Any advice for a complete beginner....

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Btw, this is how most Phals grows in the wild:

[JamesEG]

Ah okay I see what you mean, I think it would just be a lot easier to keep the orchid warm and not worry about the humidity too much so I won't mist it or anything, just try and keep it at the humidity of the room so I'll look up the best watering for Phals too.

Just a quick thought, I have the Phal near that windowsill (not on it anymore but it gets the same light) and it's right above a radiator which is often on but it doesn't get very hot, would that give the same sort of effects as a heat mat and be beneficial enough to help the orchid? I'm guessing also that the extra heat will dry it out faster so I'll regularly check it to make sure it hasn't dried up.

Again, thanks a lot!

[Nanook 2010]

It might be easier? / less stressful? and you will quickly learn what works in your environment to start with one or two cheap phals, and water and fertilize as discussed before.

Trying to revive a damaged plant when the cause of disease / conditions are unknown is challenging (not impossible - but tough sometimes even for "expert" hobbyists)

Whatever you decide I hope you enjoy and take all "expert" advice with a grain of salt...remember number of posts does not always equate to knowledge.

American Orchid Society has tons of free info and videos assembled by true experts.

cheers

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I'm not sure about the radiator thing. I never grew up with a radiator in the house.

[JamesEG]

Originally Posted by Nanook 2010

It might be easier? / less stressful? and you will quickly learn what works in your environment to start with one or two cheap phals, and water and fertilize as discussed before.

Trying to revive a damaged plant when the cause of disease / conditions are unknown is challenging (not impossible - but tough sometimes even for "expert" hobbyists)

Whatever you decide I hope you enjoy and take all "expert" advice with a grain of salt...remember number of posts does not always equate to knowledge.

American Orchid Society has tons of free info and videos assembled by true experts.

cheers

Thanks for the American Orchid society idea.
It's my Mum's orchid so I'm passing on information to her, she's the one who will be trying to rescue it. I'd definitely rather not start out with an orchid in bad health!

I'm keen to hear your opinion on exactly what I should do, buy a NoID Phal (or 2) from the garden centre or a species one from that website I found, see how well I keep them and then move on to another type (like that Oncidium sphacelatum) that is slightly more challenging to keep after I've kept the Phal(s) for a while? My only other problem with Phals is that my Mum has them, so she may try to take over or tell me what to do, if I got a different species she wouldn't know what to do so I could base my care on my research and advice from this forum. Which is by far more reliable than what other people at the garden centre say, none of whom are by any means an expert or have extensive knowledge exclusively on orchids.

Also to be honest right now I'm happy to take any knowledge and information, I'm just trying to gain any knowledge I can while just starting out.


Philip: Thanks for taking the time to reply, I will post an update on the Phal if there's any improvement.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Sounds good James.

I do agree on one thing. The number of posts made on the OB doesn't make an "expert", I could've mentioned that had that ever been brought up, it's the number of years of actual hands-on home growing experience and some hard earned time doing research that makes information worth at least taking a look at and investigating. Nobody on the OB has to take everything I say at face value, nor does anybody have to believe every word I'm saying. If you question what I or anybody else has to say, just do the research and think for yourself, what does or does not make sense.

I've been growing orchids for near 20 years, and I worked at a local large scale orchid nursery for a short period of time, if you're really wondering what my credentials really are. I've taken a course in botany as well as read some scientific articles on the web. So, yeah, the number of posts I make means nothing. To me, everything else I've done matters to me.

[JamesEG]

Okay, then I will buy and start with a Phal and see how well I do, I will also continue my research and I am surely going to have more questions soon! Wow, then it does seem you really do know your stuff, my biology teacher at school took a botany course I think, and it seems what he doesn't know about plants isn't worth knowing! So I have full faith in what you say.

Anyway thanks for your help, and of course everyone else's! This forum has been a great help

[Nanook 2010]

James.....

Shoot me a PM with any questions and we can discuss what has worked for me...I'm still in the process of learning, and I can share what I've learned from professional growers in my area vs self labelled Internet "experts"

If you really want to learn more, I still recommend a road trip to nearby professional growers these people know what it takes to be successful in your area......a good trip to take your mum......

You are only about 29 miles from the Kew botanical gardens in London .......that would also be a great source of info

We'll work together on getting fantastic cattleya flowers to impress the ladies!

Cheers!

[james mickelso]

This is very good info Phillip. Misting also only wets the top of the leaves and usually not the bottom which is where it needs the moisture. I like the Tupperware idea a lot. Airflow is essential in bringing back orchids from the brink. Also another problem with misting is that unless clear, clean water is used once the water dries it leaves behind any dissolved solids it is carrying. The tray/pebble/sand method of trying to raise the humidity doesn't really work. Right above the tray the humidity raises somewhat but overall it is negligible. So good advice from Phillip. Hope this helps everyone.

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[KrissieLynn]

I can personally vouch for the Tupperware/plastic bowl working to save an orchid from the brink. My first one was not really in the best of health when I got it, but while I had done my research, I was too new to know. It got to the point where the two leaves looked like old worn shoe leather and the only green was the roots that were about an inch long from me trimming off the bad parts. I put it in a Tupperware thing, and slid a gallon sized ziplock bag over the top, cut several vent holes in the bag, making a sort of makeshift garden seed starter/terrarium, and put marbles and some water in the bottom for humidity. (I don't know if its available in the UK or not, but the book "Orchids for Dummies" became my best friend- I based my Tupperware thing off the "rescue center" in there...)

Two months or so have passed, and I now have 2 roots that are about 1.5 inches (3 cm) long, and a new leaf is starting to grow.

Hope that gives you even more help with the troublesome phal!

---------- Post added at 10:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Nanook 2010

You are only about 29 miles from the Kew botanical gardens in London .......that would also be a great source of info.

Kew would be an awesome place to go - I know about them mostly because of the connection to the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri (3.5 hours away from me).[COLOR="Silver"]