First Orchids, Newbie Questions.

[kindrag23]

My paphiopedelium sits in a star bucks cup I burned holes into. Works great it was a trenta sized cup and I cut it close to in half and used the upper portion as added weight. @RandomeGemini I forgot uou were the one with this idea. THANKS! works great for me.

Picture is attached. But be warned it is currently sulking on me and does not look that wonderful...

If you still want some clear plastic ones check ebay and amazon if you are like me and must order everything. I found net pots for cheap there. Works great w my oncidium and lava rock.

[axelrod12]

Originally Posted by 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.

I know they are not necessary but I would like to do what is best for the plants if possible. If clear plastic is better than opaque for water/lighting reasons then that's what I would like to do.

I used a lighter to melt a couple holes in the bottoms of the plastic liners that she gave me, I'm gonna go plant them in the fafard media now.

EDIT: I just saw the pictures in the post above. Are the holes in the sides of the cups for aeration? I hadn't thought of that and am wondering if I should add a few along the sides now lol.

[RandomGemini]

Yes, the holes in the sides are for getting more air flow over the roots.

My makeshift orchid pots that I made look like this:



In this one, you can just barely see the lip of the pudding cup sitting inside the bailey's cup. I cut the pudding cup similarly to the starbucks cold drink cup. The pudding cup orchid is putting out new roots for me like crazy, growing a new leaf and I SUSPECT it may be putting out a spike for me, we'll see.

[Optimist]

Originally Posted by axelrod12

I recently purchased my first two orchids, phals, from Lowe's. They were on clearance for a few dollars each so I figured they would be a good place to start and learn with.

Tough Love here...
The problem (I have learned) with starting with damaged or half dead plants is that though they may be cheaper, they also need "expert" care and you are a beginner. Nonetheless they are a good place to start because you have not invested a lot of money. You could see it that way. While this may not be in the spirit of "orchid rescue" I think a new beginner should start with plants that are healthy with good roots. I know the allure of a 3 dollar orchid, but I have sworn, after 9 or so orchids sitting around my house taking up space that I am sticking to healthy plants that are no more than 5 dollars or so more than what I found half dead on the discount table. Once I started to get plants that were healthy to start with, I saw the difference between night and day. I know it is a challenge to save orchids, but as a beginner (I) and you will not get much joy out of saving half dead plants and maybe that should come later and not at the first. I feel that they are hard to care for simply because I do pick up these orphans. After some good advice here on Orchid boards I have decided to go for young (so not as big, and so cheaper) plants, rather than sick and nearly dead plants. I found a place where I could buy 2-3 inch pots for under 10$ each, and I do not think I will ever buy from a grocery store or a big box store again. Okay, there is my rant. Is that a rant?

I picked through the selection on the clearance shelves for the two best looking plants. However phal 1 still had some damaged leaves. One leaf has a small brown spot on the edge and on another leafs the whole end was brown and falling off. The question: Will these leaves recover? What can I do about them?

No. The leaves will not recover, but they will be eventually replaced with new leaves and are still needed by the plant because as you can see, phals have a limited amount of leaves. As long as the leaves are big enough to photosynthesize, they are useful to the plant. It is a cosmetic issue. I would say live with the "ugly" leaves as long as they do not have any disease, and let the plant acclimatize to your environment. To many shocks may kill it. Orchids like to be left alone. They do not like too much fussing, cutting and over pruning. Phals have leaves like a "stair-step" the older leaves get sent to the bottom and eventually will turn yellow and die off while the bright green new leaf grows on the top and will eventually move down till it is the oldest leaf and it will too, die.

My experience with aquatic plants is to cut off dying leaves to allow the plant to use it's energy to produce new leaves instead of attempting to repair old ones. I don't want to do anything as my little experience with non aquatic plants already has told me this is not always the case.

They will produce new leaves but it takes a bout a year. They are slow growers. I would keep the leaves on the plant till they are on the bottom with new leaves above and they will age, turn yellow and fall off on their own.

2. Both Orchids came potted in what I believe is long fiber sphagnum moss. From what I've read so far this isn't typically the best option for potting media. I went to a few garden centers on Sunday to look for other options. The only options were the commercially prepared mixes. I looked for reviews of each one quick on my phone. The only one I found with good reviews was Fafard Orchid Mix. So I grabbed a bag of that.

Should I just repot them with the Fafard mix? Or should I look for other options? Maybe mix something in with the sphagnum moss? In my introduction thread someone told me about a reputable orchid farm very close to my house. Should I hold off and check there for other options?

