First Timer lookin for some help...

[Hawkball321]

Alright I'm extremely new to the whole flower growing thing in general... Haven't really grown much of anything but I figured why not try with an Orchid. I really like the way they look and I think thats what attracted me to trying. I've been at it now for almost a week and a half and I think I'm doing some things fairly well and am looking for some assurance or some helpful tips.

I purchased my gorgeous looking Orchid the other day and bought bark mulch for the medium and a decent sized pot for it and really liked the way it looked and decided that I needed to put holes in the bottom because it needs water to escape so I drilled em. (Really liked the pot!)

We got home and potted it. Pulling the Orchid out of the container and loosened the existing media and removed some of it. Layed a small layer of bark in the base of the pot and placed the Orchid in and filled bark around packing the orchid in snuggly. (Not a ton of pressure packing it in.)

I have a hard time getting all the correct words for exactly what I'm looking at on the flower so correct me if I'm wrong.

There are three shoots coming out of the base of the Orchid, two of which have at least five buds. One shoot has four fully bloomed flowers already and two more waiting to open. The other has two bloomed and one starting to pop open and should be opened by the end of tomorrow. The third shoot has a little bit of an issue. There are four buds that are significantly smaller than the other two shoots. None of which are anywhere near blooming. One bud actually dried up and turned brown over the course of the last 2-3 days. The "Spike"? is still green that it was growing from.

However, upon further assesment of the orchid I discovered today that a very small leaf 3" long had dried up completely and died at the bottom closest to the roots. On the other side there is a slightly larger leaf 6" in size that has shrivelled up and turned a light yellow color on about 3" of the tip. There are a total of 6 leafs on the Orchid.

I have the Orchid permanantely in the South Window of my house. I water the orchid every three-four days. And mist every two. I haven't "fed" the plant at all, other than watering and possibly changing sunlight what can I do? Or is this just the plant still adjusting to the new environment?

Thanks to any help in advance.

[BunnytheOrchid]

Welcome Hawkball321
Sounds like you've been doing pretty well. You're lucky to have a phalaenopsis with such lovely blooms and so many spikes. Regarding the leaves, phals will lose their leaves naturally from the bottom. So to see the small leaf at the bottom starting to yellow may not necessarily be a sign of stress. However, since you have pointed out another leaf is dropping/yellowing, that may be a sign of stress. Since you just repotted it, this would have given you a chance to check out the roots. the ones on the top of the mix don't look bad, but any dead ones you may have observed should be cut. Also, phals like to not totally dry out before watering again, however, 3-4 days is fairly frequent. Its good you drilled some holes for it to drain, but are the holes big enough and actually draining? If not, you may be overwatering a great deal, and that will stress the plant. Since its sitting on a humidity tray, it should be getting enough moisture in the air, but misting every 2 days should not be too much as long as its not getting overwatered. Also, remember no direct sunlight for phals; only indirect, relatively bright light. Good luck! You're lucky to have such a wonderful looking orchid!

[dipasquo]

Hello Hawkball321, and welcome.

I'm pretty new to orchids myself, but they can hook you. You'll find lots of great information on this forum; it has certainly helped support my interest and the success that I've had.

The plant that you have - I don't know if you got a tag with it - is of the genus Phalaenopsis. There is a running debate, but Phals are often sold as "good beginner orchids". If nothing else, they are good house orchids because of their relatively low light requirements. You've got a nice looking Phal, at that; three simultaneous spikes is, from what I've seen, uncommon. Leaves look nice and healthy as do the visible roots. When you repotted the plant, did you inspect and remove any mushy dead roots?

A good reference if you haven't already found it is the AOS Culture Sheet for Phalaenopsis:
AOS | Phalaenopsis

It's not unusual for orchids to stumble a little bit while adjusting to a new home. What you describe as a flower bud drying up is referred to as "bud blast"; it happens. Hopefully the immature buds on that third spike will continue to grow and eventually bloom.

Phals naturally give up leaves from time to time; the change of scenery might be accelerating it a little bit; but as long as the yellowing leaves are the oldest leaves (bottom-most) and as long as it doesn't keep happening faster than the plant grows new ones, it's probably nothing to worry about.

I like your choice of medium bark for Phals. You have a pretty pot, too, but be careful. It is probably bigger than this plant needs. People say that Phals like to be pot-bound, and I believe that this is because big pots mean lots of bark that stays wet; and wet bark can results in rotted roots. Phals also like to just dry out between waterings; and again I think this is because too much water is one of the biggest killers of Phals. I try to err on the dry side - three to four days is more frequently than I water any of my Phals, and I suspect with all that bark you're going to have wet roots. Some people use the "skewer method" of watering - roughly: stick a bamboo skewer down in the bark and pull it up to check for when the tip of the skewer is dry. I don't mist my Phals at all; instead, some off them I put on a humidity tray for extra humidity - a bed of garden rocks with water in it. Watering (and misting I suppose) are best done in the morning; in addition to root rot from wet roots, Phals trap water in their crown (from which the leaves spring) and a wet crown as it cools at night can also cause rot, RIP.

