Please help. No idea what I'm doing!

[Erikanim]

Hi everyone. This is my first post.
I've always wanted an orchid as everyone knows they are so pretty.
My friends recently bought me one to commemmorate my son's anniversary of first open heart surgery.
However, I have no idea what i'm doing! It did well for about a month. I only watered it once a week when the soil looked dry.
The flowers have all recently died, however, the leaves are growing. I will attach a picture. Please give me some advice! I want to save this plant if possible.

[catherinecarney]

Hello and welcome!

You have a Phalaenopsis hybrid of some sort. There's a great sticky at the top of the beginner section called "the phal abuse ends here" that talks about good care for this type of orchid. You probably don't need to read the whole thing--the first few pages should be enough to get you started.

From your picture, it looks like you have healthy roots and good leaf growth. The flowers withering may be normal or due to the change of location from the grower to your house.

There are a few things I check every time I get a new orchid, and they might help you as well:

1: You mention checking the "soil" that it's potted in. Orchids of this type do better in a chunky bark mix--they need air flow AND humidity around their roots or the roots will rot. I'd be inclined to repot this orchid into fresh bark (I use a mix of bark chunks, large charcoal chunks, and large perlite for mine) especially now that it's out of bloom. Repotting will give you a chance to check roots--healthy roots are silvery grey when dry and will turn green when wet, rotted roots tend to be brown and will feel squishy (cut the rotted ones away when you repot).

2: Watering: I tend to overwater my orchids (BAD habit, and I lost a bunch to root rot before I learned better), and I think that's probably a common mistake for a lot of new people. You want to soak your plant thoroughly and then allow the potting medium to almost dry out before you water again. Always check way down into the center of the pot to see how wet or dry your potting media is.

3: Humidity: Is the plant in a setting with dry or moist air? Most homes tend to be dry in the winter due to heating. A dry orchid will usually need more frequent watering (but check the media first) and will probably benefit from misting as well.

4: Light: How much light is it getting? Phals tend to do better in moderate to lower light in the house, though most of mine are in an east facing window that gets direct morning sun and seem to be thriving. From the picture it looks like your plant has a dark purple tint to the leaves (normal for some darker colored phals), and the leaves look healthy.

5: The flower spikes: As long as they're green leave them on the plant even if they've lost their flowers. Phals will often send side shoots off of old spike and flower again.

Hope this has not overwhelmed you! Orchids are really tough and hardy plants once you get the hang of them. Keep us posted on how your phal does and let us know when you buy it a friend or two or three (orchids are addictive, lol).

Catherine

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[Erikanim]

So if I have to repot it do I need to buy a bigger pot? What size would you recommend?

Something that worries me is there were three shoots full of flowers now two of thr shoots have died and one of them is still green and has nubs on it but no flowers.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Hello and welcome to the board. Catherine has given you good advice. I will add to be very careful if you do mist it that you don't get water in the crown or on the steam if your house gets on the cooler side. I have killed a couple doing just that.

To answer your question the pot size will depend on how many roots you have. So you will not know until you take it out of the pot. I would suggest to get a couple of different sizes. You don't want to have to big of a pot so that it stays wet to long or than it will rot.

[WhiteRabbit]

As Catherine suggested, you may wish to read the first few to several pages of this thread The Phal abuse ends here.

Also, this care sheet Phalaenopsis Culture for Beginners

And perhaps, this thread about how to use skewers to help determine when to water Using skewers to determine when to water

[catherinecarney]

On choosing a pot: people have individual preferences, but we pretty much all agree that it's better to keep Phals in relatively small pots--as Shannon said, the media stays wet for too long in larger pots if there aren't a lot of roots.

Also, phals will photosynthesize with their roots, and clear plastic pots allow that as well as making it easier to check for the condition of the roots.

On misting: I mist my plants pretty much daily even though my house is pretty humid in the winter. I don't worry too much about getting water in the crown, but I do make sure to mist early in the day so the crown and leaves have a chance to dry out as the temps rise. Most of my phals are also planted at an angle in the pot (they seem to grow that way anyways) so that may help with keeping water from pooling in the crown.

Catherine

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[bil]

Originally Posted by Erikanim

So if I have to repot it do I need to buy a bigger pot? What size would you recommend?

Something that worries me is there were three shoots full of flowers now two of thr shoots have died and one of them is still green and has nubs on it but no flowers.

Phals are pretty easy as long as you treat them right.

I think there are some misconceptions here.. Here's what I do with mine. I have 20 or so, and I have lost just one in the last two years, from crown rot.. It died IMO because it got too cold. Because it was in a dangerous position, it was watered very carefully, crown kept scrupulously dry all that stuff.

All the other orchids, I deliberately fill the crown with water. Why? Because I have observed that you can't keep water in the crown, unlike some other types of orchid, where getting water in the leaf bases is a one way ticket to Fungus Town.

When I started with phals I listened to all the advice, as a sensible person does. I tried keeping the crowns dry, but the leaves got so dusty that I had to wash them off with the spray. I went to get a paper towel, but by the time I had one, there was no water at all in the crown. So, I filled the crown, and watched how the water ran out, down the side of the crown to the roots. You try it, and see what I mean.
So, to test my idea, I have, for the last two years filled every phal crown, every time they have been watered, and they are all doing very nicely, thank you.

In the wild, every time there is a mist, which will be often, the whole plant gets wet.

Cold and overheating are the two things that will kill a phal very quickly. The slow killer is too much fertiliser so that the roots burn, or not enough air, so that they rot.

So, here is my technique with every new phal.

1. Depot and remove all the rotted medium, if possible spread the roots well, but don't damage them or cut bits off.
2. Use as large a pot as you can. It is better if they are shallower The first year and a half all mine were in 35cm diam pots that were about the same depth. I now use 35 diam, 15cm deep pots as wetting all that bark took forever.
3. Use 2" bark chunks, and NOTHING else. You don't want to add perlite etc, because those bits sratr to block up the spaces between the bark. Thos spaces are what keeps the phal alive. Sieve the bark so all the small bits are removed, and pput them aside for fine root orchids.
4. Put the orchid tight against the side of the pot, with the 'lean' away from that side. You will notice that if the phal has been given plenty of space in the pot, often, most of the roots are on the side it is leaning away from.
Work the bark chunks well around the roots, trying not to break them.
5. Do not water for two days. I don't know how important that is, the idea is to give the broken roots time to heal. It's reasonable thinking and costs you nothing to do. I have forgotten, and watered them the next day, and I haven't lost any yet.

One point re watering. I store the water for them where they live, so there is never any cold shock. Remember, cold is a killer, not wetting the crown.