I'm a hot mess

[Subrosa]

If you're a serial over waterer consider semi-hydroponic culture.

[aliceinwl]

I use bark for my Phalaenopsis too. If pots are staying too wet and there aren’t a lot of roots I’ll down size. I also pot mine into clear plastic slotted pots, if I want them to dry out a bit faster I’ll put the plastic pot in a saucer if I want them to stay wetter longer, I’ll put them in a cache pot. The skewer method in the sticky at the top of the forum can be a useful tool while you’re getting used to gauging weight. If you pot in clear plastic you can use root color too (silver = water, green = wait). Sometimes you may find yourself only needing to water certain plants biweekly, especially if temperatures are cool or the plant is a bit overpotted.

A lot of orchids don’t have great roots when you buy them and sometimes the trauma of a repot / media change causes additional death. They usually bounce back fine albeit slowly. I’ve had really bad luck with Jiaho’s Pink Girls though, I lost both of mine to stem rot despite my best efforts.

[Mountaineer370]

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

I use bark for my Phalaenopsis too. If pots are staying too wet and there aren’t a lot of roots I’ll down size. I also pot mine into clear plastic slotted pots, if I want them to dry out a bit faster I’ll put the plastic pot in a saucer if I want them to stay wetter longer, I’ll put them in a cache pot.

I think this is an important point from aliceinwl. Any plant that is in it's pot, with that pot inside another pot, is going to stay wet longer (even that pretty decorative ceramic orchid pot I see in one of the pics). It's even more of an issue if the inner pot fits snugly inside of the outer or cache pot.

Since you are most likely having a problem with your orchids' roots staying too wet, you may want to consider using plastic pots with plenty of holes and/or slots and forego using the outer pots. Use a saucer under the pot to catch any drips, but otherwise, allow it to get the full benefit of air circulation.

I know they won't look as pretty, but it may be worth it if you start to notice a difference in their health. Mine are all in clear plastic pots with saucers. I will only use a outer pot if I have a large one that is in bloom and starting to get heavy on one side and needs some additional stability. In that case, I put the plastic pot into a clay orchid pot (it still has a few holes on the sides), and I make sure the outer pot is large enough to allow for at least a half-inch or so of space between the two pots. That's enough to keep the plant from tipping but still allows air flow.

Hey, you guys are scaring me now. I bought a Jiaho's Pink Girl in the spring, and two of you are not having good luck with them. Mine was in bud when I got it and later bloomed nicely. It's tiny, so I had repotted it into a three-inch clear plastic pot with a mix of small and medium Orchiata. It's one of mine that I water probably twice a week. It seems fine for now, but fingers crossed!

[Zoey339]

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

A lot of orchids don’t have great roots when you buy them and sometimes the trauma of a repot / media change causes additional death. They usually bounce back fine albeit slowly. I’ve had really bad luck with Jiaho’s Pink Girls though, I lost both of mine to stem rot despite my best efforts.

Oh man, don't tell me that. I'm already on foreign ground trying to save this thing.

quick question, the kelpmax stuff. Where do yall get it and is there a brand name? I looked on amazon and saw a few things with the name kelpmax.

I normally do use clear pots but in these two cases I either didn't have anymore left or none that size. All my pots have homemade vent holes in the sides.

[Dollythehun]

Originally Posted by Zoey339

Oh man, don't tell me that. I'm already on foreign ground trying to save this thing.

quick question, the kelpmax stuff. Where do yall get it and is there a brand name? I looked on amazon and saw a few things with the name kelpmax.

I normally do use clear pots but in these two cases I either didn't have anymore left or none that size. All my pots have homemade vent holes in the sides.

Ray sells Kelpmax. Order from him; he is a prompt shipper! I put my phals in clay because clay breathes.

[Mountaineer370]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Ray sells Kelpmax. Order from him; he is a prompt shipper! I put my phals in clay because clay breathes.

