help w/ lots of little hand me downs

[morgan]

I have about 12 different types of orchids that i got from a friend of a friend, both dens and phils of many types. Most dens are very small but have good thick vibrante green roots. I root prunned the phils of the dry corky roots down to the fresher root area. I will post picks as soon as possible, im in the mid west so all this moving has been done in the winter. The medium they are in is like a chunky cedar bark, when and what should I fertilize?

[kmarch]

First of all, welcome to the forum megan! I think you'll find lots of kind helpful orchid folks here who would love to help you get your hand me downs growing and blooming!

I'd first recommend that you get some good culture sheets if you don't already have them. You can get both dendrobium and phalaenopsis (by "phil" did you mean "phal"?) here on this forum in the orchid culture section or form the AOS website at AOS | Home. These culture sheets will tell you what the conditions (temperature, water, light, etc) the orchid wants to grow and flower. Give the culture sheets a read and let us know if you have questions.

There are many different perspectives on fertilizing and you'll get most of them here. I do not fertilize my orchids, so there's one perspective already.

Enjoy your time here!

[patticake]

Megan! It sounds like you're doing well so far. Check out the sheets that kmarch suggested.