i can keep everything alive amd growing, except the phals.....

[inle]

I have several orchids of several different species. I received several as gifts back on my birthday last September. My friends did this collective orchid buying thing.....anyway since then I have acquired a few more. I have several oncidiums, a miltonia, several tolumnias, two paphs, a cattleya, B.nodosa, two dendrobiums, a cymbidium that was given to me as a Christmas present and a vanda I bought on impulse which I probably need to improve the care of, but other than that all of my orchids are doing pretty awesome.

Several of the orchids I have received or gotten have been phalaenopsis, and it seems inevitable that I will kill them. Every other orchid? They have new spikes or leaves or growth or pbulbs or roots. My catt and one of the dens are bothabout to bloom. But phalaenopsis, it seems I will inevitably kill. and I know what happens root rot, or crown rot, or some other kind of rot.

this is how it has gone: I get a new phal. it is packed tightly in moss and wet. the first, I treated with physan and repotted, because things were looking sad. I transferred to some fir bark. they died. so next one, that really needs repotting, I buy some fresh moss and give it just enough to not be soggy but to cover. it dies. so the 3rd one, I leave it in its pot until the flower are all falling off. I wait two days and the formerly six-leaved plant is down to four. it is packed tightly and the roots are rotten, green and slimy. physan, repot, light and water and love. it dies. okay well, not yet, this one is still alive. two others, the pots get knocked over and broken, so I have to repot. one dies from crown rot about two weeks later. the other seems to be hanging on. it has a spike but I don't know if I should cut it......

one I received as a anniversary plant, with oodles of healthy roots, I move it to a pot with holes and unpack some of the moss. it's still alive and I checked on the roots yesterday, and they're pretty healthy. same thing for my V-day phal.

it seems as though when one root goes bad the rest will follow in this horrible snowball of phalaenopsis death.

there is also a particular smell the media gets when this happens, if that helps.....


so far I have 3 alive...I have killed 4 of the gift-phals......my other non-phals are doing awesome. apparently i'm great with oncidiums! I repotted several of those after they bloomed, too, because they were really overpotted. each has new growth, and lots of light, and happiness. I actually brought one unhealthy one (unhealthy before I got it) basically back from the dead, and it has a new pbulb emerging. my miltonia, which apparently is supposed to be hard, is growing like a weed, and I hope to see flowers soon....


so why is it I can't keep the "easy" orchids in good health????????? help!