Yes, Dolly has good luck with clay pots, and I have heard of many other people using them successfully. It does breathe much better than a solid plastic or glazed ceramic pot, so that would certainly be an option.

One additional thing I wanted to mention about your two Phals with no roots. I have a Phal. stuartiana v. nobilis that I had bad luck with and it ended up not doing so well. It had a few good aerial roots but almost nothing below the surface, and the leaves were starting to wilt. It desperately needed rehab or it was going to die on me.

For six weeks or so, I would just set this plant, bare-root, in a shallow bowl of water, then empty the bowl each night so it could dry out. I did that until I started to see a couple new roots.

I then ended up making a pot out of a clear plastic hummus container. It's about five inches in diameter but only two inches deep. I filled the first half inch or so with Hydroton clay pellets, then filled the rest up with medium Orchiata. I buried a couple of aerial roots as best I could to kind of give the plant stability. I would have put some kind of little stakes or supports if needed, but it did okay without them. It has been in rehab like this since last May and is doing quite well. The leaves it had firmed up, it grew a new leaf, and I can see a number of healthy new root tips peeking out from inside the pot.

I will leave it in this very shallow pot for as long as necessary until I think the roots look healthy enough to go back into a more traditional shaped pot. I think a lot of orchids would be happier in pots that are wider than they are deep, when you think about how they grow in the wild. Their roots often spread out instead of just growing straight down.

[SouthPark]

I purchased my first phal last year in early November, which was immediately potted in 5 mm average diameter scoria. A mini phal. It was in bloom when I bought it, and it still has flowers on it even today - although a couple dropped off due to aging. The rest still look very good.

When I first bought it - it had mature leaves only. Today, the newest leaf is about 3 cm in length.

I water the media each morning by using a watering water-spray wand - showing regions of the media surface for a long enough time for water to get down deep into the media. The water drains out of a very good drainage pot.

Sometimes, if I know that the small diameter scoria pieces might block drainage holes (or if the small diameter scoria can fall through the drainage holes), then I have the option of adding a thick enough layer of larger scoria pieces to the bottom of the pot first. This is done before adding the smaller diameter scoria pieces. It also allows the bottom region of the pot to be quite nice and airy.

And - to ensure that the bottom of the pot has no chance of sitting in a puddle of drained water, it is possible to use something (eg. drainage grate Click Here) to keep the bottom of the pot at a level well above the bottom of the drainage dish. That's only if a drainage dish or tray is used.

A growing environment that has adequate air-movement at all times, combined with comfortable temperature and lighting levels will allow an orchid to grow very nicely.

A suitable growing media should be used of course, as well as using a suitable watering plan/schedule.

[SaraJean]

Hi Zoey! I see you are getting some good culture advice on here (and I definitely second the KelpMax). Have you been to one of the orchid society meetings? We have an orchid basics class before the regular meeting takes place.

[Zoey339]

Originally Posted by SaraJean

Hi Zoey! I see you are getting some good culture advice on here (and I definitely second the KelpMax). Have you been to one of the orchid society meetings? We have an orchid basics class before the regular meeting takes place.

No I havent. It's just a side hobby. Dont really think my addiction is bad enough to attend meetings. I would feel really out of place with just my basic phals

[SaraJean]

Originally Posted by Zoey339

No I havent. It's just a side hobby. Dont really think my addiction is bad enough to attend meetings. I would feel really out of place with just my basic phals

I hear ya. If you do ever feel like stopping by, just know that you won’t be out of place at all! We have several people that only have 4 or 5 Noid Phals from Lowe’s and are just trying to learn how to not kill them, others that have over a thousand orchids, and a bunch of us that fall somewhere in between. The orchid basics class is casual and taught by this lady who has a pretty laid back approach to her orchids that is really suitable to most people and very conducive to learning about the culture aspects of growing (some orchid growers can be pretty regimented like you must do it this way or you have to use this media, and I ain’t got time for that lol). Plus you can always bring your “problem children” in for some hands on tips. It’s a pretty welcoming group of folks