The Phal abuse ends here.

[silken]

Originally Posted by gingersmommy

Great; I am ready to get started as soon as my stuff arrives. I will pick up some seaweed, too. Do you use that in place of or in addition to orchid fertilizer (like Shutts)?

It is to be used with your fertilizer.

[gingersmommy]

Thank you!

[tsun1108]

Ok this is a very stupid question, I saw some kelp powder in human health food store where I live, would you be able to use them or does it have to come from horticulture / hydrophobic shops?

[Ordphien]

I think I remember someone mentioning the powder isn't very useful.

[silken]

i would assume the kelp for humans is much the same but the stuff for plants has instructions regarding how much to use which would be helpful. While the freeze dried stuff is considered not as good as liquid, my friend has used it for years and swears by it. There are still good auxins in it, maybe just not as many.

[gingersmommy]

I received the orchid pots and medium I had ordered and repotted half of my orchids yesterday. Those poor things have been through the war! I put them in much smaller pots than they had been in. They were way overpotted before. I think they need to rest for a long time and just recover.

When I was repotting them, I actually found another mealy. I thought I was done with those as I have resprayed about three times. They are insidioius and very persistent. I have been using Bayer Rose spray. Thanks for all of your help.

[DCWharton]

I got my first Phal a year ago for Valentines day. It was from Wal-Mart (yeah, I know but there aren't any growers in my immediate area to buy from) It was not in good shape, the plastic pot it came in was nothing but root and 4 pieces of bark. I patiently waited until it was done blooming to re-pot it. During the fall it grew a new leaf so I thought it was doing well but it shows no signs of blooming. What can I do to encourage it to bloom again?

[Ordphien]

Try more light, and cooler temps at night.

[dreamynights]

Hi all,

I posted about a month ago about my orchids being in the wrong pot and the original flowers falling off rapidly. I thought the flower was fine for a while since the flowers stopped falling off and had 3 buds forming. However, it seems like these buds will not bloom. One bud has already fall off and I believe the last two will soon.

Should I just cut off the spike so energy is not spent on the buds anymore? If so, what is the proper way to sterilize scissors? ex: can I just use rubbing alcohol on the scissors or would that harm the plant in any way?

Secondly, I still havent decided on a medium for repotting my plants! I wanted to do bark because it seems to allow more air for the roots. After reading though I think a bark/moss combo would be best since my orchid is currently in all moss. I have been looking at Repotme but didn't realize there were such high shipping fees which really adds up! They really advertise their bark/moss as special and high-quality. I'm wondering if there is really a big difference from moss/bark from lets say Home Depot? ("Better-Gro" Brand)

Currently I am looking at the option of getting
-All Purpose Monterey Bark Imperial Orchid Mix from Repotme and mixing that with Better-Gro moss from Home Depot
- Better-Gro Phalaenopsis Mix from Home Depot

[Ordphien]

I would cut the spike.

And I use the Sphag and bark from homedepot. It's working out just fine.
Had been for a few years now.
I flame sterilize on my stove top.