How to Care for Phal???

[im-sort-of-a-martian]

Hi! I'm Francie and I'm very new here- I typically grow carnivorous plants. Anyways, I was gifted an orchid about 5 days ago- one of those "Just Add Ice" type phals you see at supermarkets. I know nothing about orchids, essentially, but I could figure out that maybe ice wasn't the best idea for this guy. I've (attempted to) posted a few pictures too- when do I water, how do I water, do I change the growing medium, do I need to get it a different pot? Any help you could give me is phenomenal!
(Also, I live in Washington DC if that influences anything regarding humidity)

[801229001]

what types of cps do you grow? I grow some cps as well! also for your phal you should check out this thread : http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ends-here.html

[Nepenthesguy]

First let me, someone also in the metro area, say welcome to the forum! It's a slippery slope when a CP grower stumbles into the world of orchids (former CP grower myself , long back story to why it's former but not important now).

Phal's have a love hate relationship with me, but I'll share what I do for care and other members who have phals that like them will step in to give further detail.

- Water once a week (let the medium dry out before watering again)
- Bright indirect light (if you've been in the US Botanical garden in DC you've seen that the main orchid house is very dim).
- The sphagnum moss will be okay as a medium for a while but I recommend switching to a bark mix later on.
- As for info on pots, other member can give you better info. Since I keep mine loose and partially mount them in the summer. The humid VA/DC spring and summers are an orchid paradise

[WhiteRabbit]

In addition to the above link, there's a Phal care sheet here
https://www.aos.org/Default.aspx?id=217

[Cactuseed]

If you can keep Carnivorous plants alive you will be fine. And you are correct about the ice. I would not repot until the blooms are done. Roots look very healthy but rootbound. Water when the moss is almost dry and let the pot drain. Also visit the great forum here:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ends-here.html

[Optimist]

Phalenopsis were the hardest orchids for me to figure out. Although people hear do not want people to say they are similar to cactii, they are highly adapted xerophites. They have adapted to live on the branch of a tree and quickly suck up water as it passes. Keeping the roots both hydrated and areated is where the balance game happens.

DC has good humidity, but winter humidity is still less than summer. Mine seem most happy between 50 -70%. They seem to like higher light than most guides say, so stay on the high end.

I would take that plastic off the roots. Totally repotting it is not so necessary, but putting it in a porous containor can help the air get to the roots.

[ramonypony]

Hi, welcome to the world of orchids. I would repot that phal, it's in tight moss and the roots still look fairly good (best to repot before root rot starts.) But repotting could cause some of the buds to drop so if you're worried about that then just wait on repotting until the flowers drop and be very careful not to overwater, only water when the moss is totally dry.

My preferred way to water is using tap water that has been left to sit out so the chlorine can evaporate and to allow the water to become room temperature. Phals do not like ice! If anything it's best that the water be slightly lukewarm. I just flush the water through all sides of the pot over the sink or in the shower.

In my experience phals like to dry out a lot more than people say they do. I will let mine be dry for three days or more and they do very well. My general rule is once you think it's dry let it go a couple more days and then water.

Don't get water in the crown! That's the innermost part of the top leaves, if water gets in there it can cause crown rot which can prevent the plant from growing leaves which will kill it.

I use the Better-Gro growth and bloom fertilizers sporadically.. I really don't have a schedule. Weakly weekly is the general rule, a small bit of fertilizer every other watering should do.

I use clear plastic pots for all my phals and for some I add more holes to the sides by heating up a screwdriver over a candle and melting holes in. Phals like to be pretty tight in their pots, don't think that you have to pot up in size. If the roots are healthy and popping out of the pot then you can pot up. If you end up having to cut off a lot of dead roots then use the same pot size or in some cases a smaller pot. Phals like bark. My favorite mix is mostly bark, a little spagnum moss in smaller pots and only a top dressing of moss in large pots, and plenty of perlite.

I keep all my phals in East facing windows year round, they like morning sun.