First Orchids, Newbie Questions.

[Ferns Daddy]

Welcome to OB.
I saw the same phals at lowes near me. When I buy them off the discount table I repot them right away into a better bark mix using a clean pot, I give them a good watering them wait about 10 days and them water again, I mist them every day, once you see new roots you know your doing every thing right and you can water more offend.

[LadySoren]

I browsed what people posted back to you, but in case it hasn't been made clear-
The leaves won't recover, yes, but that is not a bad thing. The only thing wrong with it now is that it isn't "pretty"
The plant doesn't waste any energy on damaged leaves that I know of. It will continue to photo synthesize and benefit from the ugly leaves. Even when they shrivel from underwatering or root damage (not pulling in enough water bc of root which happens from over watering. Lol) they are still helpful leaves. Don't cut them off.
When a leave is being terminated naturally from the plant, you will know. It is almost always th bottom most leaf or two and it shrivels fast and turns yellow while the other leaves experience no change at all.
If multiple leaves start to have a wrinkly shriveled look but don't turn yellow, that is dehydration.

[axelrod12]

I began the process of repotting my phals now that the fafard mix has spent a good amount of time soaking. I just unpotted the plants and I don't think the roots look so great.

Phal 1:


Phal 2:


I'm not really sure what to do. Theres lots of yellow roots, a few brown roots, a few squished roots, and a few that look like they were pinched, almost like sausage links.

If I need to trim them I have a pair of tissue scissors that I use exclusively for trimming my aquatic plants. Are these acceptable?

[LadySoren]

Sausage links! Mine were all like that and I chopped them all off and now I am paying for it big time. Leave anything that is green or yellow. If it is brown, but not mush, just leave it too.
Yellow roots would be green if they had more light. More often than not, the yellow ones are toward the center of the plant (no light buried under there).
If it is green or yellow but damaged LEAVE IT. Many damaged roots will send out new green tips.
In my sad experience this year, I now decide to leave more roots than I chop unless they are for sure just mushy rottenness.

[Cactuseed]

I can already tell you will be successful with orchids by the superb organization of your post. I will add what i think others have not and i have not read all the above advice.
1. you are going to get spots, bumps, die back and it does not necessarily mean something is wrong. Also - a phal treats a leaf like other orchids use a pseudobulb. The will milk it for its stored nutrients while it 'dies'. so don't remove it, it will fall off by itself.

2. Sphag moss is the go to medium for Phals. Often it is packed too tight or root growth compacts it detrimentaly. One option is to unpot and mix in some perlite with the original sphag and repot. We want a loose airy mix

3.I think the speckling is the nature of your particular phal hybrid or species.

4. Just don't over do it on fertilizer. Salts can build up on your media and kill your roots.

Enjoy your orchids & Good luck man !!

[RandomGemini]

The roots on phal 1 look pretty good. You may have a brown, mushy one. I'd cut anything that doesn't feel firm to the touch.

Phal 2, that's a lot of roots for a clearance rack find! Trim anything that's mushy.

Also, sterilize your cutting tools! I just pour a little alcohol on them and allow them to air dry before use.

[axelrod12]

Thanks for the quick advise. I boiled the tissue scissors for about 20 minutes and then wiped with a 70% alcohol wipe. I trimmed according to what was said above.

I've been looking at the pots that I took them out of and one has a sort of drainage tray built on to the bottom of the pot that I don't really like. I would like to replace it, and I figured I should just replace both while I was at it. I would like to get a couple of those clear plastic pots that I've seen recommended. I'm going to go out locally tomorrow hunting for them. My question is, would it be safe to leave the orchids with their roots simply suspended in the old empty pots for a day? Are there any precautions I should take? Spray the roots with a little water maybe?

[LadySoren]

I'm a newbie basically, but my understanding is bare roots are fine, just try not to let them get too cold and yes, spray water.

[axelrod12]

My hunting didn't prove overly successful. I went to a few places but no-one had clear plastic planters. I ended up getting some help from a very nice lady at a florist who suggested that I punch a few holes in a plastic pot liner. She even gave me a couple of the more sturdy ones that she had laying around. I'm wondering if these will suffice though and am debating leaving the orchids out of pots until I can order some online.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

[RandomGemini]

Contrary to popular belief, you do not HAVE to have clear pots.

Clear pots are nice. They are a bonus for the plant... but they are not 100% necessary. IMO, since those plants are already out of a pot, and it will take you a week or more to get some pots shipped to you, I would drill some holes in the pots that nice woman gave you and use them for the next year. I would go ahead and order the plastic pots you actually want, just so you have them on hand for next year, or just in case.

---------- Post added at 11:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:57 AM ----------

Also, just FYI... I have two orchids potted in recycled starbucks cold drink cups... and a mini phal that I have potted in a jello pudding cup.

You can MAKE a clear pot if you really want to. Just be careful with your cutters. My thumb slipped when I was making one of these and I had three stitches to show for it by the time it was all said and done.