned if the Den losses 3-6 leaves this winter. They have a tendency to do that, but do not cut the cane as bare leaf canes are still valuable to the plant's health.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Misting is OK, if done in the morning and the leaves are dry by the time the temperature in the room starts to fall. But, when you mist, there should be no substantial amount of watering going into the pot, because the mix must go thru a wet/dry cycle. You should water most orchids as Jerry recommends, soak them well at the sink, let it drain, then let the pot get very close to dry or completely dry, depending on the orchid type, before watering again. Dens can be watered more often than this during growth and flowering, but when growth has stopped, no new leaves coming at the top of the recent growth, and the plant is not flowering, you want the Dendrobium pot to dry out very well and stay dry for a few days. When the next new growth starts, you can keep the Den somewhat wet again. The Phalaenopsis needs the same watering all year, water well, then let it get close to dry before watering again. You may want to read this post: Skewer use for watering of orchids
Dendrobiums like a lot of light. Something close to 50% light for as much of the day as you can manage. Phalaenopsis like less light, very bright indirect light, or filtered light to about 20% of full sun. So you see that these two plants have different needs and should not be growing in the same location, tho some will put the Phals behind a bunch of high light plants in a window so they are more shaded. That new growth on the Den should be slowly trained to grow upward by the use of a little twist tie material or string. It will cause you no end of trouble if it continues to grow sideways. Just cinch it up a little bit every day.

By the way, could you edit your post to get rid of all the repeats? Don't have time to do all that reading and do a decent job of answering the posts too.

I think the important things have been covered, and if you will take the time to start reading the old posts, you will find a lot of your future questions are answered there.

[jimsocal]

Thanks to you both for answering. Now I know what the plants are and what they require. I will read the link you gave and others, to learn more!
Muchas gracias! My orchids thank you, too!

[jimsocal]

Originally Posted by Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

By the way, could you edit your post to get rid of all the repeats? Don't have time to do all that reading and do a decent job of answering the posts too.

Very sorry about the repeat in the post. I don't even know how that happened, I was appparently very sloppy when cutting and pasting my post (I had posted it in another forum that did not give me any answers). Anyway, I would be happy to edit my post after the fact for anyone who might read it in the future, but I can't see a way to do that on this site. Is there a way?

In any case, thank you all for your posts. I have made the changes you all suggested in watering and lighting and cinching the new growth upwards, so hope they survive to bloom again!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

One of the buttons in the lower righthand corner of your post is an edit button.

[jimsocal]

Originally Posted by Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

One of the buttons in the lower righthand corner of your post is an edit button.

Sorry, but I do not see a button in the lower right hand corner of my post. I see no way to edit my post after it is posted.

Strange... THIS post has an Edit button at the bottom right, but my other one, the one I want to edit, does not.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Thats odd, I see one just under the pictures on the right. But I have noticed some of my older posts missing the button when I got around to rereading it and found a typo.

[jimsocal]

Originally Posted by Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

Thats odd, I see one just under the pictures on the right. But I have noticed some of my older posts missing the button when I got around to rereading it and found a typo.

No, I double checked with both IE and Netscape - an Edit button does not appear. Sorry.

[jerrymeola]

I edited the post for you. Posts can not be edited after a certain amount of time. My authority was high enough to get around this limitation.

Cynthia has the same authority but did not realise that you did not.

[BillC]

I cannot alter the pic size of the first increase by clcking on any corner, nor can I see any script on that pic. Can other viewers? Bill

[jerrymeola]

The thumbnail enlarges ok for me to full size when I double click on the photo.