My orchid "Hospital" and new to orchids...

[NeoOrchid]

Hello all:

I have been in love with orchids for a couple months now, having a joyful blooming phal and white dendrobium. Ever the adventurous type, I've made several $1 purchases of orchids (God knows what type these lovely beings could be...) from Walmart...and yes, indeed, root rot, dead roots, one with no leaves and no roots!
Heavens. But, lo! With patience and guidance orchid forums many of my "girls" are putting out new growth!
Thank you for all your knowledge and sharing it with everyone that loves and lives with orchids.

[patticake]

Hi NeoOrchid! Good luck with your rescues! Keep us posted on how they're doing!

[solay]

Wow, sounds like you got some work cut put for you. Can't wait to see them grow. Welcome and good luck.

[I. C. Unicorns]

I have my first orchid, a Phal, that I got as a Valentine's gift. I underwatered it because of my fear of root rot, the leaves shriveled and yellowed and it lost a lot of roots. It's been 3 years with no blooms yet but I have learned a lot about what makes a happy Phal, alternating between a soak and a dry. The two bottom leaves are original and were shriveled but have bounced back and are thick and stiff. It has 7 leaves and several aerial roots. I would not throw away my orchid for anything now and hope for a spike eventually!

Here it is soaking.

IMG_0065[1].jpg

[Orchidementia]

Originally Posted by I. C. Unicorns

I have my first orchid, a Phal, that I got as a Valentine's gift. I underwatered it because of my fear of root rot, the leaves shriveled and yellowed and it lost a lot of roots. It's been 3 years with no blooms yet but I have learned a lot about what makes a happy Phal, alternating between a soak and a dry. The two bottom leaves are original and were shriveled but have bounced back and are thick and stiff. It has 7 leaves and several aerial roots. I would not throw away my orchid for anything now and hope for a spike eventually!

Here it is soaking.

Attachment 10851

Wow, great recovery and great looking plant! I too nearly killed my first phal ... but my first onc alliances are apparently bullet-proof.

(Oh, nice iPhone, too! Can't wait till 7/11 ... yes, I'll probably upgrade )

[I. C. Unicorns]

I took the pic with my iPhone

[jerrymeola]

Unicorns

try giving your plant a cooler environment this fall and early spring. They like a 20 degree drop in temperature from day to night (70-50 ideal) to set flower buds.

Plants grown indoors often do not flower because of the lack of cooling.

[Brooke]

I would be very careful giving a phal temps under 60 degrees. Very few phals want temps below 60 and most prefer night time temps no lower than 65 degrees.

If you can't provide the nocturnal drop outside for a couple of weeks, sitting it by a window cracked open will give you the same result.

Brooke

[Hummer344]

Hi Neighbor & welcome,
I live in San Jose also. I have all my orhcids outside(80) under shade cloth and have 10 phals. I leave them out until Oct. They are thriving and most will bloom for me in the late winter/early spring. I have one that is spiking now. They seem to like the temp and humidity around here. Leaving them inside doesn't give them the temperture change that they need.

[crazyblue]

Hello
I do the same thing- trawl around garden centres looking for reasonable bargins! In fact my best phal was a bargin table special that just needed a little TLC. It has rewarded me with constant flowering and always looks amazing.

[PhalPal]

Great looking Phal!!! In addition to a nightime temp drop, your orchid may not be getting enough light.

[Christina]

Im really glad you rescued those orchids from wal-mart. I cant stand to see plants that arent taken care of.

Some people just go for the ones with the big flowers, but its real orchid lovers that take home the ones that need alot of time and TLC.

I hope everything goes well for you and your new chids!! Keep us all posted on how they are doing. :-)

[NeoOrchid]

Namaste!

Heheh, glad to see so many like-minded folks out there! Yes, seeing these lovely beings literally wasted and knowing the beauty they hold within, I take these "on" and they become my teacher and I their student, reading reading, trolling through endless store shelves of mixes and chemicals of all natures, wondering which one will work for this or that, learning new things every day and giving this burgeoning knowledge to these recovering gems sitting on my window-sill...some outside (hooo, this humid heat of the NC mountains is good for something!) watching them create knew life, recover what they are and what they were before left on a store shelf to rot, so much "inventory", as it were.
Yep, I spend much needed dollars and time on "1/2 price garbage " but it gives me reward and helps me learn what I need to know about these extraordinary members of the plant kingdom!
Good luck to all in the "orchid hospital" community and thank you so much for your replies and support!

NeoOrchid (Krsnsa A)

[E-Jag]

NeoOrchid,
Black Mountain would put you a little east of Asheville, I think - too lazy to look. I have a place in Bryson City (about 57 miles due west of Asheville, next to Cherokee, about 20 miles south of Gatlinburg). I've been wondering how orchids do up there, since I've never grown inside and will obviously have to when we move up there - at least during the winter. We don't have that much humidity, at least that I've noticed. Of course, when you've lived in Tampa for a long time it seems NO PLACE else has much humidity. At least I'll have a shot at growing cymb's, absolutely can't wait to try.

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E-Jag

[PhalPal]

Being a California girl to the core and having explored and experienced the Sierra's inside out, I LOVE the North Carolina mountains! They are just gorgeous, and in the spring there is nothing like them, but the summers - WOW - the humidity is a killer! We are having a 'humid' day today at 48% and it's all over the news. By 7 PM it will be down to a normal 35% and our world will once again be tolerable. E-Jag - you need to love humidity if you are living in Florida! E-Gads there is no escaping it and it stays humid even at night.

North Carolina is on our short list of places to retire; we will just leave and travel during the summer. I have spent many days in Gatlinburg and I hope it is still the delightful place it was 20 years ago. Any suggestions for retirement areas????

[E-Jag]

Phalpal,
Gatlinburg is definitely NOT the really cool place it used to be, but I guess no place is. It has been completely devoured by tourism. The area is still drop-dead gorgeous but the town itself is shoulder-to-shoulder tourists and tourist traps, motels, clip joints and con artists. Most every other place in that part of the Smokeys is probably about what you remember, though. My place is about half way up a mountain and looks down into the park. In the fall it's one of the most beautiful areas in the country. You really have to be country folk, though - Bryson City, for example, has a year round population of 2000. I could blather on seemingly forever but I think I've already 'jacked this thread. Take a ride through there sometime when you have a lot of time - Charles Kuralt called the Blue Ridge Parkway the most beautiful road in the United States.

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E-Jag