Newbie needing our help

[asmith12342000]

I'm a newbie when it comes to orchids. Killed the first one that I received as a gift a few years ago and have been scared ever since to try again. Anyway, got brave enough to try again a while back when I found a cheap Dendrobium at RiteAid. It had one very beautiful spray of flowers, but was wrapped tight with a rubber band at the base. I know I wasn't suppose to do this while it had flowers, but I repotted it so the bottom would have air. I have several other tropical plants in my room, (lots of hoyas, lipstick, and violets) that have done extremely well with Fox Farms Light Warrior agroponic mix. Anyway, I took the Dendrobium and mixed the Light Warrior about 50/50 with Orchid potting mix. So far, (it's been about a month) it's doing well and doesn't seem to be stressed from me doing this to it.

Now, here goes with my question. Just got another orchid at Walmart. (figure if I buy some cheap ones to start and can keep them alive, I'll go for the ones that I'd really like to grow) This orchid had no tag, but from looking tons of pics of orchids, I'm guessing it's a Phalaenopsis or Doritis? It came in a 3 inch pot packed with a moss which doesn't seem to dry out at all. I'm worried that it will get root rot if it's not repotted in something that will allow the roots some air and to dry out a bit. I'm scared to repot again, even though my first experiment seemed to have gone OK. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Here's a pic of my newest addition to my room.
Alice

[tizzycat]

Hi Alice and welcome.

What you have is a Phaleanopsis. Fred gives cultural notes at the beginning of this thread.

I would recommend you repot into a more open mix. Bark works well for my own Phals. (here in the UK) but different climates call for different mediums with varying levels of moisture retention.

I find sphagnum moss retains too much water, for too long in the UK climate.

If you could tell us what part of the world you live in the advice will be more specific.

[asmith12342000]

I live in the US in the eastern half of Washington State. Unlike the very damp western side of Washington, I live in the very dry and arid side of the state. In the summer, we can have short periods of 100F+ temps and in the winter below freezing, but usually not by much more than 10 to 15 degrees. I think the reason why my first orchid died was because of my lack of humidity. I keep a number of tropical plants like hoyas, but now I keep a humidifier running and it's made a world of difference. This is why I figured I'd give it a go and try seeing if I can keep a couple of orchids alive as an experiment. If I'm able to keep them alive, I've got my sights on bigger and more beautiful orchid plants. I've loved orchids for a very long time, but was just too scared to try them ever since my first loss.

The Fox Farms Light Warrior agroponic mix that I used with the Dendrobium has the following list of ingredients:

Sphagnum peat moss
horticultural perlite
earthworm castings
granite dust
humic acid (derived from leonardite)
mycorrhizal innoculent
oyster shell

I pay a mini fortune for this stuff, but it's been amazing how well my other potted tropical house plants, (especially the hoyas) do with it. Most of the hoyas are pretty sensitive about getting too wet. Like orchids, they like to get wet, but it has to drain off quickly and they need dry spells in between. When I repotted that Dendrobium, I mixed the Light Warrior about 50/50 with the orchid potting bark. So far, it doesn't look strained and I haven't lost a single flower. As a matter of fact, they all bloomed that were in bud. I've also got roots starting to come through the surface. I potted it in a 4 inch clay orchid pot.

Anyway, I'm wondering if I should take a chance and try the same for the Phaleanopsis. From what I've been able to briefly read, the Phaleanopsis have much different needs than the Dendrobium. Thanks for telling me about Fred's post on care of Phaleanopsis. I'll go read it now.
Alice

[tizzycat]

Edited] thanks to tizzycat I have merged the two threads for further members advice ]

Newbie asking for advice..

asking for advice on growing conditions for a phal. I've advised what I personally would do ( in the UK) but I'm sure she would appreciate some further advise from more "local" geeks.

Thanks

[brookn]

Alice, Phals can be repotted at any time. Because you brought this plant home in bloom, you might experience bud blast, as Phals in bloom don't adjust well to changes in climate. I have repotted Phals in bloom before, and I must say as long as you are gentle, it should be fine. It may shorten the bloom time, but in the long run it will be happy, and happy plants bloom! Feel free to ask us anything that concerns you about your plants, we are happy to help.

[tizzycat]

Hi Alice - As you have picked up a "Sticky" here - I hope you don't mind but I started up a new thread to try and get you some advice for growing conditions in your area.

