The Phal abuse ends here.

[hyprgrl79]

man, you are so awesome!!! thanks for responding so quickly!!! i figured i was just over-reacting... and that it wasn't a huge deal..

ummm but i do have a question though.. you mentioned the leaves in the two pics i posted are almost the ideal shade of green (aside from the slight yellowing)... well, my older orchids have a much more deep emerald green color to the leaves... the new leaves they're putting out are more of a spring green...

do the older leaves just naturally take on a darker green appearance as the plant ages?? or is that an indication that those plants are not getting enough light?? by all other indications (number of blooms/buds/new growth/roots) the darker green leaved orchids seem to be happy...

i just want to be sure the lighting is optimal for healthy growth...

thanks again!! you're the man, man!!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

New leaves typically come out lighter green than the older leaves and will usually darken with age.

The Phals in your 2nd set of pics could use a little more light, but not too much more. If you can't provide the more ideal level of light, it's not a big deal, they'll still bloom as the leaves aren't too dark green.

[dankcmo62]

I'm fairly new at this and have two that I bought from Home Depot or Lowe's that were already in bloom. Both have bloomed two more times. I have them in a south facing window. The watering instructions say to water once per week with 3 ice cubes which I have been doing.
Recently a few leaves have been wilting so I checked out this website and have found that they are best in a clear pot with drain holes. What they don't tell you on the instructions - at least that I remember or don't remember, is to remove the clear pot with drain holes from the decorative plastic pot with no drain holes. I didn't even know there was a clear pot inside. Once I removed, I found water sitting and some root rot. So I am sure this is something to consider when first purchasing. Maybe everyone already knows this but I didn't. Thanks

[Joy_of_books]

I have just started repotting my phals after a prolonged period of neglect on my part i know, i'm a bad mummy.
I have been using Schultz orchid food, it's a 17-31-19, and after reading this forum for a few days i think i need to switch. Any prefered foods you can recomend that won't empty my checking account lol.
I was thinking of trying "Grow More" the yellow one it's 20-20-20

If it helps i live in Miami, hot and humid, my 'chid's are hanging from a tree and get the morning sun and then shade for the rest of the day. They do dry out pretty quickly so i water pretty often. My Catt is thriving with very little care if that helps you figure out anything

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by Joy_of_books

I have just started repotting my phals after a prolonged period of neglect on my part i know, i'm a bad mummy.
I have been using Schultz orchid food, it's a 17-31-19, and after reading this forum for a few days i think i need to switch. Any prefered foods you can recomend that won't empty my checking account lol.
I was thinking of trying "Grow More" the yellow one it's 20-20-20

Hi.

While I generally advise that an orchid fertilizer be urea free for the general use of most types of orchids, with Phals it is not quite as critical. There is an article that shows evidence that research has demonstrated that Phals can readily absorb urea based nitrogen through their roots. It has been a long while since I've looked up the reference so I can't provide a link quite so readily, but it is still out there. You may be able to find it using Google Scholar.

In regards to other types of orchids and their ability to directly absorb urea based nitrogen directly through their roots...

I'm not quite certain what types, other than Phals, can or cannot. The evidence and/or research is simply not currently available to the general public as far as I know.

Regardless, like I alluded to, I like to advise that the fertilizer be urea free for the purposes of growing other genera/types/species of orchids.

Schultz may be a fertilizer that falls in the category of containing urea based nitrogen, I'm not sure. You should check out the label and make sure.

Same may go for the Grow More brand of fertilizer you're talking about (in terms of urea based nitrogen, of course ).

However, on the topic of NPK ratios, I think the NPK ratio of your Schultz fertilizer is fine. As is the NPK ratio of the Grow More fertilizer.

I'm sure this would give you an idea of what my opinions are as far as fertilizers are concerned. Any more detailed information may have to be provided by other more knowledgeable members either on this site or other forums.

