New member

[windowsill]

Thanks!! Just picked up a cheap used aquarium stand to try and increase the amount of" prime real estate " in front of my already crowded windowsill.
The orchids I have have been extremely tolerant of being placed in this spot of intense sun. Morning sun only, as the window luckily faces east.
I'm hoping for more "rescues", but don't have the patience.
Gonna slap a piece of wood on top of this stand and start hunting for some bargain orchids.
Hopefully, with some advice from everyone here, I can assemble a beautiful display in the kitchen.

[SpclK]

Originally Posted by windowsill

I'm hoping for more "rescues", but don't have the patience.
Gonna slap a piece of wood on top of this stand and start hunting for some bargain orchids.
Hopefully, with some advice from everyone here, I can assemble a beautiful display in the kitchen.

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Outside of buying orchids at our orchid society meetings and orchid society shows, the two main stores from where I've obtained my orchids are Kroger and Trader Joe's. I buy the "Manager's Special" orchids that were marked down for a quick sale. I bought my Den. Phalaenopsis hybrid from Kroger a little over a year ago. Trader Joe's used to sell "exotic orchids", e.g. miltoniopsis, oncidium, odontoglossum, phaiocalanthe, etc., but they haven't carried them in a couple years. Lowes and Home Depot have been known to carry some hybrids of phalaenopsis, dendrobiums, cattleyas, and vandas; you can check with the store to see if they still have some left.

I want to encourage you to become a member of the Greater Cincinnati Orchid Society. They're very helpful and welcome new members. Incidentally, their next meeting is this coming Tuesday evening; 6P Beginners meeting and 7P Regular meeting with the topic being "What Your Orchid is Telling You". GCOS joins our orchid society once a year for our annual picnic and auction in June. Some of the members of GCOS are also members of our society. Click here for details about GCOS.

While I'm at it, I invite you to our orchid show a week from this Saturday and Sunday which starts at 10A. Click here for details. The Mid America Orchid Congress will be held concurrently; details are here. I'll be there both days so please hunt me down; ask around for Kay. Lastly, GCOS is having their orchid show at the end of this month. Details are here.

[windowsill]

Wow! Good to know about local events and members, too. Thank you very much, Kay!
Couple quickie questions.... Is it best to wait for the end of blooming cycle before administering a fertilizer to promote vegetative growth?
Days are starting to get longer now, and I presume new leaves should be starting to make an appearance in the next few months. I've never fertilized any of my orchids, and was wondering if it is too early to do so. All 4 of my orchids are in full bloom Could you recommend an appropriate fertilizer and when best to apply?
Thanks, again!

[SpclK]

Originally Posted by windowsill

Wow! Good to know about local events and members, too. Thank you very much, Kay!
Couple quickie questions.... Is it best to wait for the end of blooming cycle before administering a fertilizer to promote vegetative growth?
Days are starting to get longer now, and I presume new leaves should be starting to make an appearance in the next few months. I've never fertilized any of my orchids, and was wondering if it is too early to do so. All 4 of my orchids are in full bloom Could you recommend an appropriate fertilizer and when best to apply?
Thanks, again!

You're welcome for the info. That's basically how I became a member of our society; a former president/vice president of our society saw me glancing at the exotic orchids, commented to me about them, and told me about the society and invited me to attend a meeting. Previous to me meeting this person, I bought a few phals from Kroger and four phals from Home Depot that quickly died after repotting them. If memory serves me correctly, I ended up buying one or two of the exotics. That's right... the Orchid Bug bit me! (Hence my signature) A few months after my first meeting, I entered four orchids to the MVOS show and received a 3rd place ribbon on one of them! I was very blessed and humbled to even have one of my orchids place at the show! I give credit to my Heavenly Father for this honor.

As for your question concerning fertilizer, I'd give them a blooming fertilizer as long as you still have blooms or buds; give them 1/4-1/2 strength of the directions of the fertilizer. (Other members, do you concur? Please comment.) Only use fertilizer that doesn't get its nitrogen from urea, as orchids don't have the means to absorb the nitrogen in this way. Once the flower spike starts turning yellow or brown from the top down, cut it off and start the other fertilizer the next time you water your phals.

[Roberta]

I don't think that the "bloom" vs "grow" fertilizers do anything useful. The so-called "bloom" formula is low in nitrogen which may slow vegetative growth, but does nothing at all to promote "bloom". Ray has talked about the history of this in another thread awhile ago...

My take on it is if you want less growth, just cut back on the fertilizer. But orchids (and especially Phals) are growing vegetatively pretty much all the time, and so need fertilizer all the time. Orchids that need a rest period (such as some of the deciduous Dendrobiums) don't want any fertilizer at all during that time. But Phals don't have a "down" time. (Not only are they always growing, they're also always
rooting which is why they don't care when they are potted, even in bloom) I totally agree on the 1/4-1/2 of whatever it says on the bottle. Orchids grow slowly and so have very low fertilizer needs.

I also doubt the "no urea" bit... orchid roots do contain bacteria that can break down urea (and other organic nitrogen-containing compounds) This is reasonable... in nature, they get their fertilizer from the breakdown products of detritus in the trees above them, which washes down. I think that I can guarantee that neither ammonium ion NH4+ nor nitrate N03- ions are present unbound in that "bath". Clearly orchids CAN utilize organic nitrogen because that is what they get in nature.

[windowsill]

So I'm reasonably safe then, to fertilize lightly once a month regardless of growth cycle. Good.
I've noticed a flower spike on one orchid, after being cut back, didn't rebloom, but didn't turn brown either. It produced a small bud on it's last node before the cut, but this bud has failed to do anything. " ?????? " This orchid has produced another very thick and healthy flower spike full of blooms.

[Roberta]

Fertilize at lower concentration more often. "Weakly weekly" is a good guideline. In an ideal world, a dilute fertilizer with every watering mimics what happens in nature. But once a week, or every 2 weeks is fine.

Once a Phalaenopsis spike has bloomed, what happens when you cut it below the bottom flower (or for that matter if you don't and just leave it) is highly variable, depending on the vigor of the plant but also its parentage - some species in the background of hybrids tend to branch, others don't. Sometimes depending at least partly on parentage, you may also get a new growth, complete with roots (a keiki, Hawaiian for "baby") that is capable of living as an independent plant once it matures a bit. If you are getting a new spike, Congratulations!

[windowsill]

O.k. Thanks. Here's a pic. So..... Nuttin' special. Got it.

[Roberta]

That is a healthy-looking plant.

Any extra blooms on those spent spikes are a bonus - may or may not happen. If you can stand the appearance, I'd suggest just letting the spikes that have finished blooming stay there, watch and see what it does. If the spike turns brown and crispy, you know it's done. While still green, it could still have surprises.

[windowsill]

Thanks for the compliment. I lucked out I guess with my window location and my periodic overnight root soakings. Humidity is pretty much a constant 50 to 60 percent from heat in the winter and a/c in the summer. After the soakings every other night, the plants really started showing well.
I guess this helps them deal with low humidity.
About once a week I allow them to "dry out" completely until they feel" light".(about 3-4 days)
A little trial and error and I'm confident enough to get a couple more going on my sill area. Never thought I would be so excited to watch plants grow!
Can't wait to provide a little proper fertilizer.
I have a little experience with tomato gardening (a very little) and was a smidge intimidated with the orchids.
Gonna try to make some time to check out the local show (thank you Kate!) and pick up a couple more plants.