In terms of light, if that is a south window as pictured, your plant might be getting too much light (possibly contributing to bud blast and leaf loss). Phals can take only a minimum of direct light; perhaps early morning light but not hot afternoon light.

You're off to a great start and from what I can tell you must've done some of your homework already. We'll look forward to seeing more pictures and hearing what comes next.

[Hawkball321]

Thanks for the response. I have watered the phal a couple of times now. However, I have read that some people think it is wise to soak the bark before using it to pot your plants with it. I have not done this. So when I water mine I set it in the sink at spray the bark at completely saturate the bark. All, the water drains fairly quickly into the humidity tray and overflows the humidity tray. I drain the excess water out of the humidity tray and place it back on the window sill. If the water drains so fast is it still too frequent to water every 3-4 days? Also, if I may be overwatering or misting the plant too much what would be the best thing to hold back on? Watering or misting? You mentioned that I should not have the plant in direct sunlight? This is the first time I've heard this from anyone. Although I haven't read a lot of posts or help articles in growing. But my phal is sitting directly on the window sill in a Southern Facing exposure with nothing outside to shad the window or filter the light. Thank you very much.

[made4engineering]

I would say hold back on the watering... I mist and water my plants every night, because many big orchids growers water at night.. and also, in nature orchids wouldnt be very good at surviving if they rotted just because of a little water in the crown now would they? I am almost tempted to tell you only to water when the leaves begin to sag from lack of water...

[Hawkball321]

Thanks for the response again and the reference link. The plant I have is a Phalaenopsis. I actually researched what kind of Orchid I should start with before I bought it because I didn't want it to die and leave a sour taste in my mouth and discourage me from trying another. I think that I made an unwise decision when I was potting my Orchid, probably due to my excitement the day I bought it, but I did not read into what to check before doing so, and I did not check the underlying roots for any signs of rotting. Should I attempt to re-pot the Orchid again and check for any signs? or is it safer to not traumatize the plant in attempting this?

A question that I have is what is the correct word for the shoot that the buds grow on? I have read so many things lately I'm starting to get confused. I've read that the bud, is obviously what the flower blooms from, the spike? is where the bud is attached to and can be cut directly at the point where it branches off of the stem or shoot? and it will possibly develop another bud? How common is this to actually happen? and does it affect the Orchid to make it re-bud?

Is the pot that I have too big and I should also think about re-potting it in a smaller one? Thanks for the tip on watering with a bamboo skewer. I've seen a couple of posts talk about the skewer method and haven't had a chance to look it up yet. I have also been doing any of the watering or misting in the a.m. or at least before noon, because I did read about the Crown Rot thing and decided that I didn't really want that to happen to mine so I'll do any changes or watering early in the day.

How much direct light is considered too much light? Also, is it safe to completely remove it from the sunlight from the Southern window around 12. (put it in a room on a counter or table in the afternoon in the living room which is lit by direct light until about 12? Or would this be too little light?
The only other window I could place it in would be an Eastern Exposure on a window sill.

[Hawkball321]

Originally Posted by made4engineering

I would say hold back on the watering... I mist and water my plants every night, because many big orchids growers water at night.. and also, in nature orchids wouldnt be very good at surviving if they rotted just because of a little water in the crown now would they? I am almost tempted to tell you only to water when the leaves begin to sag from lack of water...

What would you consider sag? I've heard of vertically wrinkled too and don't understand what these truly mean? One of the pictures I posted is of the yellowing leafs and has began to shrivel up. Is this what you are refering to?

[made4engineering]

Well... Midday direct sun is probably too much light. Because a southern window can get so much direct sun, you should either filter the light somehow, or move it to a east or west window, but not north. Some direct sun is good I think even for a phal, but make sure its either earlyish morning or lateish afternoon. Even then you should monitor it to see if its getting signs of sun damage. What I mean by sag.. is to get all floppy (this would happen to even the largest leaves). You really should try the skewer method, because it would take some trial and error on your part to figure out when the phal needs water otherwise. Also, your pot doesnt seem overly large to me. Its my opinion that you should not try to repot is because like you said, that will stress the plant even more, and damage more roots. I wouldnt worry about dead or rotting roots in there right now. Orchids are usually pretty good at keeping fungal infections from taking over, as long as the conditions arent too wet all the time.

