Bought my first orchid. Need to know more about it!

[floranewb206]

Decided to get my mom an orchid after doing minimal research. It was only $10 at Home Depot and so beautiful, looks healthy as far as I can tell with lots of blooms, couldn't resist!

So far I know orchids need an airy soil or bark, once every 3 weeks light watering with fertiliser, and to be misted. What I don't know is how long I should keep it in this tiny container that doesn't have a drain, when I know it needs to be watered, and how often to mist it (also, the leaves or just the roots?). Do I need to change the bark it came with to something with more nutrients? And what exact species is this?

Any other info you think I need is much appreciated! : ) I know a good amount about aquatic plants, and have a successful planted aquarium, so I should get the hang of this.


PS it won't let me post the photo yet, so I hope you can tell through my avatar.

[SlipperGirl]

you have a phalaenopsis here is a link to aos culture sheets AOS Culture Sheets

If there is no holes in the pot you will need to repot it soon. if there is no holes in the pot my guess is that you are going to have a lot of rotted roots, you can tell if the roots are rotted by if they are mushy and brown.

You do not need to mist the orchids you can if you want to but I don't, I did a little in the winter when the humidity was really low.

For some potting mixes you can go to repotme.com or firstrays.com

Hope this helps

[floranewb206]

The root looks bright green, it is in a small plastic container that has slits in it, so maybe that helps? I'll buy a better pot though for when it needs to be transported out of the little container.

Right now it has a lot of blooms though so should I leave it how it is for awhile?

[SlipperGirl]

Originally Posted by floranewb206

The root looks bright green, it is in a small plastic container that has slits in it, so maybe that helps? I'll buy a better pot though for when it needs to be transported out of the little container.

Right now it has a lot of blooms though so should I leave it how it is for awhile?

Its hard to say without pictures of the plant but it sounds healthy so yes I would leave it. As long as there is a way for the water to get out of the pot, phals roots will rot very easy so you need to have a pot and mix that will drain well.

[floranewb206]

Thanks a ton : ) I'll get the pictures up ASAP

[floranewb206]

[SlipperGirl]

The leaves look healthy and the one root I can see looks good so I would say you have a healthy phal

Are you sure there are no holes on the bottom of that pot?

[floranewb206]

There are slits in the plastic piece shown on the sides and bottom, but the white pot doesn't have a hole on the bottom.

[SlipperGirl]

Originally Posted by floranewb206

There are slits in the plastic piece shown on the sides and bottom, but the white pot doesn't have a hole on the bottom.

Ohhhhh sorry I misunderstood I thought the plastic pot did not have holes on the bottom the white one will not have any holes because that pot is for decoration.

[Carpe Diem]

The white pot is just for looks, so make sure to let your Phal. drain very well before putting it back in the white pot. I'm surprised at the nice plastic pot. Usually orchids from Big Box Stores are in those soft, crappy plastic pots. The medium looks to be a small grade, unlike the bark chunks Phals. are normally potted in. That could be a problem in the long run.
You have a pretty, healthy looking Phal. and if problems should arise just ask, OB members will help you out.