Overwhelmed Newbie

[RolRod]

Greetings to all! I've had a Phal for about a year, and I've probably stressed it out quite a bit, though it's recently settled and doing well. I'm new to all plant life, and while I've had some guidance with my other plants, my plant-advisor admitted to not knowing anything about orchids. I did read about the watering when I purchased my Phal, so I knew to be cautious of over-watering and standing water.

Originally, I had it in my bathroom next to a south-eastern exposed window. It was also under a vent, and the AC killed off the blooms in no time, though I didn't realize it then. A few months later, when the heat came on, one of the two spikes dried off and I lost two leaves. Around February, the other spike started drying off, and in fear, and thinking I had not much to lose, I clipped it a few inches beneath the discolored portion.

A few weeks later, I moved. Not wanting to keep it near the heater, and not sure how it would respond to the eastern sun, I moved it from the living room to the top of the fridge in the kitchen, where the western sun lights up the room, but does not actually hit the orchid. Around four weeks ago, the remaining spike started branching off into what I assume is a stem. It has not stopped growing and is at about four inches now. I keep waiting for it to start blooming, but it doesn't seem to stop growing, which I don't think is a problem, because at least it's still growing, right?

Anyway, I've looked online for as much information as I can find, and have done a ton of reading from the newbie posts, so as to not ask repetitious questions, but now I'm overwhelmed, since everything since to depend on multiple factors. This is the reason for this incredibly long post. Now that you have all the background, maybe you can better help.

1. I'm curious as to whether another spike will grow, or if I need anything to happen for the spike to grow? There is still about a one inch stump there, that I haven't trimmed off, for fear of clipping something vital.

2. I read something about top-growing roots, of which there are quite a few, and am concerned about their being exposed so much. Is this a sign for repotting?

3. My orchid came in a clear pot with lots of drainage holes at the bottom, and I have been thinking about repotting, but have been nervous to get anything but a similar, slightly larger, clear pot, which I cannot find anywhere. Thoughts?

4. To water my orchid, I've always just placed it under the faucet, then onto the dish-drying rack to air out and drain, then back into the other pot in which I purchased it. I don't think the leaves fell off because of it, and they certainly haven't since the last leaf fell about eight months ago. Should I do something differently?

Thanks, and sorry for the eternal post.

[janet_a]

deep breaths; it's just a plant when it comes down to it. salad for snails, snacks for springtails. home for ants.


your branching spike: phals can take anywhere from 90-120 days to go from spike to bloom. think zen thoughts at it and it will bloom if and when it darn well feels like it.

new spike will probably start next year; usually the chill of winter initiates spiking.

aerial roots are fine; just wet them down when you water the plant.

it sounds like you have an aerocone pot--those are good pots, let lots of air get to the roots. if you want to repot, you may be able to go right back into that pot; you don't want to go too big with phals.

some advice on repotting:

http://firstrays.com/potting.htm


your watering sounds fine; that's what i do with mine. the only change you may want to make is to water with water that has had a chance to air off for 24 hrs; i keep a bucket in the kitchen and water from that. most complex hybrids are pretty tough though and really don't care what you water them with.

other than that, i find that yelling at the plants a lot helps them bloom.

[jerrymeola]

Your plant sounds like it is very healty. The first thing you should do is enjoy it with less worrying.

Air roots on a phal are common and not a sign of needing to be repotted. I try to repot as seldom as possible. You need to repot when the potting medium is going bad (about every 3-4 years with a phal, 1-2 years with bark based cats etc) and you can repot a large plant when you just do not like how the plant looks. If the potting is attractive and the medium good, just let it grow.

One thing I want to mentioned is that, several phals can have long blooming periods, but flowers take a lot of strength out of the plant. Fertilize regular. A teaspoon of balanced fertilizer (20-20-20 or 10-10-10) in a gallon of water used to water the plant once a week. It is litterally possible to bloom a plant to death if kept flowering for long periods without supplimental fertilizer. Many people cut the stem when the flowers get to be fewer and smaller to give the plant a rest before the next flowering season.

Anyway congradulations, you are doing very well for ;your first orchid

[RolRod]

Is it possible since there were two spikes, that I could somehow split the orchid so that another spike grows separately? I've gone browsing for a new orchid lately, but find that most orchids are with only one spike, so I'm wondering if I got lucky and picked up one with two (granted, I killed my luck when the second spike died)

[janet_a]

not quite sure what you're asking, but in general: phals are monopodial; you can't divide them the way you can a sympodial plant like an onc or a catt.

some phals grow multiple spikes because of conditions, some because of genetics. yours may be the latter and may produce some extra spikes, but perhaps not.

[MrSarge]

I've had almost the same experience with my first phal. As I was reading your post, I had to look to see if it wasn't something I had posted!

I think my first spike after cutting them off last year is now starting to poke out of the side. Patience grasshopper.