my new orchid is already wilting

[my first orchid]

i got a orchid for valentines day, my mother suggesed to re-pot it into a bigger pot so we did. a few days later it started wilting can anyone help me ? i have read just about everything on this site that peopl has wrote to one another but nothing seems to help with my situation..thanks

[-k-]

Do you know what type of orchid it is?
What size pot was it in originally and what size pot did you re-pot it in?
Also what type of potting medium did you use, bark, moss...etc..?

Not to worry, most times its possible to nurse them back to lfe! After you post several times you can post a picture of the plant to help the process along.

[mytwogirls]

Post five times and you can submit a picture so we can get a better idea of what is going on. Welcome by the way!

[Phalcycle]

Welcome! Please post a picture so that it'd be more helpful to us to help you.
I see you are new, so look around the fourm and post 5 times, then you'll be able to upload pictures.

[PhalNewbie89]

WELCOME. I'm sure your chid will be fine it is probably just a bit stressed and needs you to nurse it. There are lots of people here willing to help. You are in good hands :P

[my first orchid]

Thank to you guys, I'm not sure what type it is i couldn't find a piic. that looked like it. it is yellow with red around the bottom pedal (only 1 pedal has red) it was in pot round 7 inches in diameter and the new pot is about 10 or11 inches diameter. should i put it back into a smaller pot ? I read on hee that they liked to be crowded. But I didnt find this site until after I done all of this.. The potting soil im using is just regular miracle-grow potting soil...like i said I knew nothing untili re-done the pant. I feel so bad. Thanks to all !!!

[sruane]

The color of the flowers isn't that important, it's the shape of the plant part, like leaves and canes. Does it have tall canes that stick up, like this http://www.budsinbloom.net/W-410.jpg

or does it have big green floppy leaves like this? http://www.osheasflowers.com/images/...sis-orchid.jpg

It may not be either, but those are probably the 2 most common types (genera) of orchids you come across at non-specialty growers. If it is like the first, you may want to read this AOS | Dendrobium

and here's a care sheet for the 2nd (Phalaenopsis) AOS | Phalaenopsis

Either way, potting soil is not the proper medium for almost any orchid you might have, and keeping it in potting soil will cause the roots to all rot off. Read the 2 care sheets linked above and see if that help a bit. Don't worry about your plant having identical flowers to a picture. There are over 100,000 orchid hybrids and the care within a genus is usually pretty similar, so the flowers are not the deciding factor for care, it's the genus that really should guide you for the most part.

Other common orchids you may come across (try googling for pics if the 2 above aren't what you have) are Cattleya, Cymbidium, Oncidium, Paphiopedilum, Zygopetelum, and Miltonia.

[sruane]

Oh, and also to add, the wilting of the flowers may just be do to moving the plant to a new location or from re-potting it, which puts it into a temporary shock. The plant may be just fine. But it won't be ok if it's left in potting soil. If you get it into the proper mix for whatever genus you have, even if you lose these flowers, it will grow new ones with proper care within a year or so.

[my first orchid]

mine looks more so like the first ones, skinny and long...really long....well thank you i guess im gone to get some soil for this so hopefully the roots aren't damaged...THANK YOU so much

[Tarad]

Welcome! Are you able to take a pic and put it on this site? If the orchid was in a 7 in pot , yes you went too large on the pot. I cant say that that is causing he acute wilting. Did you soak the medium first before repotting. Was it root bound before you repotted? If not you could put it back in there with new medium. At any rate if you can take pictures of it we can see what kind o fsupplies you need. I have three different types of orchids and they need three different types of medium Tara

[sruane]

If it is indeed a Dendrobium orchid, then you want a chunky bark mix for potting. Most Dens like to dry out between watering.

[sruane]

And here are some more tips for growing common phal-type Dens (if you were to post a pic though, you'd get even better advice, as I'm assuming it's probably a phal-type Den, but I don't really know!)

Dendrobiums - Growing Dendrobiums Orchids

ORCHIDS.COM : SUPPORT : CARE & TIPS

[Dendian]

Hello and to the Forum.

It sounds like you may have a Dendrobium, your next step is to figure out which type. Do the flower stalks come off close to the top of the plant and are long with many flowers, or do the flowers stay close to the canes with two or three flowers on a short stalk? That will determine the watering schedule and how much water they like.

