175???
I saw a florist window today - had all these big white phals in a mountain of moss.
makes it look expensive...
wonder if you could check the roots of other stuff he has for sale-

anyway most likely those 175 $ phals are form the same 2 or 3 nurseries that sell to Home Depot etc...

like Kerry's
or costafarms...
i wonder why they put the Dendrobium in wood or coconut and the Phals in moss...

so you can replace for under $20... maybe less.

anyway I am a novice myself - I got one DTPS / phal form Ikea - had beautiful blooms but the roots were badly damaged - tried to save it but no way. had so many blooms more than everything on sale tehre.

now i tend to buy either species from ebay [4/6 bucks each - got equestris, mannii, bastianii from larry's orchids - 3 very ok - one had some root rot]...
so anyway I suggest you to buy some on sale for 1 or 2 dollars [usually no blooms]. or Trader Joe's or whatever big store - anyway as I said they most likely come from Costa farms and kerry's, whose labels state that it is ok to throw the plants away as they will grow more!!!
anyway from your first photo i got the impression that where you put the plant was a bit dark. and also
these florists always use huge pots that never dry up fast enough...
I also would suggest to get a Dendrobium - they seem less finnicky and way more resilient than Phalaenopsis. and if one cane dies tehre is always new growth, somehow they regenerate themselves more than Phalaenopsis.

Although I do agree that Dendrobiums tend to be more forgiving and regenerate faster than a Phalaenopsis. The trick with Dendrobiums is that they don't like being grown in moss at all (in fact many Dendrobiums in the wild aren't found with moss, they're found growing on the bark of trees itself or amongst lichen, not moss) and you have to find the ones that don't go dormant. Dendrobiums that are related to Den nobile and their hybrids go dormant. Many novice growers aren't aware of this and aren't ready to take on such unusual behavior in a non-bulbous flowering plant.

This is why Dendrobiums aren't really recommended to total beginners.

If you're a beginner and luck out with the Dendrobium phalaenopsis hybrids and the Dendrobium hybrids that contain Dendrobiums in the section Spathulata, then you don't have to worry about the plant going dormant and becoming deciduous because they're evergreen.

Trust me, if you've never grown orchids before, it's mind boggling trying to figure out which ones go dormant and which ones don't. Then there's trying to figure out what characteristics constitute for the plant starting dormancy.

I agree with King -
now i have a few dendrobiums and i guess will have t to see which ones go dormant and which ones not.
But my point was that those mass market Dendrobiums are sold potted in bark or coconut slabs.
if the Phals at the same store on sale on teh same shelf would be sold potted in the same media they would have more chances. Usually the more upscale the florist the more moss i see in an even larger pot.
more money more moss same Phal that you can but at Home Depot.

Anyway the Dendrobiums from costafarms or kerry's are usually Dendrobium phalaenopsis from Thailand - so probably can be cared more or lessas Phalaenopsis...
anyway i was looking for a couple of pieces of birch firewood to mount my box store phals. I mounted one on half coconut husk and hung it sideways like phals in the wild.
oconut husk is great because once dry you can open some cracks and sticks the roots in the fibers...

Anyway, I wonder what is this moss fixation with expensive florists...

I called the florist this morning, they offered me another orchid but I declined so they gave me a store credit for the value, I'm not too keen on another overpriced orchid potted in moss! They sell homeware and gardening equipment so I'll use the credit on something that isn't going to drop dead on me!!

Stefpix the 'before' photo I posted was taken in the evening, the area it was in is brightly lit all day.

I'm going to look at orchids today, there are a few highly recommended stores nearby so I'm going to see what they have to offer/how they're potted.

Thank you everyone for the advice. One positive is this was a learning experience and there is so much helpful info on this forum, so I can start with a fresh orchid and be a little less clueless!!

Great news that they've given you credit!

Really glad it's not put you off orchids as well. As you have said, treat it as a learning experience and try again. You'll soon be as addicted as the rest of us. :biggrin:

:iagree:
I think you made a good decision on getting a store credit.
You will find there are a lot of good orchids available for reasonable prices and a lot of nice people willing to help you along the Orchid Way.
Good luck and let us see what new plants you get.

Nice follow up and getting the store credit, glad that worked out. Now buy a new phal, and a chair to sit in and gaze at it... Ha. Good luck with the next one, and let us know what your next orchid is, and we'll do a great learning experiment!

yeah store credit is great -
probably that phal cost to the store was 10 $ or less...

I am not sure what you can buy in canada... what are the options -
I got some very good stuff off ebay - but from within the USA...

if you could try a reed steem epidendrum

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...hag-n-bag.html

scroll down and look at purple flowers in vase!

Reed-Stem Epidendrum Culture

and Bletilla striata

Bletilla - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

you can buy those for real cheap like 3 / 4 dollars and grow in soil

then buy a Phal at some store - but check teh roots before you buy...
And if you have Trader Joe's in Canada you can pay less than elsewhere. You could get Phalaenopsis + Dendrobium phalaenopsis [the flowers kinda look like Phalaenopsis - just smaller]...
I did buy a reed stem epidendrum on ebay and I chopped off the top when I opened the box - a mistake...
the plant is doing very fine and started growing side growth...
I put the 5/6 cm cutting in a jar with water - maybe it can grow roots... in a month or more has not wilted...

Bletilla striata is actually a great choice for a beginner.

It's sold like a common variety bulbous flowering plant. And it can be treated as such because they grow in woodland areas in top soil and leaf litter near streams.

They can tolerate cold weather going down to 45 F and can tolerate heat up to 100 F. These go dormant in the winter, but it's easy to figure out because they behave like bulbs, and just have their leaves die back leaving behind an underground tuber. The cool thing about the tuber is that it's a stem tuber and not a root tuber so they're easier to handle.

Reed stem Epidendrums are good choices for beginners too, no dormancy period, no deciduous habits, no fuss.

Both Bletilla striata and the reed stem Epis like bright indirect light btw.

anyway I mounted some dollar NOID phals rescued from Lowes on some coconut husks.
got some free.
cPanel Went to the west indian part of brooklyn bought a 2 dollar coconut that i drank and i could pick whatever discared husks I wanted.

washed in dish soap / hot water / boiled / took nut off the husk with a screw driver.
easy to use as mounts - but easy also to peel off the fibers and cut them with scissors [or was wondering if they could be ground in a coffee grinder! when i was in Jamaica I met some locals that used the grinder not just for coffee beans!].
anyway - I noticed on Kerry's site that their thai Dendrobiums are potted in coconut husks - a few pieces in a 4 inch pot. and the roots grow thru the husk you can crack the husk and stick roots in it - they will stay in place and wont be squeezed.
anyway the trini lady gave me a few of those west indian fruit related to Lychee and Ranbutan [saved teh seeds] and a couple of pieces of sugar cane with dormant roots to poot [in plantations sugar cane gets buried flat and multiple shoots come up from each joint, asexual reproduction only for plantations.]
- a bit off topic - included a photo of my topless reed stem epi that is growing something that looks as either keikis or aerial roots? is it normal that there are so many? or is it just because i beheaded it?

you can see all the photos here
slideshow
Picasa Web Albums - stefanog - coconut water...
album
Picasa Web Albums - stefanog - coconut water...