phalaenopsis root/bloom care - Orchid Board

sunshine forever · #1 04-24-2018, 04:03 PM

hi all, am a newbie to this

. after collecting several orchid plants from TJ's and acquiring others as gifts; i've decided make the effort to care for these beautiful plants in lieu of throwing them out when blooms drop. however, i am not having success with sustaining the blooms much more than a month and challenged with perfecting the watering and fertilizing. although the basics are posted online everywhere; it doesn't address my specific questions, such as i know i should water once a week or so letting the medium dry out in between watering - however, i've noticed that the wood bark gets dry quickly within a day/two but the little bulby part directly under the leaves which appears like the grower packed moss there (about 0.5" x 1.0") is still moist. i have noticed that whenever i first acquire a plant from store the plant medium is practically soggy so this creates confusion for me. also, over the course of a couple of weeks the ariel roots don't look as green and plump as they do at first - even with me watering and spritzing with miracle grow orchid food spray 1x/wk. i live in an arid part of the country so humidity is low. wondering if i should mist the ariel roots everyday. perhaps stuck in a cycle of not getting enough water then getting to much and causing sudden bloom drop on multiple plants even though consistently watering weekly (and yes, bark medium is dry) help & any pearls of wisdom is greatly appreciated. want to have these plants thrive and have blooms last for months. thank you

rbarata · #2 04-24-2018, 04:12 PM

The pot you're using...is it transparent?

sunshine forever · #3 04-24-2018, 07:21 PM

yes, they all are a transparent plastic with holes and opening at the bottom for drainage. each of the plastic pots sit in a larger ceramic outer pot. not that you asked this, but there has never been excess of water in the outer ceramic pot; i make sure that they drain thoroughly before returning to the outer pot.

Ray · #4 04-24-2018, 07:26 PM

It sounds like you've been misled by the oft-repeated, incorrect lore of orchid growing.

Orchids DO NOT need to dry out between watering.

Orchids do much of their gas exchange processes through their roots, rather than their leaves, as is the case with terrestrial plants. Because of that, it is important that they always have free airflow around the roots. The "dry out" comes from the use of too dense of a potting medium, or one that has been allowed to decompose and become compact. Those, when saturated with water, end up having all of the airflow pathways blocked with water, so the roots suffocate and die. So... if that potting medium is allowed to dry out, those pathways open up again, and the roots survive.

However, the repeated "almost drownings", then "rescues" can be stressful to the plant, and they will do much better if treated to an evenly moist medium that does not impede the air flow.

sunshine forever · #5 04-24-2018, 10:33 PM

thank you, for that helpful information. with that in mind, would it be reasonable to strive keep the medium continuously moderately moist without being soggy; i could mist the roots daily. also, upon checking, it seems like all the orchids i have are in a bark medium except directly underneath the leaf cluster - there is a small ball of moss tightly packed - is the a root ball there? i am assuming that the grower strategically puts the moss there to hold moisture since the bark doesn't seem to. i can't find anything that addresses what that is about. thanks again.

Ray · #6 04-25-2018, 07:03 AM

Jumping back to blossoms for a moment, your low humidity level might be a factor in short flower life...

Yes, you should try to keep potting media moist (not soppy) but airy. Misting is not going to do that. Try putting a plant in the sink and thoroughly drenching the potting medium. Wait 15-30 minutes and repeat. That may "open up" the structure of the bark chips and allow it to absorb and hold water longer.

I suspect the sphagnum is a top-dressing for moisture holding purposes, but your description of it makes me think it was taken from a plug tray and just potted up without removing the old medium. Can you post a photo?

One more suggestion: Use paragraphs to make it easier for folks to read your posts.

sunshine forever · #7 04-27-2018, 09:24 PM

prior to now, i was watering weekly in the sink and draining as you suggested before returning the plant in it's vented plastic container to it's slightly larger ceramic pot. this week i've been misting the top of the roots in the mornings to add back some moisture until the next weekend watering routine.

also, after watering and draining in the sink i would spritz 4-5 times on the roots and bark with miracle grow orchid spray. though the bottle says to use weekly on blooms, leaves and roots, it didn't state how much to use. i intuitively only put it on the roots for fear of burning the leaves or blooms. wondering if i caused root burn by putting too much. i just can't figure out how 3 of my more robust orchids all suddenly experienced bloom blast (if that's what it's called) at the same time and dropped their beautiful flowers.

i read somewhere online that a good fertilizer for orchids is ground up eggshells. any thoughts on that?

i have not had an opportunity to take and upload photo of the "plant plug" but it does seem to fit what you described as they all have. i have not wanted to disturb them from their pots as they are firmly in the plastic containers and not easy to remove - am concerned that i will be added to the stress load.

don't know if you have trader joe's in your neck of the woods but my local store always has a large section of orchids near the register and i just have fallen in love with all the beautiful orchids and can't help myself when one calls to me. i really hope i can figure out where i am going wrong so to keep my plants thriving for several seasons. thank you again for your helping this neophyte.

fishmom · #8 04-27-2018, 10:13 PM

Sunshine, the crushed eggshells add a very slowly-released calcium to the potting medium. I use this in my medium, but I occasionally use a calcium-magnesium fertilizer also. I figure the eggshell can't hurt, but I know that it is a long-term additive. It is not really a substitute for a weak, balanced fertilizer administered at frequent, regular intervals.

aliceinwl · #9 04-28-2018, 12:07 PM

I’ve bought a lot of Trader Joe’s orchids and I think the set-up you’re talking about is a moss plug in the center surrounded by bark. For these I’ve had the best luck going off root color: when the roots start to look silver rather than green, I water. This may necessitate watering more or less often than weekly.

For some of the orchids with this set up, I still got a lot of root death to the degree that the plant started to droop. For these, I took them out of the media, cut off any “entirely” dead roots (if any section of a root is still firm, leave it on, even if it alternates with black mushy sections), soaked it in water for a couple hours, and repotted into a straight bark mix (I’ve been using 1 part perlite, 1 part charcoal, and 5 parts bark). After repotting I had to be really diligent on the watering (new bark dries out fast), but the plants all perked up, even the flowers.

For those that didn’t require an immediate repot, I do plan to switch them over to bark once they’re done blooming. In terms of getting watering right when you’re starting out, I found the skewer method stickied at the top of the forum really helpful.

Also, take media recommendations with a grain of salt. Different medias work for different people, watering habits, climates, growing conditions, etc. It’s not a one size fits all.

Good luck with your plants, I was thrilled the first time I got one of my grocery store buys to rebloom :-)

---------- Post added at 09:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:55 AM ----------

In terms of bloom drop it may just be the season too. A lot of my Phals started dropping their flowers and putting out new leaves and roots over the last couple of weeks.

I also have not had the greatest luck with miracle grow products for orchids (mixes or fertilizer). I’ve been using the granular MSU fertilizer every other week with better results than with the granular miracle grow brand I’d used previously.

sunshine forever · #10 04-28-2018, 04:27 PM

thank you for that detailed helpful information. i've noticed when i first get the orchids, the roots are a nice plump green and then after a few days they start to fade a bit/get that silvery look. so, this week i've started misting the roots daily and they are looking better. not sure if they are happier with this arrangement or if i'm projecting my hopes onto these plants!

the bark medium does seem dry out rather quickly and i've been sticking my finger in to check the moisture level of the small moss plug underneath to gauge the need for a good sink-watering.

must admit i am hesitant to repot because they seem firmly positioned in their vented plastic containers and i don't want to cause any additional stress and also b/c when i attempted repotting of other orchids into a new bark/moss medium a few months back - they didn't survive :-( .