Repot them immediately. Whether it is in your bark mix or another, get them out of that pot of Sphagnum moss. If they are done blooming you have no reason to wait.
Orchids (phals) are epiphytes, so that means they are not in "Any" potting material when they are growing naturally. Their roots need: light, air flow, water, and very light fertilizer. Orchids do not need to get any nutrients out of their bark mix. What has worked best for me is lava rocks with a little top layer of fine bark. Think of it: a phal is an orchid that lives on a tree and uses its roots to hold on to the tree and pick up nutrients from the air. A phal is not a ground plant. This is the biggest paradigm shift an epiphyte owner must understand. The kind of sticks and leaf dander available to an epiphyte is not what "corn" or "marigolds" grow in. I fill about 2/3rds of the pot with lava rock because it is light very air-flow and drainage producing and then a "bit" of bark/leaves/ other stuff. Do NOT think in terms of aquatic plants. These are AIR plants.

3. I feel like most orchids I've seen have solid green leaves. All one shade. The second one I got has sort of a speckled pattern. 2 shades of green. I actually like the way it looks but was wondering if there was a cause for this. Genetics? Nutrient deficiency? etc.

I can't answer this. I have never seen this issue addressed. Basically, it may be a mutation, and may be perfectly healthy. Just watch it and see what happens.

4. Fertilization. I purchased two fertilizers when I was at the garden center. I couldn't find any that didn't have urea in them so I'm wondering if these will do and I supposed when I should use them? The first is a 20-20-20 with micros. Blue powder, made by the garden center. Nitrogen breakdown is 3.5% Ammoniacal, 5.5% Nitrate, 11% Urea.
The second fert I got is a liquid, Jack's Classic Orchid Bloom Booster. 3-9-6 with micros. Nitrogen breakdown is .42% Ammoniacal and 2.58% Nitrate.

I scrape bird doo-doo off my car's windshield. Some people swear by fish poop. Orchids can be helped along by laboratory- created fertilizers but I am a believer in using organic materials. So I can't answer this question.

[axelrod12]

Thanks Optimist, overall I feel like I got lucky buying these specific clearance phals. While they may not be in full health, I think they could be much, much worse considering where I bought them and how they were probably treated before I bought them.

I'm beginning to understand that these plants are very, very different different from my aquatic plants and require much different care. I'm also starting to comprehend the differences between epiphytes and terrestrial plants a little. There is going to be a learning curve for sure though.

The fish poo idea as fertilizer interests me, I'm going to look into that a little more, I certainly have A LOT of fish poo scattered throughout my tanks haha. I've never had a problem with lab made stuff in the past but in the past couple months I have been leaning more and more towards the organic route.

[RandomGemini]

There's a whole thread on using waste water for orchids in the pet depot section I think. I'll find it for you and post a link here.

[axelrod12]

Thanks, I'll try to search around for it a little myself. I feel that I should actually be hesitant to try the waste water method without even reading though. We dose our tanks with a dechlorinator. I believe the main ingredient in the one I use is hydrosulfite salts. A couple of my tanks also receive daily doses of glutaraldehyde which acts as a liquid form of carbon. I'm not sure whether these chemicals could harm an orchid nor how long they are active in the water for. Also I'm no chemist so don't ask me to tell you what they are lol.

I also dose the majority of my tanks with fertilizers, Potassium Nitrate, Monopotassium Phosphate, Potassium Sulfate, and a mix of micros called CSM+B. I suppose this alone would negate the "organic" aspect of using waste water as a fert. Also while I measure my doses to each tank based on a system that provides an excess of ferts to the plants each week and then removes said excess at the end of the week, I don't know the concentration of ferts in the water at the end of the week when I perform a water change.


Fish stuff aside I finished repotting the phals. I'm used to just pushing plants down into the substrate of a tank or tying them to a rock or piece of wood so I'm still finding the potting process a little difficult. Especially with these orchids since they have larger roots that were difficult to get potting media inside of. I think I did ok in the end though. The larger one looks a little lopsided compared to how it was before but I think it is ok.

[kindrag23]

Looks good.

[RandomGemini]

Nice potting job! I would dry the leaves off with a paper towel. If you leave the water there, the leaves will get brown spots.

I would love to pick your brain on your planted tanks some time. I have a 10 gallon planted tank and it could use some help. As far as dechlorinator goes, some places, you don't even need to use it. If your tap water isn't treated with chloramine, you can just let it sit out overnight to outgas the chlorine in it.

Here's the thread:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...r-orchids.html

[axelrod12]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

Nice potting job! I would dry the leaves off with a paper towel. If you leave the water there, the leaves will get brown spots.

I would love to pick your brain on your planted tanks some time. I have a 10 gallon planted tank and it could use some help. As far as dechlorinator goes, some places, you don't even need to use it. If your tap water isn't treated with chloramine, you can just let it sit out overnight to outgas the chlorine in it.

Here's the thread:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...r-orchids.html

Thanks guys. I think I managed ok. I'm sure I'll get better at potting over time though.

Feel free to ask me any questions you want about the planted tank. I don't claim to be an expert but I'll do my best to answer your questions.

Concerning the dechlor I need it in my area. I've checked before. I think related to the orchids it may be irrelevant though given the other chemicals and ferts I dose.

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