need help

[butterflies79`]

Hello Everyone.
I love flowers and plants but have had very little luck with keeping them alive. I got a white Phalaeonopsis and I replanted it with orchid mix. My apartment is super dry and I noticed that I water the orchid and then in 2 days I check and the potting is dry. I know that the biggest mistake is over watering your orchid. How often should I water the orchid. I noticed two bottom leaves are yellow???

thanks and I look forward to all your help.

[Judi]

Hi butterflies79, and welcome to the board! If your apartent is so dry, you should make sure you have humidity trays or some other way to get humidity around your phal, and make sure that heat isn't directly blowing on the plant. As for watering the phal, sometimes the top of the medium seems dry but the rest of the pot isn't, so see if the phal is dry most of the way down before you water it again. Phal's don't like to be kept wet, so give it a good soaking, and let it dry mostly before watering again. As for how often, there is nothing set in stone, it all depends on the plants surroundings. Good luck!

[(..._...)]

I find new mix dries out much faster than mix that is older. I have had the same problem with mine, so I mainly use moss now. For me, the ones that I do have in bark, for a while after I re-pot, I water the plant, set it down for half an hour, and then water it again. This helps it stay wet longer.

Im sure others have lots to say too, but I hope this helps.

Cam

[Kath]

I find a good way to know if your orchid need watering is to pick it up and if the pot feels light, it's a fairly good indicator that it could do with watering. It's not very scientific, but it works for me! Obviously if you have few orchids, which would seem to be your case, and mine, it works, but those with large numbers it's probably more complicated. I wonder how you know when to water when you've got 500 orchids! Any ideas??

[cday2inflorida]

If you have a Goodwill-Salvation Army sort of store in your area - You can pick up a used humidifier for a couple of bucks - good for the plants and great for your skin.

[camille1585]

I agree, new mixes tend to dry out quickly. How are you watering it? Unlike 'normal' plants in soil, it's best to water orchids by completely flooding the pot by either letting water run through the medium or soaking. Soaking seem to work well with freshly repotted orchids. I let them soak about 15-20 minutes, and they stay wet a bit longer.

As for how often to water, if your phal is in a transparent pot, this is fairly easy. Silver looking roots are dry, green roots still have enough moisture.

[RosieC]

I agree with Camille about clear pots. If the roots are dry they look Silver, if they are still green don't water.

If you don't have a clear pot another tip is to use a wooden spike which you insert into the medium right to the bottom (carefuly not to damage the roots). Leave it for a couple of hours an then remove it. If it is damp then you don't want to water yet. If it is dry then it needs more water.

I use the wooden spike used to support a flower spike. I leave it in all the time and just pull it out to take a look. I alway use the same hole in the medium so I know it's path through the medium is clear.

I also agree with Camille on how to water. You either want to soak or run water through, in both cases drain thoroughly afterwards.

As everyone has said how often depends on lots of things and if your bark is new or you are in very dry conditions then you will need to water more often than a more humid enviroment and/or older bark.