newbie orchid adventure (Phalaenopsis - lots of photos)

[orphansparrow]

So, for those who haven't read yet, I got my first two orchids yesterday.

While walking home with them in 13 degree cold, their petals got a little damaged. They turned thin, droopy, and transparent around the edges.

Today they seem alright, and I went ahead and repotted them.

Here are the pictures:

excuse the awful lighting, i took these just a while ago, at night


here you can see some transparency damage, caused by the cold:


and the purple one. it's harder to tell with this one, but the edges also turned thin and transparent and a little wrinkled:



here i am going to repot them, these little pots are useless with no drainage holes. they are in about 2 inch pots, i'm repotting them into 3 or 4 inch pots


when i first looked i thought they were in bark, but here i see they are compacted in moss only


i removed all the moss, which was soaking wet


i trimmed some of the roots. i hope that was okay. i trimmed only the roots that were obviously rotten or dead and dry


here is the white one, still with the soaking wet moss


and after the moss was removed. look at those 2 cute little new growths! =)


i ended up getting this miracle grow orchid mix, because that is all the store i had. i took the bus today to get it, and went to home depot, and then to walmart, that is all both stores had. i wanted one that did not include fertilizer so that i could control how much it got and when, but there were no other options. and look at this! it's almost like soil. =( i wish i would've thought to use a sieve to get the smaller dirt particles out, so there would be more bark, but i didn't think of it. i hope this substrate works out okay


and here they are repotted. i think they are happier already. the moss they were in before was SO wet, that i have not watered them yet. do you think i should? i thought i should let them breath for a little while. also, it seems like the substrate i used got a little better, the bigger pieces of bark had kind of shifted to the bottom of the bag, so it's not as bad as i first thought. still, not as coarse as i would've liked



a better view of some of the cold damage:


and, my bird looking on the whole time from on top of the fridge. ^__^



thanks for looking, and feel free to give me any advice or let me know what i did wrong.

[jrodpad]

OS,

Great pics. Thanks for sharing. The translucent damage on the petals looks like freezer burn. Probably from cold wind more than freezing tissue.

Well done discarding the soggy sphagnum and trimming the rotted roots. That's right on.

The larger pot may not be the best idea. If it started out in a 2" pot and you trimmed off roots you should use a 2" pot or smaller. The rule of thumb for phals is you should put them into the smallest pot that will accommodate the root mass. If you "pot up" into a pot that is a size or two too large, the potting mix stays too wet for too long and you can suffocate the roots (soggy mix doesn't allow air flow and the roots can't breathe).

The miracle grow potting mix has a terrible rep on the OB. I've never used it myself, but people here have complained about it direly. They've noted the same thing that you did - namely that the mix was broken down and contained a lot of small particulate. The broken down mix will plug the gaps between the bark and retain to much water and block air flow. Again, you run the risk of suffocating the roots. People have also complained that the MG mix sours quickly. You might want to check out repotme.com for fresh mixes. They have a great rep here.

Regardless of what mix you use, you should always soak the mix for 8 hours or so (overnight) to prepare the mix for repotting. People often recommend adding a few drops of KLN to the water when soaking overnight - not necessary, but can't hurt. It's a good idea to rinse the pre soaked mix carefully to wash away any remaining dust. If you don't pre soak, the potting mix itself can act as a desiccant and dry out the roots that are already stressed from the repotting. Moreover, the potting mix won't absorb water well when you water the phals and so you max have to water more frequently in the first few weeks until the potting mix gets conditioned.

Lastly, when trimming roots, you should try and use sterile cutting tools, especially when cutting more than one phal at a time. Unclean cutting tools are a great way to introduce or spread disease. Putting the scisors into a hot flame for a few minutes before cutting and again between plants should do the trick.

Hope this helps and happy growing!

