It sat in water!!!! Help!

[scy]

I would not recommend Miracle Gro Orchid Mix, because it's too fine for phals. The Miracle Gro is better suited for terrestrials. You need an airier medium.

[Leafmite]

Hi!
Sounds as if you are already very competent. I was very glad to read that there are good roots. The orchid will do fine and recover quickly, don't worry, once you get the right medium. The conditions in which Miracle grow orchid mix works for most orchids mystifies me. If you can't find a better bark or bark mix, phals will grow nicely in other things such as lava rock, clay pellets (for hydroponics) and even mounted. The idea is to give those roots air while providing some moisture retention and humidity. Because of my conditions, I grow every orchid in lava rock (the vanilla just has some other things added to the mix, including the Miracle grow bark mix). I hope that you enjoy your orchid and hope you won't get too addicted to these lovely plants.
Good Luck!
Leafmite

[StefH]

Yes, "King" if you read the beginning of my last post, it did say that I sterilized my scissors.

[StefH]

I managed to find some Schultz's potting mix for orchids today. I read on another orchid board that one woman mixes the Miracle-Gro with the Schultz's and gets really good results. Actually, she calls it "Orchid Crack". So, I'm thinking of doing the same.

Now I'm a little worried about replanting so soon after replanting. I replanted into the straight Miracle-Gro yesterday...how long should I wait before replanting into the more appropriate medium?

I don't want to shock it too badly. It's made it 24 hours since the first replant and the flowers are still looking happy!!! So far it doesn't look like I'm going to lose them!!

[scy]

It's already shocked, but it's better to repot it asap into a better medium than to wait any longer. You risk damaging the roots if you wait.

[StefH]

Ok, thanks! I'll do it in the morning!

[scy]

np. Keep us updated on how it's doing! *sending out happy little orchid prayers*

[StefH]

Ok,

So I re-re-potted this morning!

I made a mix 3 parts Schultz's Orchid Mix and one part Miracle-Gro Orchid Mix.

Then I sat the whole thing in some water to let it absorb some water. Then I let it drain back out!

This afternoon, I noticed that two of my blooms are wilting. Not sure if they're just shocked and they'll come back, or if they're dying.

And then I started thinking, "Are they dying because they're shocked or are they dying because they're old?" Or maybe a combination of both? They happen to be the blooms lowest on the spike.

So, I'll keep you updated over the next few days. I'm just going to leave her alone now and watch. Maybe sing to her. Tell her she's pretty. Smile slyly in her direction....

[StefH]

48 hours after repotting for the second time, and she's looking pretty good (I've decided she's a she...only a female could be so beautiful but so troublesome...I can say that....I'm a "she"). She lost 2 flowers, but the rest look happy. My buds are looking good and so are my spikes.

[StefH]

Ok, so the bad news is that I've lost all but about 4 of my flowers....but the ones that died off are ones closer to the bottom of the flower spike, not at the top, so I'm wondering if they had just reached the end of their life??? Not sure.

The good news is that my spikes have continued to grow, and so have the two buds that were on there when I clipped all the roots.

It looks like by the end of the day, and new bloom will open, and in about a week, I'll have another one!

It's draining well in its new pot and it seems happy! I am quite please with how it turned out!!