The Phal abuse ends here.

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

I just stumbled across the most amazingly comprehensive website:

Phalaenopsis Species
Ecology, Morphology and Cultivation

A few sections of the site are not in english, but most of it is.

This section is what I'm reading now:

Habitat Distribution and Ecology of Phalaenopsis Species

That's a fabulous website. Thanks for posting it.

[katgyrl]

Ok, so here is the link to a photobucket album with all my orchids. The first several are my "problem" phals that are in my bathroom. The rest are all newer so they haven't cropped up with problems...yet. I put descriptions in the pics with more info on each plant! I would HUGELY appreciate any suggestions!

My Orchids pictures by katgyrly - Photobucket

[silken]

katgyrl, I have seen worse looking phals! It makes me wonder if you aren't watering them enough. They should never have direct sun or sun that makes their leaves feel warm to the touch. That will sap their moisture and burn the leaves. A clay pot will dry out faster than plastic since it breathes and new bark doesn't absorb moisture and well as bark that's been potted for a while. With the roots on the 2nd one, I don't really know why the leaves are droopy other than under-watering. Usually about once a week works for me. And then I run a lot of water thru the pot. I use some moss with my bark, but others have problems with moss, so it's whatever works for each person. The roots are usually green when wet and silver when dry so you can see when its time to water thru clear pots. I like to stick a kebab skewer in the centre of each pot and leave it there. Pull it out and see if it's wet or dry before watering. Then put it back in the same place you had it so as not to poke holes in the roots every time. If it is moist, don't water.
Also, the plant should be potted so that the crown is sitting on the bark, not way above. If the roots were growing in the media, they should stay there and air roots can stay outside the bark and be misted now and then.

You could buy some Dyna-Gro KLN rooting solution and add it to the water to help treat the one with root problems.

Your bulb type orchid looks like it is an oncidium type, of which there are many, many crosses in that group.

[Rowangreen]

I think you have two Oncidium alliance/bulb types? I think the second one could possibly be a Colmanara Wildcat, they have bulbs that shape (I have a noid one... but there may be others have that shape too)

And unless you use different names in the States, I think you have a cyclamen not a calendula?

[silken]

Without seeing a bloom, the oncidium bulbs can't really be guessed at any further than that they belong to the oncidium group. They all look pretty similar for the most part.

That is a cyclamen. Calendula are very different daisy like plants!

[katgyrl]

LOL! Yes, those are cylcamen! :P I knew something felt funny about the name calendula when I was typing it. There's that pregnant brain working again. :O

Thank you for all the tips!

I am watering my orchids once a week - I stick them in the sink and run water through them - but maybe I need to water more often? Or run more water through them? I have been trying not to over water to prevent another mold infestation (I get mold really easy on everything where I live. We even had our plastic highchair randomly mold up in our garage last winter). I did notice that the clay pot seems to be drying out more quickly, that's good to know that's expected. And thank you for letting me know they should have their crown planted right on the bark!

And thank you for that tip with the skewer! I think I may try that. It's hard to tell sometimes even through the clear pots if the bark is dry or not.

I guess I'll have to wait until my Oncidium blooms to know more what they are! At least now I have a starting point. Thanks!

[silken]

Originally Posted by katgyrl

And thank you for letting me know they should have their crown planted right on the bark!

I hope you understood my comment about the crown correctly. Attached are several pictures of the base of the Phal and where it sits on the media. If still in doubt, maybe examine some in the grocery store or wherever you see some. The leaves and where they attach to the base should not be buried.
Good luck with them and congrats on being pregnant!

[CWMorrow]

Originally Posted by silken

If so, sometimes giving them a bit of a chill in the fall for a month will help induce them to bloom. By a chill, I mean maybe about 55 or 60 degrees as opposed to room temps.

I kept phals in an unheated room with the window cracked for a year or so. They bloomed quite a bit.

[Rowangreen]

Katygyrl, for pics of my noid oncidium pulbs see here: http://www.orchidboard.com/community...tml#post451459

The noid Wildcat definitely has a more apple shaped as opposed to pear shaped pulb!

Meanwhile, I said I'd post pics illustrating my question about different leaf shapes in phals....

1 is phal A, from the top, 2 is phal B from the top. Then phal A from the side, and phal B from the side.

Phal A is the one I was talking about: found thrown out with remains of white flowers with a red lip.

B was also found thrown out. No flowers when I got it, but the mottling on the new leaf makes me wonder if they are going to be patterned!

Both have leaves that seem firm to the feel. I guess conditions might make a lot of difference, but I'm still wondering if the difference is partly due to parentage. I've also since seen one at someone's house (so no pics...) with really fat rounded oval leaves.

[jmce96]

Originally Posted by Jeffery

I have not been here for a while, but still love the Orchids. Once a very proud owner of some very beautiful Phals, my current number now is a big fat 0, all my other none Phals are growing very nice, but it just blows my mind the claim of Phals being the easiest Orchid to grow has eluded me. I have tried keeping them in there original potting material, changing them over to a faster drying medium, added this, added that, took away this and to no avail, I failed miserably, the roots either rotted or dried out, I would move them from one window to the next depending on where I thought they would get the best lighting, I have used a moisture testing device and still failure. I use to think I was such a Mr. Greenthumbs, man was I wrong.

***the same happens to me! its frustrating, i cant grow phals, ive killed several, and the rest of my orchids grow perfectly