Brand new here - questions about Phal care

[Fuzzy]

Dear Forum,

I'm a brand new orchid owner. I got my first Phal (the full name is Phal. Baldan's Kaleidoscope 'Golden Treasure' AM/AOS) two weeks ago. It is now in full bloom and has about 15 gorgeous flowers. It's quite a big plant. The leaves are about 8" long and the stem is over 2 feet long. I'm in love with this orchid, and want to do my best to give it a good and happy life. So here are my questions.

1. It came in this very thin and flimsy 6" plastic pot and the roots are showing. A couple are even hanging out. Is this pot too small and does it need repotting? Just to give you an idea, the pot is so small and light that the orchid would topple over if held in this pot. I have put the small pot into a bigger planter (filled with some paper towels to prop it up). Is this fine or do I need to repot?

2. I've had the plant for 2 weeks and it looks great and seems to be thriving. It's getting a few hours of indirect sunlight and some direct light daily (south exposure). I water it weekly by adding about 4 cups of water and waiting for it to drain fully. It takes up about 1/2 cup to a cup at each watering. Does this regimen sound about right? Should I keep doing what I'm doing?

3. Fertilizer. The big question is, do I need to fertilize? I've found some articles that say you must. If so, should I buy the 20-20-20 orchid fertiliser, or go with the one to encourage re-blooming? I would love to have it re-bloom, naturally.

I think this is all for now. Thanks for bearing with me!!

-Fuzzy

[lexusnexus]

Sounds like you have a very nice phal. Kind of hard to give advice on repotting when you provide no pictures. Phal roots like close living conditions, and their roots like exposure to the air which is why they are potted in either sphagnum moss or a bark mixture (or pure bark chips). They will eventually die if they lay in very wet conditions. I water every 7-10 days, and feed every other week. Essentially I let the potting medium pretty much dry out between waterings. Commercial fertilizer companies are in business to sell products. But if you follow their feeding strength instructions, just use that amount every other week. Or you can feed weekly but dilute the fertilizer by 1/4 to 1/2.

[OrangeAugust]

I never fertilize my orchids and they seem fine. All of them bloomed for me this year.
And as for the roots, a picture would be good. But like lexusnexus said, the roots like to be pretty tightly packed in there. In fact, I repotted one of my orchids into a pot that was too big for it, and it took 3 years for the roots to fill up the pot until it was happy and bloomed again. But what you describe sounds about right. As long as the roots you see are green and firm, it's good. I think they suggest repotting when the medium that it's planted in is starting to break down. What medium is it planted in?
Your watering sounds good, too. I have an orchid that's in a see-through plastic container inside of a decorative pot, so I take it with the plastic pot out of the decorative pot to water it. I run it under the faucet so the water runs through it on all sides and then let it sit in the sink until all the water drains out of the bottom. Then I put it back into the decorative pot. I have another orchid pot that has decorative openings in the sides to let air circulate. And I water it the same as the other one by holding it under the faucet and then letting all the water drip out (both are planted in bark).
I kind of got to know my orchids and what each one needs as far as watering techniques. I just realized now that I water each one differently. Some are planted in moss and others in bark and they're all in different types of pots. But if you can see the roots on yours and they're green, and you let the pot drain out each time you water it, it sounds like you're doing the right thing.

Post some pics! We'd love to see the plant. Take a picture of the roots, too.

[Fuzzy]

Thank you very much for the responses, lexusnexus and OrangeAugust!

Lexus, can I ask which fertilizer you use? Is it better to use 20-20-20 or the bloom-boosting one, 10-30-20? Any particular brand you would recommend?

I'm not sure what potting mix my phal is in. It's definitely not bark and it looks mossy, but I'm not exactly sure. Maybe the pictures would help. I'm attaching a picture of the roots and a couple of pictures of the pretty flowers.

Thank you again,
Fuzzy

[lexusnexus]

I use Dyna-Gro (7-9-5), which was recommended by Waldor Orchids. I can't really tell what the medium is. Doesn't look like moss. It does look pretty wet. If so let it dry out quite a bit before your next watering. Maybe someone else here can recognize it. Really pretty blooms.

[RandomGemini]

It's moss. It's just broken down. Fresh moss will be about the color of light brown sugar on top. This is greenish, it's been in that pot for a while, at least a year I'd say. You can probably repot it back into the pot it came in, as long as the roots just fit inside the pot. So, when the plant is done blooming, repot it with fresh medium. Moss is kind of tricky for beginners to work with, but if you live in a really dry climate, it's doable. I use phalaenopsis bark for my phals when I repot them.

If you decide to go with bark, put the amount of bark you will need for the pot in a large bowl and set it in the sink, then put your tea kettle on and once it boils, pour the boiling water over the bark, then allow it to cool overnight before repotting. This will help the bark absorb moisture a bit better. Fresh bark tends to not retain moisture very well.

I do fertilize, weakly, weekly. I use better gro orchid plus fertilizer, you can pick this up at home depot, or lowe's. I dilute it with one quarter the amount recommended on the package (a quarter teaspoon) in one gallon of water. It works great for my hybrids.

I only water these once every 7 to 10 days. You want the medium to be completely dry in the center. Keeping them too wet allows rot to set in, phals are really prone to rot, so be careful not to overwater. When in doubt, under watering is better.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

So far, the advice given seems sound.

As was mentioned, the moss is not good anymore. Even if it was in good condition, I'd recommend you remove the moss and use bark instead - particularly since you mention yourself to be a beginner. Yes, unless you live in very dry conditions, growing in full moss could be counterproductive. I highly recommend changing the potting medium out as soon as possible. Do not wait until the blooms are spent because by then, it could be way, way too late.

There is a sticky you can check out if you haven't done it already: (http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ends-here.html)

I think many of your questions can be answered here, and if it doesn't, go ahead and ask.

[OrangeAugust]

Wow! Beautiful flowers!

[RosieC]

A lovely orchid

That moss looks really old, so it would be good to repot. Some people like growing in moss and while I hated it a few years ago I am starting to quite like it now. However most beginners find bark easier.

Fertiliser can help your orchids. It's good to have a balanced fertiliser then measure how concentrated to use it based on the percentage nitrogen. This website helps calculate what that concentration should be, but once you have one if you need help calculating concentration just let us know.

Fertilizer Mixing Calculators

[Fuzzy]

Thank you so much, everyone, for your help. The moss looks a bit darker on the picture than in real life. It is brownish with a greenish tint in a few places. The reason it looks wet is because I've noticed it takes at least 4-5 days to dry, even on the surface. I will water less frequently now until I repot. I noticed one other thing. On the very bottom of the pot there are what looks like a layer of packing peanuts? I can see them through the holes at the bottom of the pot. Is it fine to have those?

Now that I've realized I need to repot, I'm scared to do it soon on a huge, fully blooming plant, particularly never having repotted an orchid before in my life. The orchid seems very happy now and I notice new roots peeking out. If this truly can't wait, I will do it, of course, but is there anything I can do in the meantime to make the moss last a bit longer until the phal is done blooming?