Help please... - Orchid Board

BUUZBEE · #1 02-13-2008, 04:04 PM

So I have about 6 or so Orchids, and 3 bare root orchids. The bare root ones are not doing very well at all! What can i do to help these?

Also my other orchids, all but one have never re-bloomed. To be honest, i dont take enough care of them and would like to start new with them.

What are your sugestions as to planting/potting them, best way to water, feeding etc.???

thanks!
Anna

philoserenus · #2 02-13-2008, 05:30 PM

hey anna, well it would definitely help more if u could describe ur situation a little better (eg. where do u grow them--living room, window sill, etc.; wat are you growing--by genus, by looks, by characteristics), then again, pictures are worth a thousand words ^^ so pics would also be great =) and reblooming orchids too hard if u can get them into the right conditions, and for that we gotta see ur beautiful collect =)

welcome aboard ^^ and start fresh

Dorothy · #3 02-13-2008, 05:35 PM

What type of orchids are the bare rooted one?

BUUZBEE · #4 02-13-2008, 05:41 PM

the bare root ones are the ones in my avatar (plus the pink & yellow ones in my galery)

I have the others in the window sill. They are potted in bark. and are in various plastic pots (no drainage, should i put them in terra cotta so i can soak & drain?)

The pics would be kind of boring with them, they are just leaves! LOL

Hopefully this link will be right

we attached them to the pond (told they just needed to be misted) so i figured they would get the spray up from the pond, plus i misted them, but the roots are really dry looking. i need to be able to soak them i think (the flowers are all gone too)

quiltergal · #5 02-13-2008, 05:55 PM

Anna, your bare root chids are Vandas, and they like to be bare root. In SoCal they should be fine, just make sure you water them every day. Either hose the roots down or dunk them in a bucket. Misting isn't enough to keep them happy. They can take very high light, some even do well in full sun. They are also heavy feeders when they are actively growing, so make sure you establish a feeding schedule. The one that you can get to bloom is a Dendrobium. I'd just keep doing what you're doing with that one. What do the other 2 look like? They aren't in your gallery. You say you have plants potted in plastic pots with no drainage?? Not good. Orchids with very few exceptions don't like constantly wet roots. You need to repot into pots with lots of drainage.

Most orchids do best with a set watering/feeding schedule. If you keep it up consistently they will eventually rebloom for you.

BUUZBEE · #6 02-13-2008, 05:57 PM

I'm going to Lowes after work, what should I buy for food? (or will i need to go to green thumb?)
I assume it will need to be a liquid feed, should i add it to a spray bottle or soak them?

Dorothy · #7 02-13-2008, 05:58 PM

Those look like vandas to me .. that's about all I can help you with because I don't grow these but I am sure someone else will give you some suggestions

Looks like they already did -

shams · #8 02-13-2008, 06:24 PM

I mist my vandas twice daily with orchid food diluted in water. the main thing with the roots that a few people have told me is to mist them until the white waxy root turns green. I was also told by the person I bought them from that if they start drying out anyway, that I can put them in a clay pot over sphrag moss, which needs to stay damp. So far, I've had no problems with the misting

But you said you had other orchids... what kinds are they?

BUUZBEE · #9 02-13-2008, 06:29 PM

the two that i have on my desk at work are:

dendrobium
p. join angel

at least thats what the tags say!

I'm not sure what the names of the ones at home are, i'll look to see if they still have tags on them.

with the bare root ones, should i put them in that moss to get the roots nice and moist again?

what type of food should i get?

Ross · #10 02-13-2008, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BUUZBEE

what type of food should i get?

While I had very little to contribute to the above discussion, my contribution here is that there is little difference (yes a little, but not much) between types of orchid's needs. Lots of folks here fertilize daily or at least regularly with a mix intended to produce 125ppm Nitrogen in solution. Best way to calculate this is visit Ray's calculator at Fertilizer PPM Calculator Try this for 6 months and see if it doesn't make a difference. Not what type, but how much.