How can I make it look happy and healthy? Help

[dobexyeh]

Hi

I think my baby plant is called darling orchid. Does anyone know why there are some black spot on the flowers and buds? Is it because not enough sunlight or nutrients? My best friend gave it to me, so I really wanna make it happy and thriving!

Thanks for helping! I really appreciate it!

[Dimples]

That looks like a phalaenopsis orchid. I can’t say exactly why some of the flowers have black markings but it could be from mechanical/physical damage, mild cold damage, and flowers kept in high humidity or wet conditions can get a type of fungal infection called Botrytis.

More importantly, how do the roots look?

[dobexyeh]

I think the roots look healthy. I water it once per week using the soaking method like how I do with my succulents. I place it right next to the window (facing north).

[K-Sci]

The flowers look like they were mechanically damaged or kept wet for too long and got spotted. If you have been, don't spray water on flowers. There is no need to do anything unless the pots are actively growing larger.

There is no need to soak an orchid that is growing in sphagnum. If you soak sphagnum, there is a high risk of suffocating roots. The sphagnum should be moistened not sopping wet, then nearly dry when watered again.

The roots look great, but removing the plant from the pot may have caused small lesions that can become infected if put back in the pot with the media soaking wet. Let it become very nearly dry before watering again.

-Keith

[Dimples]

The roots do look pretty good, and soaking sphagnum moss is generally a bad idea for phals. in most indoor growing conditions. In the short term you can set the rootball on a dry towel to remove some of the water from the moss. That will allow air to reach the roots. Roots need water but they also need an airy environment. Water much more sparingly in the future. You want the moss to be damp, not wet, and allow it to dry out to the point that the top begins to feel a little crunchy.

If you have the skills to keep succulents alive and healthy growing indoors, you’ll do fine with your orchid once you learn what type of care they need.

---------- Post added at 08:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:43 PM ----------

Go read the first couple of pages of this thread, The Phal Abuse Ends Here. Lots of helpful information.

The Phal abuse ends here.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

I agree with all the above, especially the suggestion to brows the Phal. abuse sticky thread.

What temperatures are you giving it day/night? Is is likely to be much colder on the windowsill? Hybrid Phals prefer warm to hot temperatures.

Watering plants in sphagnum is different than in other media. Wait until the top of the moss is crisp dry before watering again. Run water over the top of the moss for only 1 second. You are not trying to soak all the moss; that is harmful, because it displaces all the air the roots need. The small amount of water will diffuse throughout the moss, providing water with plenty of air.

[dobexyeh]

Thanks for all your suggestions! I'll definitely check out that thread!

I have never sprayed water on the flowers part. I always water it below the leafy part of it. I place it right next to the window in a room with controlled temperature of 71F. As for the watering technique, i water it once per week, I keep adding water to the pot until the water is drained from the bottom. I thought I use the right technique cause I honestly did a lot of research after I received this baby plant haha but I guess it doesn't need much water 😅 I'll change my watering technique! Hopefully, the flowers will look better afterward!

Oh! Any suggestions on using fertilizer? Do I need it?

[Ray]

The number one, most important thing to learn about growing orchids is that they need lots of air at the roots, in addition to water. If the potting medium becomes saturated, it stops the air flow and suffocates the roots, killing them.

That is particularly easy to do with sphagnum, so “moistening” is more appropriate than “watering”, if you get my drift. Personally, I place plants growing in sphagnum in a shallow tray of water and let the moss wick the water upwards.

Yes, your plant needs fertilizer, but being such slow growers, they don’t need much. The formula is not critical, but keep in mind that nitrogen is, by far, the most important nutrient.

Divide 8 by the %N on the label; the result is teaspoons/gallon to use for weekly feeding. Feel free to round up or down a bit for measuring convenience. If you feed every two weeks, use 16/%N. Folks do so, but I recommend against longer intervals between feedings.

[Dimples]

Originally Posted by dobexyeh

As for the watering technique, i water it once per week, I keep adding water to the pot until the water is drained from the bottom. I thought I use the right technique cause I honestly did a lot of research after I received this baby plant haha but I guess it doesn't need much water

Hopefully, the flowers will look better afterward!

Phals definitely need water. Don't take our suggestions to mean that they want or need to be dry. Most of them are native to very wet/rainy/humid parts of the world, but they also need a lot of air around their roots. The goal is to balance the water vs air in the pot. Enough water that the plant can stay hydrated but not so much water that all/most of the air is driven out of the pot.

The watering method you described would be fine for phals planted in bark or other types of chunky media. Sphagnum moss sucks up water like a sponge so it needs a lighter hand.

Also, it's usually a good idea to water when the plants need it, not by a set schedule. This is especially important with sphagnum. I have all of my plants in the same type of bark and small pots get watered much more frequently than large pots because they dry out at different rates. If I watered on a schedule once a week, the plants in smaller pots would be perpetually dehydrated while the plants in larger pots would be fine. Give what is needed when it is needed.

The black spots on the flowers won't go away, but good care and growing conditions will allow the plant to produce new unblemished flowers in the future.

Fertilizer: less is more, but some is better than none. Ray's website has a lot of good info.