New to the Forum

[BloomingOrchid]

Hello all! I'm Erin AKA Blooming Orchid. I'm in the burbs of NE Philli. I have a slew of orchids. It all started with my husband giving me a phal as a gift. I was terrified! I have a green thumb...OUTSIDE! I tend to kill house plants. So I don't know what made him think I could keep an Orchid alive! Well I quickly learned the basics...and from there acquired a "few" more orchids. We are to the point now where we are putting new window sills in to accommodate my growing collection.
I recently acquired a group of Phals just out of community pots. Some died Some made it I think the trip in the mail did some of them in and a few got cooked To much sun I'm thinking! But the rest I moved and hopefully they will make it.
I have mostly Phals, Dens, & Cyms. I got brave and got a few other types & a Vanda...who is alive but her spike died I'm working on a new Vanda house for her. I'm thinking one of my old reptile tanks will help meet her requirements. Shes a prissy one!
Any advice & info on the Vanda or the Community pot kids is welcome!

Thanks!

[jay]

Hello and welcome to the forum BloomingOrchid!

First of all, expansions for orchids are awesome. I just got a new wire shelf rack for mine, and now I have room to expand.

Your phals that were in a community pot, were they seedlings or were they mature and just a very large pot? How old are they now? Depending on how young they are can change the culture requirements. If they are really young, then you will want a little higher humidity and moisture, but not stagnant air. Make sure there is some airflow. Pictures would be great!

As for the Vanda, I do not know, but there are a lot of very successful Vanda growers here than can advise.

Hope you enjoy your time on the forum.

jay

[orchid_girl]

Welcom to the forum!! If you need help I'm sure there is someone who can help here

[BloomingOrchid]

My community pot kids are a variety of ages, kind of a "grab bag" I would say they were flask babies and then community pot kids, and they grew out of the pots and now I have a group of 12 assorted phals. about 3 inches wide. 6-9 months till flower I was told. You know an E-bay special!
I cant figure out how to add pics yet...my avatar is my Phal. Tien Nong Stripe X Chih Shiang Stripe. (yet shes all white

[Tobi]

Hi and welcome to the forum Erin. There are several Vanda growers here who
will be able to help you.

[jay]

BloomingOrchid, I believe that you have to post at least 5 times before you can upload photos. When you do post/reply, if you page down there will be a tab that says "Manage Attachments" that you click and another screen will come up to upload them from you computer. The other method is to link them to a photo sharing site like Flickr or Photobucket (i think thats the name).


jay

[BloomingOrchid]

I just found the post about posting pics. I posted pics of my flowering kids & the names I was given for them in the orchid picture section under bloomingorchids"bloomingorchids"

but here are my compot kids
Few have burns, (should I cut the leaves?) some are just looking awful! And then some are doing fine.

Advise wanted!

[jay]

They look a little soggy. The leaves are also droopy which generally means that they are not getting enough water uptake. This does not mean they need watered more. It is usually due to rotten roots because of overwatering.

In the second photo it looks like the leaf has some discoloration. Is this due to the flash, or is it white like that? If it is white then it is probably a fungus/mold/I don't know.

Did you check the roots? What do they look like?

[BloomingOrchid]

I just re-potted them and watered them so the moss on top is wet. One kid does have a sun burn So should I cut that leaf?
The roots look good, not great but good. They came out of transport dry root so I didn't think they would all make it. Some look better than others here is another shot of 2 other pots.

[pikevi]

Welcome to the forum, BloomingOrchid.

I think you have the classical early symptoms of becoming an orchid geek and an addict.

Just in case I am wrong this forum will make you become one

[fred]

Hi BloomingOrchid

I would like to welcome you to the orchidgeeks forum
I hope that you enjoy your stay here with us.
We have heaps of knowledge within the forum and also with our friendly members who I am sure will help you with any questions you may have.

we dont have any orchid addicts here ( who am I trying to kid )

happy chatting