new to orchids and need help

[mdraz]

so im a planted tank guy, and then on impulse bought an orchid. i have no idea what it is, or what im doing. ive had it for about a month, and one of its four leaves have yellowed and fallen off, and a second is yellowing.
i was hoping somebody could tell me which orchid it is, and how to properly take care of it.
so far, ive kept it in the pot and medium it came in (looks like a white moss?) and kept it outside in the shade. i water it when the top of the medium is dry, and the bottom still feels slightly damp.

pictures are attached.

[OhioBob]

What you have there is a phaelanopsis or moth orchid. From your description you are watering it correctly, maybe slightly more than necessary if it is moss. In their natural habitat these plants grow on the side of a tree so like to have the roots be able to get dry and airy. The moss tends to prevent this.
Try to replant this in some bark medium or maybe even remove some of the moss if you won't have the time to get to it soon. There are a lot of threads here on how to properly repot your plant. The important thing is to maintain the health of the roots.
Good luck! It is a lovely flower,

[james mickelso]

Take itout of the pot and look at the roots. Take a picture for us. What do you see? Rotting gray roots all waterlogged. Now get some orchid potting mix, and start by carefully pulling off all the moss. Get rid of it completely. It has been suffocating your lovely orchid. Cut off all the gray, black rotted roots. Let the orchid stay out of the pot for a day to heal. Put in pot and add mix. Settle mix around the roots. Don't water for a week. When you water, do so lightly. Increase as you feel the weight of the pot get light.That's it.

[mdraz]

most of the roots look bright green, but there was one blackish area that does look like it may have been rotting. i took pics.
i have miracle grow's orchid mix, im assuming this is a decent medium to repot with? i bought it earlier since i figured the orchid would need to be repotted eventually.
i also want to doublecheck, are clay pots ok for orchids? i know some plants like nepenthes dont do well in clay pots.

[Wynn Dee13]

First of all welcome! The roots I can see growing on the outside of the sphagnum moss are healthy but the roots in the middle of the moss might not be. When you buy Phalaenopsis orchids in grocery stores they are planted in the moss usually and it is packed too tight. It ends up sufficating the roots. Do not use Miricle Grow orchid mix! It is way too soil like and it will rot the roots. It's terrible that they market that mix for orchids like Phalaenopsis. Most people don't know it isn't a good meadium until they try it and it kills their plant so it's good you asked about it. Buy a bark mix. Lowes sells a brand called Better-Gro and it is pretty good for a mix sold at a big box store. Here is a link that has a lot of great info on your orchid. It's long but worth the read. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ends-here.html

[kevin1217]

I agree with what Wynn Dee has said and clay pots should be fine for the orchid.

Welcome by the way!

[Rowangreen]

I like to use clear plastic pots as that means you can see the roots. With a phal in bark mix you can water when the roots inside the pot turn silvery grey: makes it easier to know when. But clay pots are fine. Any pot just needs to have good drainage.

[mdraz]

ok, i checked and the medium was way too tightly packed, and there was some root damage and rot.
here are two pics after i removed the moss (attached), one shows a bit of dried out black on the bottom of the crown (should i be concerned about that?).

i cut out any damaged tissue, and will leave the orchid bare-root for 24 hours while i hopefully find some bark medium for it. i was left with some healthy root segments from roots that rotted in the middle, can i use these to propagate somehow?

[Wynn Dee13]

The pics look fine. You have quite a bit of healthy roots so that is good!

Phals do shed their bottom leaves normally but sometimes it can also mean there is something wrong. Since the roots look good I think the yellowing leaves could be natural but if it looses anymore right after these then that isn't good.

When you get the bark mix you need to soak it at least for 24 hours. New bark doesn't hold water like old bark so you will probably have to water more often. Sounds like you did well with the moss since you didn't over water and kill all the roots. Many new orchid growers kill the plant by over watering. Moss also holds more water than bark so the Phal might go through a longer transitioning period to get used to the bark mix. When you repot, make sure the plant isn't wobbly in the pot. They won't establish well if they are wobbly and the new root tips can be damaged.

If you can find a clear plastic pot with good drainage that would be good. Phals will photosynthesize through their roots as well as their leaves if they are exposed to light. That is one reason people like to use clear pots. They also allow you to keep an eye on the root system and it helps you tell when to water.

When you water, water the meadium thoroughly and then let it drain well. Water again when the plant is all the way dry or almost dry. But you don't want to let the plant go dry for long.

If you can't find the supplies you need or want there are many great orchid supply stores online. I like Kelly's Korner, Tindara's Orchid Supplies, and Repotme.com.

Good luck and if you have anymore questions don't hesitate to ask!

[Wynn Dee13]

Oh I forgot, I don't know what you mean by healthy root segments. Are the roots you are talking about attached to the plant or are they cut off? If you have root pieces that are detached from the plant they are of no use. You can't propagate orchids by root segments like by potting them up or something like that. They do clone orchids but I don't know what part of the plant they use for that and it needs to be done in sterile conditions in a lab.