New Orchid Caretaker

[sagittae]

I just bought an Orchid, it was labelled as a seedling but are seedlings seven inches tall? I garden as a hobby but I've never cared for an orchid before, so I was hoping you nice people could give me some tips.

It's a Pacific Knight, the tab said, and I've repotted it into a four inch pot -- lined with wholes and a built in little saucer -- with Guller's orchic potting mix. I watered the mulch down really well with water I'd dissolved orchid food into, and placed it in front of a window that gets a decent amount of indirect sunlight.

Please feel free to tell me if I'm trying to kill the poor thing by any of these actions, and any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[mayres]

A "seedling" could be any size - just means it was started from seed versus other methods - a cross of two different types of orchids - each of the seedling plants can have a slightly different genetic mix. For example, I have two odontocidium crosses from the same parents - one has spots and one is plain. Otherwise they look identical. What kind of orchid is it? I did a quick search for that name and only came up with a paph, but don't know if that is correct. If you don't know what kind, maybe you could take a digital pic and post for us to look at? Once we know for certain what type of orchid you have many people here will have suggestions......

[jerrymeola]

Care for an orchid will depend mostly on the family in which it is classified.

Compare the leaves with other plants to identify the family.

Oncidium have thin long leaves. Cattleya have stiff leaves from a bulb that grows above the pot. Dendrobium have long canes from which leaves alternate out each side. Phalaenopsis have very fat flat leaves and often thick roots that grow about the pot.

Look through the photos at the top of this section labeled Orchid Photo Identification Guide for a start.

[Daniel S. Barrett]

Pacific Knight is the name of a Paph alright, I used to have one. And if it's a paph, don't put it in the sun. just in bright light, infact until you know what kind of orchid it is, it would be a good idea to keep it out of the sun completely.

[sagittae]

I don't have a digitial camera, but the leaves are long and thin -- not spotted -- coming from a broad, slightly wrinkled looking bit of green. It's root isn't exposed.

[mayres]

sagittae - does your plant have this general shape? This is a young complex hybrid paph -

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Paphiopedilum Tokyo Pacific Knight? Paphs should be watered before being completely dry, but don't keep it sopping wet. You might want to read this if you havn't found it yet.
Skewer use for watering of orchids
Bright indirect light is good.

[sagittae]

It does look very similar to that picture, only with the broad wrinkly bits of green at the bottom of the leaves. Thank you for the skewer article! It was very informative. I'm going out tomorrow to buy the skewers, and I'll keep it in front of the window I currently have it in front of for lighting.

Thanks again for all the help!

[Aniko]

What "broad wrinkly bits of green at the bottom of the leaves" ???!!!

At this point doesn't matter much, but for the future it would be better to know if is this a paph or may be an oncidium....?
Aniko.

[sagittae]

So, with the new word I just learned -- oncidium -- I searched for a picture online, and I found an almost identical picture to the foliage of my Pacific Knight.

Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to post urls yet or I'd show you all the picture. And I'm not sure how the attachment manager works, but I tried to attach the photo through that method.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Yep, Oncidiums. Same culture as Paphs.

[Aniko]

It works great, Sagittae! This is your picture or a capture from the net ?(just to be sure that we talk about the same thing: an oncidium)

Good luck and keep us informed how the blooms look like...
Aniko

[sagittae]

It was a photo from the web, but it has the same long, thin leaves and broad wrinkly bits of green I was trying to explain. I'm excited to see what it will look like when it blooms. And thank you all for the help!