I am starting to give up on orchids

[aries23]

Hello All,( I have north facing windows I am guessing) When the sun hits in the morning its directed towards the right and in the evening its directed towards the left??)

I have been buying orchids and my Husband has been buying more and more each time one dies to make me happy ... but I am getting to the point when I am so upset and Frustarated. Right now all I have left is a phal in coconut husk and bark mix that I am afraid to water it. And I have a cute mini phal as well, not doing well she had a small spike may e bout 1/3 of an inch and hasnt grown.
Is their any types of orchids that grow in low light?


" I am very excited!!! for the first time in one year I have seen root nubs on my Dens I have sort of mounted outside hanging upside down. In fact to be exact this is what I did. T-Rex Crab Island Climbing Background and rolled it up but left the inside big enough to put the dens in. At the time when i did this all roots were just white not any green ones after having the plant indoors. I placed spanish moss on the roots. I hung it upside down for two weeks. I was afraid to water it but i did about two or three times in that time frame. It got alot of sun (direct sun) in the evening and in the morning. And to my surprise I look today and bam new green root nubs , the cutest little things I have ever seen , and one of them had a keikel I think too. I am so happy my hard work and commiment and ...some most of them dying on me.. Finally I get a huge reward..... yaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy. But with this being said this means my dens do need direct sunlight, but i dont know what I will do come the winter time because I will have to bring them inside , where they will probably die..The dens are phal type ones."

Now on another subject, I have my phal that was just doing fine, hasnt died but hasnt grown new roots, the roots are still green. only part that is brownish or black is a little tip on some of the roots thats it.
well i go to give its weekly or more then a week soaking with fertilizer and maybe not sure I think i might have left it for too long. So yesterday I put it by the patio door inside so it can reciev more light. When i look at it today it has fuzzy mold on two roots . Not alot but I was so depressed So now that one is outside where it can recieve nore light as well!

I have not mentioned I have a phal that is in isolation because it has those bugs that make the whitish substance and they are white as well. I dont know how i can possibly get rid of them I thought I did when I first saw it but now dont know what to do! there is alot of them!! on that one it has 6 leaves. It was spanish moss as well but the moss is so dry that the roots are dead. two areial roots but not sure if those are dead too!!

Please help me with some of my questions. Also can I use coconut bark from the pet store on the phals instead of sprmoss? Or anything else from the pet store??

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Phalaenopsis are in my opinion the worst orchids for beginners.

Phals are a beginner's nightmare, and is one of the types of orchids where many of the myths about orchids being difficult to grow come from.

It's good that you are realizing that there are other alternatives to explore as a beginner!

In fact, yes, there are quite a number of shade growing orchids that you can easily grow at home (indoors or outdoors, depending on your climate).

Have you ever considered growing Zygopetalum?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

There are also very many easy to grow orchids that grow in bright conditions too.

Cool and warm, doesn't matter. There're a few that are easy in these temperature ranges too.

Name what your intended growing condition(s) are like, and you'll get tons more suggestions.

[bdelfiero]

I started with Phal since I love the elegance of its flower. I almost killed one of my phals because I really don't know which medium was appropriate to avoid root rot. Until I tried LECA in a clear plastic pot to see the development of the roots and how to respond with the orchid needs. Right now my Phals are doing great, there are some in s/h and some in just plain LECA and they are loving it. Since I grow my phals outside, I water them every 2 to3 days, depends on the weather, but mostly the temperature here is always 92 degrees.


If you are growing indoors, you can try to water the LECA every 4 or 5 days, just see if the medium is close to dryness, it depends on your condition, but I think using a transparent pot will allow you to adjust with your orchid needs.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Sedirea japonica. Just remembered it.

[WhiteRabbit]

What kind of light can you provide ? Many can do well on windowsills. As to watering your phals - I have had lots of trouble with rotting roots on phals - I just now seem to be 'getting it' with them. I have bamboo skewers in all my orchid pots, and for Phals I let them get just about dry before watering them again.

[RJSquirrel]

ahh dont give up on orchids..give up on them store phals and you might find they are actually fun when the blooms are done I think most of us been thru the phal killing thing.(I have 6 in I.C.U myself). All the other kinds of orchids I have are doing wonderful by most standards that wonderful can measured by. The truth is most times the phals are dead already with no roots and theres nothing you could have done anyway..I tell myself this all the time and It works for me

I agree with king on phals arent for starters..and the topic is well traveled here and there and everywhere..

Phals are easy to mass produce and why you see them everywhere not because they are easy IMO to get to do well..Of course you will always have those who have the "touch", everything to them is so easy we are Cavemen to them

[catasetum-ian]

phals on coconut husk sounds good to me...i grow mine on coconut husk as well, and most of my bulbophyllums on coconut husk. for beginners i do not recommend heavy sphagnum moss covering the roots, easily end up with root rot.
water them when the its about to dry, do not cover the root with too much bark in it. give them good aeration for roots, i like coconut husk because they provide moisture and yet do not drown the roots.
i grow my phals on coconut husk bare rooted...i just mount them on it and i water them twice daily (my weather here is hot and humid all year round)
dun give up on orchids, i killed my first catastum as well, we learn from mistakes. frequent orchid board and post question to learn more, they are pretty helpful here. now i wouldn't think twice to by back bulbs cutting of catasetum anymore, so far all the back bulbs i purchase grows! dun give up

[Connie Star]

[QUOTE=King_of_orchid_growing;323725]Phalaenopsis are in my opinion the worst orchids for beginners.

Phals are a beginner's nightmare, and is one of the types of orchids where many of the myths about orchids being difficult to grow come from.

Gee, I have had great luck with Phals since getting hooked on this hobby 16 months ago. A couple of things might account for my success- I've bought most of them in flower, pretty much left them alone except for H20 and fertilizer and all the ones I bought in flower have re-bloomed or sequentially bloomed. I live in the Northeast where light is lower and they are behind an unused slider with the screen in front of them in a solar south facing window.
It just goes to show that everybody's conditions are different. I don't do as well with dens and catts

[aries23]

Originally Posted by RJSquirrel

ahh dont give up on orchids..give up on them store phals and you might find they are actually fun when the blooms are done I think most of us been thru the phal killing thing.(I have 6 in I.C.U myself). All the other kinds of orchids I have are doing wonderful by most standards that wonderful can measured by. The truth is most times the phals are dead already with no roots and theres nothing you could have done anyway..I tell myself this all the time and It works for me

I agree with king on phals arent for starters..and the topic is well traveled here and there and everywhere..

Phals are easy to mass produce and why you see them everywhere not because they are easy IMO to get to do well..Of course you will always have those who have the "touch", everything to them is so easy we are Cavemen to them

I actually bought a very nice orchid at the orchid show and it died as well!