[fred]

I have just merged two threads into one and also put the thread into the Newbie Questions for the orchidgeeks to help Alice with more information

thank you tizzycat for letting me know about this

AOS | Culture Sheets

[patlee]

Hi Alice, Welcome to the forum!! We will have your new phal (beautiful by the way) happy and growing for you in no time. Try Schultz's Orchid Mix--you can get it at WalMart. (And it's better to repot now and check the roots than to wait for the blooms to fade.) It sounds like a much more basic mix than what you used for your Den.,--not as many goodies--but it is probably a lot cheaper,too. I grow all my phals in the mix They seem to love it and are all (30-40 of them) doing great, growing and blooming.

The secret is this--I do what works for me in my environment. You need to find out what conditions work for you and we'd love to go along for the ride...Welcome,again. Hope we can be of help

[jerrymeola]

Alice,

We commercial growers here in Florida grow most Phalaenopsis in Sphagnum moss. You do not have to be afraid of it only treat the plant differently. Simply water less.

You said it never seems to dry out, OK it does not need water yet. It may go two to three weeks without needing water. Only water when it is almost dry. Phals like moisture and do not like to dry out for more than a couple of days.

The soil mix you are using is too dense for orchids. More important than water or fertilizer for orchids is that they have air circulation over their roots. The soil mix will pack down and cut off this air. If you have not added too much to the pots it will not do any harm. It is the quantity of mix and whether it cuts off the air that is important.

The mix you are using is a good one for two reasons. The worm casting are an excellent organic slow release fertilizer. The humic acid is a root hormone. You said you paid a lot, but you could buy the items separate and save. Worm casting are about $5 a pound, and root hormones about $5 a bottle that may last the rest of your life it uses so little. The rest of the items are just a potting soil mixture. The granite dust may add some micro-elements but good fertilizers will do the same.

mycorrhizal innoculent is a seed anti fungicide. I am a big fan of natural products and use a similar product to control fungus on my orchids. I do not know what is available at the retail level, but my innoculent cost me about $40 a year to do all my greenhouses twice a month. It is extremely good as at re-potting. Plants are dunked into a diluted solution for 10-15 minutes.

Worm Tea (the liquid worm product - castings are the dry manure) contains bracillus microbes that do the same thing. I mix a high concentrate bracillus product with worm tea at re-potting, and spray twice a month.

[asmith12342000]

To All, thank you so much for the warm welcome and the advice. I'm going to bite the bullet, be brave, and repot the Phalaenopsis tomorrow morning. I think what I'm going to try is mixing, the Light Warrior, Orchid potting bark, and the Sphagnum moss by 1/3 for each part. I've got a 4 inch clay orchid pot all ready for it.

Is there anyone on this list that lives in a dry climate? If so, do you have a humidifier running to combat the dry air? I usually try and mist my plants first thing in the morning as I think this helps.

[articuno75]

Well my apartment is like the Gobi Desert and I don't have a humidifier,,,,yet. I mist my orchids up to three times a day. I had to increase my watering schedule from twice to three times a week, especially with some of the Oncidium Alliance.

Everyone tells me a humidifier REALLY helps. As we get into our Spring though we should get more humid. Could you please update your user profile location.
Different location=different advice.

[fred]

asmith
could you also please go to your UserCP and update your Profile with your Location so we can understand your growing conditions.
As we have members from all over the world with different growing conditions that helps us to give you the right advice
thank you

[berkeleysgr8]

Regarding your worries about killing orchids... even the GREAT growers here at Orchid Geeks have killed their share of plants. I certainly have killed plenty! It's a learning process.

[asmith12342000]

Sigh... I think my anxiety level just grew a little higher. Actually, I think the
Phalaenopsis might be doing ok. A few days after I repotted it, I lost one of
the blooms. Being I got it with the two in bloom, I don't know if it was
because of my repotting effort, or it was just its time to go. One interesting
thing I've noticed is the leaves are standing up a little more and turning
towards the light of the window. Also, I've noticed a new something (stem
maybe) growing about 2 inches below the one remaining bloom. Whatever it
is that's growing, it's growing pretty rapidly. New growth of any kind, can't
be bad, so I have hope. :-)

[berkeleysgr8]

Don't worry about it! It's very exciting when you get your first orchid to rebloom! There is a lot of information available here to help you figure out what might work to keep your orchid happy.