You will not want to get any soil - there are no Dendrobiums that live in soil. They will all want to live in orchid mix of some kind . You can probably find a miracle grow orchid mix that will work, or you can search around and see what other people in your area use.

When you repot the Dendrobium, you will want a small pot, one that just fits the good roots. You will also want to soak the bark/bark mix for 24 hours to remove any salts and give it a better chance of retaining water for the plant.

If you can show us pictures, we can help figure out which kind of Dendrobium you have, and give you advise on potting, roots, etc...

[my first orchid]

thanks for the advice, le me figure out how to pics on here ad i will do so. i went and got "all natural organic holly food" thats all Lowes had , it's not chunky though.

[Phalcycle]

Dens like to be very tight and root bound, so even a 7 in. sounds big, but even when repotting, never go beyond 1 in higher, esp. w/ orchids.

I would take the plant out of it's pot, soak and rinse out all of the medium currently on it, then cut off all the dead and rotted roots. Once the root ball is clean and all set, choose a pot that is appropriate for the root ball.
Don't judge the pot size by the plant rather the root ball size.

the roots should fit snug in the pot, only allowing for a little room to grow.
Use a bark mix, that you have pre-soaked for about 24 hr.

Also take pictures, so that we can be more helpful.

to add pictures, make a new 'reply' and scroll down a little to see 'manage attatchments' then select pictures you want. Make sure the size of the picture fits the requirements!

[purplegirl]

Oh, this is in the "Guess how I know" category of advice: The blooms have wilted for me if I re-pot a blooming Ork. A new root system needs to develop as it adjusts to its new environment. The Lowe's ones are especially this way, although I have one really sweet re=bloomer.

[my first orchid]

this may sound crazy but i cant figure out how to make a new reply to do so

[my first orchid]

still trying to figure out how to post pics

[Olive Cook]

hit the "post reply" button, it will take you to the advanced reply page, and at the top of the text window there will be a "paper clip" that you can click on. That will open a second window that will let you browse your comp and upload the pics

[my first orchid]

i done that it said uploading then it stopped and nothing showed up

[my first orchid]

i dont know where mypics are going, there not getting put on this page this can be aggervating i see

[my first orchid]

i see it keeps saying upload fails, i'll keep trying

[berniep]

G'Day My first orchid

Firstly welcome. Now, the picture has to be a certain size before you can post it, so it may be too large to post.
I'm sure someone on here will tell you how to adjust the size.

Cheers
Bernie

[berniep]

G'Day Again

The free software I use is shrink pic and is available Shrink Pic free download works fine

Cheers
Bernie

[my first orchid]

thanks G'Day again......and to the others i cleaned the roots they look great and took pics......i got a new pot only problem is that it isnt deep enough some roots are above the soil a lil.......the pot i got is 6.3 in. deep...roots are pretty big. its just lil smaller then the other one i ad it in...will it be alrigh or should i try another pot ? im sorry people, thanx for ur help

[my first orchid]

the top one is the day i got the flower the second on after is the damage after re-potting. i'll send the pics of the roots later..thanks to all !!

[syndywindy]

Hi, welcome to the forum. You have a cymbidium orchid and its very pretty. Usually the root systems for cym's are pretty massive. If it were me repotting it, I would use just a slightly larger pot than what it was originally in so it has a bit of room to grow. You need a good orchid mix. You can use miricle gro orchid mix for your cym, they are pretty hardy orchids. Here is the culture sheet from the American Orchid Society on how to take care of this particular orchid.
AOS | Cymbidium
Give it a read and it should help you. If you have any questions, ask. We are here to help you.

[kip]

I have to agree with Synda - put it in a slightly larger pot than it came in. The plant appears healthy. The reason the flowers wilted so fast is that they were nearly done when you got it. If you get a plant with some unopened buds at the top of the spike, you can expect them to last a while. When you get a plant with all the buds opened already, you can't be sure how long they'll last.

[my first orchid]

thanks for all the information, yall have really helped

[my first orchid]

should i cut the dead flowers off the plant or let them fall off on there own ?

[dounoharm]

i would cut the flower spikes completely down...to about 2 inches....

[purplegirl]

SWEET pictures, my first orchid!! Looks like you've figured out how to post pix...now I will try to do that, too....