My wife made me do it!

[zeeboy47]

Well, you know...... It is so beautiful, and will go well on the counter, and all that.

I can now say that I am the proud parent to a Phal.

Thank God that I found this site. Read the sticky on using the skewers, and now feel like I was soaked. I got one of those water meters and was told that I should keep it moist, duh! Looks like the rooting medium is bark, hard for me to tell whether it is large or small bark.

Maybe I'll use it for my ivy plant! Unless some one out there has had good success, and can share their experience.

Can't wait for something to go awry so I can post again....Something really meaningfull.

[fred]

zeeboy47
welcome to the forum
I hope you enjoy your stay here with us.
You will find heaps of knowledge within the forum and also with the members
they are a top bunch of people very friendly and also very helpful.
This is the link to the America Orchid Society Culture Sheets you can download then to you pc.
http://www.aos.org/aos/orchids/page01.aspx
If you have any more questions just let us know

[PhalPal]

Welcome zeeboy! You are well on your way to orchid addiction; you are already making excuses and blaming your wife!!

[pikevi]

Welcome to the forum, zeeboy47.

I am sure you will have many more questions as you add more orchids to your collection.

[zeeboy47]

Thanks Phalpal. You are totally wrong about the excuses.

The dog ate the directions on upkeep of the phal, so I had to show the wife I could get help or the supper would be Swansons!

Do you use the skewers or a moisture meter, or some other method. Key item for me since most plants die a slow death from drowning here, and when I tell her to water a bit once a week, it is sometimes understood as 1 quart once a day.......I mean the pot is only about 4-5 inches across. I saw suggestions that it is practically impossible to kill an orchid (boiling water or a cattle prod), but it seems that over watering will do it over time.


Saw some suggestions to take the pot to the fawcet and soak, then fertilize then drain. Seems kind of severe and cruel punishment for the delicate plant. I was advised to feed only monthly, but I can't believe either extreme. With the medium being bark, I can't believe that onced a month would be enough.

Found one site where the author offered (for a price) a sure fire fertilizer that would boost the plant to maturity with tons of flowers, etc. Is this the worm tea method?

Lastly I was told by the salesperson that the spider like tentacles that the plant puts out could just be snipped away....Are those not the roots trying to escape? What should I do if I get some of them growing?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Never cut into an orchid with anything that has not been sterilized, too easy to transfer virus, which is incurable. So, no nipping with fingers, and since it would be difficult to sterilize your moisture meter, don't use it on orchids. Most alcohols are not strong enough to kill virus, so don't sterilize with alcohol. Use fire, 10% bleach, or saturated Trisodium phosphate, with a 10 to 20 min soak.

[mayres]

Check out the American Orchid Society culture pages and see if this answers some of your questions - you will find both a beginner and intermediate set of instructions here on phals - http://orchidweb.org/aos/orchids/page01.aspx
Enjoy! mike

[MissConnie]

welcome to the forum Zeeboy

xxxx

[orchid_girl]

Welcome to the madness....LOL!!!! Seriously though welcome here. I am sure you'll find a lot of info here I have. And as said above it is an addiction and we all blame our spouses to some point

[cupcake]

Perhaps your wife should get in touch with me! Then I can infect her with the orchid virus and you would be in perfect harmony! Except that you will inevitably be drawn to opposite species! Judi

[Tobi]

Hi and welcome to the forum Zeeboy. Been to Montreal a couple of times.
Beautiful city with lots to do!!

[PhalPal]

Zeeboy - the best way to water a phal is to put it in the sink and run lots of water through the bark. I use the skewers and water them when they are just becoming slightly damp to the touch. Orchids are not so delicate, so you won't hurt it. Don't make the mistake of watering it like a houseplant, meaning little sips frequently.

[zeeboy47]

Thanks Phalpal.
Makes sense, plus seems to be the widley supported method. Now to convince the better half!

I'm going to be forced to get some litmus paper, so that I can see if the Phal is tee-totaling, or on the sauce.

I'll get back to you this weekend when we celebrate the 1 week birthday of Phal.

[zeeboy47]

Well the week went by without any dramatics. Did the sink thing with the Phal, and for good measure gave it a feeding with some commercial orchid food.

Let it drain in the sink for a bit, and put it into its ceramic vase for a rest.

Now for the questions...I decided to trim off the wilted roots that were on top of the pot with a razor, and also some of the ones that were sticking through the holes in the plastic pot. Did I cause a problem?

The other issue is that my wife fell in love with another Phal, and it is now sitting next to the first one talking the night away. LOL

One problem that I think the new one has is that it was over watered. Lots of roots through the bottom, and over the top, and about half inch of water in the ceramic vase it came in. In addition, one of the next buds that should have bloomed seems to have wilted. Should I cut it off, or just let nature take its toll?

Gave it the same treatment as above, and they should be good for the week.

BTW, used the skewer method, and Phal number 1 told me to water today. Did them both to get them into the same routine.

Going away for 10 days soon, should I be doing anything special to prepare the twins?

Regards

[BloomingOrchid]

Love your post about your orchids! I'm new to the forum too. Here in lovely Philadelphia...well the suburbs are nice
I love reading your updates! I wish you luck with them! Watch out...they are like chips...you cant have just one!

[jerrymeola]

Water your orchid right before leaving (adjust the timing of your regular waterings) and enjoy the trip. It can handle 10 days OK.

[PhalPal]

I recently left for 11 days and did not trust any one to water my orchids, so did as Jerry said above. They did just fine without me.

I have a practice of re-potting phals as soon as I get them home, blooming or not. I am very gentle and don't so a lot of root surgery, but I want them in the same media as all my other phals. I also want to take a look at the roots because too many times they are half rotten from the grower. If you were able to find a blooming phal this time of the year it was probably grown and potted as a 'gift' plant, and these very often are not potted to stay around for the long run.
Bottom line! if you have time to re-pot before your vacation, do so. If not, it will be fine until you get back! Happy vacation!

[zeeboy47]

Thanks to all who have encouraged me to venture into uncharted territory (for me).

I have ordered some coir, and as soon as it gets here I will do as Phalpal suggests. As far as the roots, looking at them through the clear pot, there are lots of nice green roots in the pot. They are currently potted in bark chips about half an inch in size. Is this a "gift potting"?

As far as blooming Phals, the stores around here are overflowing with blooming plants. Mind you, I have only been able to see Phals, and the occasional Blah looking Slipper orchid. I guess the growers have a way of getting them to bloom. I'm sure that no one would buy an orchid that was leaves and spike only!

[pikevi]

PhalPal: I do the same with every orchid I bring home. I was wondering about the way the last batch of Phals I bought at Rona's were potted. It was exactly done the way you described. They all had nice fresh moss on top. But under it was very old mix and some of them had two plants together-one with the flower spike with no leaves and the other with leaves and no flower spike.

zeeboy47: I think usually the gift plants are potted in sphagnum moss. Do you intend to pot them in coir alone?. I think it will be better if you use bark, moss and coir. Please check in orchid care and cultivation for more info.

Good luck.

[PhalPal]

Here is another thread regarding coir mixes in case you missed it. A lot of us have experimented with it over the past year or so and really like it. I agree with pikevi; I wouldn't use just coir alone, not enough drainage.
Phal Repotting & Media