How to care for Phalaenopsis?

[Taneoyee]

Hi Ladies and Gents,

Was given a phalaenopsis orchid, its beautiful, has three thick green leaves and to main shoots which have about 10 flowers on each!

I have just learned from after doing a search that I should not be watering the actual plant as it can rot!!

Only had it about a month, it has two other shoots which looked withered and dead - I have cut them? Not sure if I should have really!!

Just wondered if anyone has any advice and how often they should be repotted as this one looks like it may need it already!!

Thanks!

[WaterWitchin]

What medium is it presently growing in? Sphagnum? Bark? A mix?

---------- Post added at 08:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:59 AM ----------

It likely will need to be repotted, but since you're rather new to this (Welcome to Orchid Board) I would wait until it eventually drops its blooms unless the medium it's in is horrendous.

Seeing a picture of the medium would be helpful. Some have to wait 5 posts before putting up a picture, some don't. It's a software thing here, and I also think it has to do with where you're putting up the picture from (here vs. Flicker vs. Imagur vs. whatever hosting site).

Yes, try to keep from getting water in the crown of the plant (the middle where leaves come together).

[JScott]

It also wouldn't hurt to just slide it gently out of the pot so you can inspect the roots. Healthy roots will be white or green and firm and plump. Dead roots will be brown and will feel hollow, and the outer layer will easily peel off (orchid roots have a core, surrounded by tissue, then are covered with a layer of valeman, which is spongy and absorbs the water). In dead roots, only the core and the velamen will be left, and the dead velamen will easily pull away, revealing the wire-like core. So I would advise to check the roots. If you have a lot of dead roots, I wouldn't wait to repot. If the roots look good, you can wait until after it is done blooming to repot, however if the plant is growing in sphagnum moss instead of bark, you must water very carefully while you wait for the blooms to finish so you can repot. A picture will help us a lot. If it won't let you upload a picture now, just make a few responses to other people's threads (just stuff like, "Nice plant!" or whatever) until you have enough posts to post pictures.

---------- Post added at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:22 AM ----------

BTW, every time I buy a new plant, I always slide it out of the pot before I buy it to check on the root health. Usually nobody is paying enough attention to see me do it, but I've been yelled a couple times by store employees lol

[estación seca]

There is an excellent thread here on caring for Phalaenopsis. From the left yellow menu click on Forums, then Beginners. Near the top click on The Phal abuse ends here.