[brookn]

The pot doesn't look too large to me, I am concerned about the condition of the roots. They don't look terrible, but there does look to be some damaged roots, and this bears watching. At the very least once it is done with it's blooming cycle, you can repot again cleaning and trimming the roots, then repotting back into it's pot using some bark that has been soaked well with a couple of drops of Superthrive. The plant should not skip a beat if you are gentle. Phals are fairly tolerant to a repot.

This looks like a fairly large phal, and I think that you need to use the skewer method to determine your watering schedule. I also am not a big fan of misting, it seems to cause more harm than good, and it is debatable how much the plant actually benefits from it. Because you did not soak the bark, it probably is drying out faster than it should, but using the skewer method, when the skewer feels dry but cool to the touch you can water it again, and I would give it a soak of about an hour, so that the bark is hydrated. Do this the next few times that you water, and the bark will hydrate more and stay moist longer, necessitating the use of the skewer so that you know when it absolutely needs water.

Sunlight until approximately 10 am should not be a problem. Direct sunlight after that could burn it, but it does not look like it is recieving too much light. You could always add a sheer curtain to give the plant bright but more indirect light throughout the day.

Made4-My phals are in a Northern window, the recomendation was that based on my location it would be bright enough, and my phals are thriving. I would not know about Milwaukee, but I assume that a Northern window would not be enough light. Everyone's conditions are different, and culture varies. This works for my particular culture. See Kevin I do listen .

I hope this helps. Good luck with your phal, it is a beauty!

[BunnytheOrchid]

Even in a fast draining mix like bark (Compare to sphagnum moss), as long as the mix is fresh and new (like yours) it will hold some moisture and allow the roots to get it. If you are concerned you will underwater, I hope you will be comforted by the notion that it is worse to overwater than underwater (at least, easier to kill the orchid if you overwater). I soak my phals for 10-15 minutes once a week. This is plenty for them. I have one in moss that I water once almost in 3 weeks, and it is thriving just fine. In terms of the sunlight, being inside, the phal will have some diffused sunlight. That is, it is not outside baking under the sun. I would not recommend moving the plant; although it seems logical, phals orient themselves towards the sun, so moving them will mess with them a bit (not lethal but its easier on the plant to stay put). Next time they are in the sun, feel the leaves. If the leaves are warm at all, too much sun. If cool to the touch, the amount of light is ok.

[Hawkball321]

Thanks all for the input... I will keep a close eye on it. I started the skewer watering method today and will update further if I have any questions. Thanks for the help.

[dorisbradley]

I have never been able to get an orchid to rebloom. After I cut the stem back should I continue to water as usual? Should I keep it in light or dark conditions. I have it sitting in a north window and someone told me it should be in the dark until new stems formed. Thanks for any help. Doris

[dorisbradley]

No, the blooms died several weeks ago, but I have kept them several months in the past with no new growth before throwing them away.

[BunnytheOrchid]

Hi dorisbradley!
What kind of orchid(s) do you have that you having difficulty reblooming? The diagnosis will change depending on the type because different types have different requirements to rebloom.

[digitalgate]

why don't you try Cynthia's skewer method of watering. It is easy for beginner to follow.
Just put a bamboo skewer into the media , pull it out and see if it is wet. Water only
when it is dry. No guessing , let the skewer tell you what to do.Just remember don't share
the same skewer with other plant.

[jay]

Here is the link that digitalgate refers to.

[PhalPal]

You mentioned in your first post that you removed some of the old medium, but not all. If the old medium was moss you will have a bit of a problem. It is very difficult to gauge your watering habits when you have two levels of media in your pot. Moss holds a lot of water and is most likely wrapped around your roots; it can easily rot them.

Since you are already losing leaves I would re-pot now, even though the plant is in bloom. Losing two leaves is a little drastic for a Phal and it is probably due to over-watering. Soak your bark overnight and them gently remove all the moss around the roots. Running them under a soft stream of luke watm water while you work on this will help a lot. Pick a pot just big enough to fit your root ball into. If the pot you love is too big for this you can still use it by double potting. Get a small, cheap pot that fits inside the decorative one and fill the sides with the same bark you have your Phal planted in. The roots stay contained and are happy and you get your decoration.

And Welcome to the forum!!!

[11Orchid126]

You are in Wisconsin. Putting the phal in a south window a couple of feet back from the glass would be perfectly fine for your area. Others from much sunnier states like Texas and California might advise that this might be too much light, and it would be for their area. For your area it would not.

With regard to the pot size, it should accommodate the roots easily, and only a bit more room for growth. If you found this to be true when you potted it, then you're okay with the pot size. If not, then you might reconsider repotting it into something smaller.