Please help me! My orchids are not doing well.

[Karela]

I have 3 orchids:

phal, paph and dendrobium

they all live inside my studio on a table in front of a north facing bay window.
low light conditions.
i water them once a week with 5-10 drops of generic Miracle Gro houseplant fertiliser.

they are all doing badly. i need some advice.

the images have all the other info. thanks for you help!!

[Karela]

more dendrobium pics

[mayres]

In short - more water and more light. To start with, a north facing window is probably not going to give you enough light to rebloom any of those plants - especially the dendrobium which needs a good half day of sunlight if possible. They all look like they could be underwatered - especially the phal appears to be in desperate need of moisture. They all appear to be in bark - did you plant them all in bark yourself? Orchids with small diameter roots generally should be planted in finer grade bark (both the paph and dend). Did you soak the bark before using? I'm wondering if your watering regimen is truly getting your media wet enough - you probably need to soak it for awhile during each watering period at this point - it looks very dry. I'm not sure how your fertilizer procedure matches up with orchid fertilizer - but watering with fertilizer weakly every time is one procedure that is used - say 1/2 to 1/4 strength. Typically the paph would want to remain more damp than the other two from my experience. The phal and paph could use a couple hours of morning sun a day and then light from an east window or filtered from west or heavier filtered and back from a south window - if not possible you are going to want to supplement with artificial light. No direct sun on the phal except very early morning. Start out by adding additional light slowly so as not to shock them. Back a few feet from a window with the sun shining through a sheer curtain works well for phals and paphs. Will let others chime in and wait for more comments/questions. They appear to have gone downhill quite a bit but still be easily salvageable to bring back to good health. mike

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Well, to start with, I don't see any big problems except for the Phalaenopsis, and this may not be a current problem. Certainly I don't like the yellow spots on the Den, but we would need a better picture to address any problem with those spots.

Paph: Be patient, any future flowers will come from the inmature growth, but these plants only bloom once a year, and the plant may take an extra year getting used to your environment. Indirect light, but as high as possible for indirect. A little direct early morning sun might be OK if the leaves don't get hot to the touch, luke warm is OK. Watering like the Phal will probably be OK.

Phal: Those leaves look like they may be permanently wrinkled from a former period of being let go too, too dry. The roots look good, and that is most of the problems with orchids. All of these plants should be watered very heavily by drenching the bark each time you water. None of this 'dribble a little' stuff. Then they should be allowed to get near to dry before watering again. When I say nearly dry, I mean less than damp, and certainly not moist. Phals normally set their bloom spikes in winter and bloom in the early spring. So you may have unreasonable expectations for the blooming of these plants. Short days and coolish nights help Phals set bloom spikes. Don't leave the lights on in the evenings. Bright indirect light.

Den: These guys need higher light than the other 2. You will have to find a better place for this plant than a north window. Losing leaves is normal for Dens. Many will retain leavevs for two seasons, but some do so for only one, and others hold their leaves longer. It depends on the genetics. While Dens are growing, water them like Phals, don't let them dry out completely. Once the last leaves open on the new growth, you can start to let the plant dry out between waterings, and during the dead of winter, let them go for a week or so dry. Soon as the new growth in the spring starts you can start to increase the watering. Your Den is of the warm growing (Phal) type. So don't change the temperature for winter. Your keiki is probably done growing for the year, and was too small to bloom on its own. Next years growth may get large enough to bloom. Your big Den may yet bloom this fall. The yellow spots may be an indication of mites. Mites are chlorophyl eaters, and usually leave a white sandy look to the leaves. If you are concerned about mites, use neem oil as a thorough spray, then keep the plants (do all three) out of strong light or heat for a few days. Cynthia