Originally Posted by Joy_of_books

If it helps i live in Miami, hot and humid, my 'chid's are hanging from a tree and get the morning sun and then shade for the rest of the day. They do dry out pretty quickly so i water pretty often. My Catt is thriving with very little care if that helps you figure out anything

It does give a very rough idea of what is going on with your Cattleyas. I just happen to also have made a stop in Miami on my way to a few of the Caribbean islands in the past, so my understanding of Floridian climate is based on what I recall from my very brief time there. But as far as I know, in general, Miami weather should prove to be an ideal climate for many of the intermediate to warmer growing Cattleyas, provided there is no frost at all during the winter months.

Other than that, the information provided is not enough to give anyone a true understanding of how your Cattleya is really faring. Photos definitely help quite a bit. Other pertinent information would be numerical values for temperature and relative humidity. For factors that cannot be assigned a numerical value, such as air circulation, it usually helps to give a brief description of it. Although, light can be measured and given a numerical value, knowing it is not quite as critical as the "Big 2" I mentioned earlier. Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying though...I'm only referring to the numerical value of light; understanding the amount of light your orchid is receiving is very important. I hope the distinction between the 2 concepts is clear and understood, if not, please ask questions for clarification. Light measurements are good to know, however, and can be achieved by purchasing an appropriate, well made meter.

Hope this helps answer your questions.

[Joy_of_books]

Philip thank you, lots of useful info for me to mull over. I did look and my current fertilizer does have urea so I'll deffinately have to switch if I want to be more eclectic in my collection . I have to repot my phals tomorrow before it gets too hot so I'll try to take some pics of them then for further analysis.

Just want to say that I have learned more from this forum in the last week than I have in a LONG LONG time you guys all rock!

[Joy_of_books]

I found Superthrive in my local Home Depot, i don't want to over use it so any basic DOs & DON'Ts that i should know ?

Also i repotted some of the chid's this weekend so here's an album from flickr
The 'chid's

[georgeFH]

I have the typical orchid newbie problem. rotting roots from over-watering. After learning the basics on this board, I've replanted my mini-phal in a commercial bark mix, after trimming the dead roots and sprinkled with cinnamon powder. After several weeks, the plants is doing worse, two more leaves have yellowed and dropped off.
When i examined the roots, another one have died off.
The situation now is two semi-healthy roots, two new root bud developing, three leaves left and one tiny new leave developing.
I think the root system I have left may not be enough to support the leaves I have left.
I've repotted again today. This time I used a rooting hormone, Green Light powder, which suppose to contain an anti-fungal compound, and 0.1 hormone. I bought this before reading about the difference between liquid hormone such as KLN and water insoluble powder like what I have. But I think I got around this by dissolving a very small amount of Green Light powder in a couple of drops of rubbing alcohol, diluted with 1 gallon of water.
I soaked the bark mix in this solution, also soaked the plant in the solution for several hours to super-saturate it.
Now I have a clear plastic bag over the plant during the night, but leave it uncovered during the day. My reasoning is that the plant can get light and air flow during the daytime, and higher humidity during night, so the leaves lose moisture slower, and hoping i won't lose anymore leaves before the new root system develop. environment humidity is about 70%. with the bag over it, the humidity is about 90%.
Question is, is it a good idea to fluctuate the humidity like this?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Humidity can fluctuate within a certain range depending on the environment. Fluctuating humidity between 70% and 90% is not going to bother the orchid at all, imo.

Water soluble hormones are best. And you're really looking for a specific group of hormones called auxins. Auxins are the major players in root development in plants. Cytokinins play more of a role in the development of shoots than they do roots. One type of auxin would be IBA. Another one is NAA.

Down potting is usually the answer to root rot.

But if the root rot is too severe, yes, keeping humidity levels high is the key to growing new roots - hopefully.

[Wynn Dee13]

One thing I would like to tell people is to not put cinnamon powder on roots. Especially on healthy roots. It dries them out. You can put a little bit on the ends of cut roots but that is it. I actually don't use it on roots at all but some people do on the ends of cut roots. I have read that people have coated the roots in cinnamon powder and then they wonder why the roots died. Be careful with it around roots. Just my opinion!