looking to get feedback on overall condition of my orchids! lots of pics / questions!

[brian091481]

Hello everyone! This will be my first time posting on these boards and boy do I have lots of questions. In this thread I will be posting several pictures of the 5 orchids I own. Some pictures will show new growth, the roots, discoloration of leaves, etc etc...... I am hoping that you guys will look through these pics and mention any problem that you see. Thanks so much!

[brian091481]

part 2!

[brian091481]

The last picture I have attached is of the fertilizer I just started using, what do you guys think?

[Gin]

Well Brian !I think they look ----------Great! beautiful clean leaves just the one has a bite out of a leaf not a big deal . any idea what could of done it ?
Welcome to the board Gin

[brian091481]

Thanks Gin, great to be here! I am not sure what caused the bite mark...my wife and I normaly put our hot tea right around the area where that leaf is. I'm not sure if that is the culprit, but if you take a look at photo orch3-3 it shows one of the new leaves for that plant and if you notice it looks like that same mark is showing up on the same corner. I swear I see that happening, but I am sort of a spaz when it comes to my orchids, I LOVE THEM! You didn't notice anything else wrong with any of them?

[lobsterman]

Brian...welcome.

Your plants are beautiful! Great collection in my perspective. I did notice some intermittent blooming on one of the Dens as if some blooms had fallen off? But other than that, I have about 10 Phals. and always have little leaf issues here and there. I'm proud if they have your color in their leaves. Don't stress it!

Can't speak for the fertilizer.

[Connie Star]

They all look very healthy. I would suggest getting a specific fertilizer for orchids, and dilute it according to the directions. The regular houseplant fertilizer is too concentrated, especially if you put it directly from the bottle onto the potting medium.
The basic advise is to water them by soaking them. I put a paper towel over the sink drain and use the sink spritzer to give them a gentle shower- okay I do that about once a month and the rest of the time I water with a can (about twice a week). I spritz daily, or almost. The advise with fertilizer is to fertilize "weakly, weekly". I've been growing orchids for a year and I'm up to 50+. Be careful, you'll get hooked!
There is a lot of information on this board. It's great!

[brian091481]

Thanks Lobsterman and Connie.

Lobsterman, I'm not sure what you mean about intermittent bloomin, if you get a chance can you let me know which picture that is in. Both of my dens are not blooming and don't show any signs of it. This, of course, is in my amateur eyes! Infact, I was wondering if they were dead? Once the flowers went away, they both grew new stalks, as shown in the pics, but I fear they wont flower again. Is there anything I can do to make sure they flower?

Connie
Thanks for the fertilizer advice! I have a pretty routine watering system now that involves me running water through them in the sink for a couple minutes and then letting them drain out for 10 minutes or so in the dish rack! I was mixing 10-20 drops of fertilizer with water and then pouring that over the soil at the end. However, now I will go to the local plant store and buy some orchid fertilizer. 50 is so many! Wow!

[Orchid126]

First off, the plants look very healthy and well grown. However, the dens (first post 2-1 and 2-2)are in pots too large. Dens bloom better with tight shoes and very low nitrogen. They need pots so small they look like they might topple over and need to be kept in larger pot "sleeves".

In post No.2 pic 3-3 and 3-9, the phal looks double crowned. You have two plants there and you might consider separating them.

In the third post, pics 5-3 and 5-4 show white spots that almost look like scale. It's hard to tell if it's fertilizer or hard water residue or insects.

If all you can get is Miracle Grow, use the fertilizer for tomatos.

Nice growing! Keep up the good work.

[nenella]

They look very good, the 'bite' is not an issue .. and even if you have 2 plants in one pot they look fine for the moment - I would not separate them just yet as both flowering & look healthy... even though lots of people would....
as far as watering.... again you will get different opinions on this. I prefer to give my plants a thorough good soak (10 mins) & then drain - rather than run water through them ( I do 'flush' the medium every now & again with this method)