-J

[Bud]

Those are beautiful flowers...and some buds still to open..."J" said it all...I will add the humidity tray thing: you can get a plastic dish and put pebbles in it and put water at the level of the pebbles...put the pot in the pebbles making sure no water is touching any roots...and if you have a small oscillating fan...turn it on 4 meters away from the plant when you water it to dry the crown; if not a paper napkin will do...dab the crown til dry

[orphansparrow]

thanks so much jrod...

about the pot size, i think a little smaller would have been better, you are right, but the roots seemed like they fit in there pretty well.

i would've gone smaller when i was at the store, but this is the only option there was at all, no smaller, and no bigger. i think though the pot size sort of equals out, because the old ones are about an inch taller, the new ones about an inch wider.

i didn't sterilize my scissors, i wish i would've read about that first! i didn't even think about that. :/

and, yes, i think the potting soil is not great. what do you think if i found just plain bark, and mixed it with the miracle grow stuff? would that help? or should i just order new stuff online, and completely redo it?

[jrodpad]

The grade of plain bark that's generally available in garden centers is inconsistent at best. You never know what's going on in there and you don't know how old the stuff is. I would go for the full redo with the fresh mix from online if it was me.

Santa's a robot. Merry Christmas.

-J

[orphansparrow]

Originally Posted by Bud

Those are beautiful flowers...and some buds still to open..."J" said it all...I will add the humidity tray thing: you can get a plastic dish and put pebbles in it and put water at the level of the pebbles...put the pot in the pebbles making sure no water is touching any roots...and if you have a small oscillating fan...turn it on 4 meters away from the plant when you water it to dry the crown; if not a paper napkin will do...dab the crown til dry

oops! sorry, i didn't see your post there at first. yes, i forgot to add, i have the humidity tray elements, and i'll put that together tomorrow. i don't have a fan, but i'll use the napkin thing for now. thanks so much for the advice!

Originally Posted by jrodpad

The grade of plain bark that's generally available in garden centers is inconsistent at best. You never know what's going on in there and you don't know how old the stuff is. I would go for the full redo with the fresh mix from online if it was me.

Santa's a robot. Merry Christmas.

-J

alright, thanks J. i'll order the fresh mix online. quick question about that though, i saw 2 different videos from "orchid experts" online tonight. in one, the woman repotted her phalaenopsis in fresh moss, and the other woman used gigantic chunks of bark with charcoal.

what's your recommendation?

and thank you, merry christmas to you too. and keep an eye on those christmas trees. >.>

~ C

[stefpix]

I think Sphagnum is not that bad. You could use it with perlite. I use it in net pots that you can find at hydroponic stores for a few cents. Maybe a 3" pot? That Miracle Gro Orchid Mix is good for houseplants or terrestrial orchids. It is misleading. You can find a Phal / Orchid mix from Better Grow at HD or Lowes. But you may be OK with some Better Grow Chilean Sphagnum you find at those big stores. If you grow in an apartment there is less humidity than a green house. I use mostly net pots and often I insert them in a slightly larger clay pot. So if the saucer has some water it gets quickly wicked, it raises the humidity around the roots without having the net pot be sitting in water.

stefano

[Merlyn]

The moss would be better than that stuff you bought ! If you haven't thrown it out you could loosen it up and repot with it. There's also a reputable online orchid supply source at QuarterAcreOrchids.com. I've been buying almost all my stuff there for 8 years. If you're able and have a 1/4" masonry bit you can drill holes in those Home Depot pots, I've done that and it's not hard to do.

[jrodpad]

I'm agnostic when it comes to the whole bark vs moss debate. I've come to see the benefits of each. Do you tend to kill plants with too much love or neglect? If the former, I would go with bark - you need to water more frequently in bark - so if you just need to water and mist all the time and you just can't help yourself, bark is a good way to go. If the later, then I would go with moss. Moss retains moisture far longer - you need to water far less than you do with bark. I have phals growing in both. In my house, at this time of year, the phals in bark get watered 2x a week (roughly). The phals in moss get watered ever 1.5-2 weeks. Each type needs to be replaced after they start breaking down - bark needs to be changed every 2 years or so. Moss about every year (though if you get really good moss - which is more expensive - it can last for 2 years). I tend to favor bark for orchids that don't need to be evenly moist - for orchids that need I dry out at least a bit between waterings. So most of my phals are in bark. I prefer moss for my orchids that need to be evenly moist - that hate drying out at all. In my opinion moss is a little trickier to learn initially - I find it to be a bit less forgiving than bark. Especially for hybrid phals. So, if it's a toss up for you, I would start off with bark and see how it goes. Everyone on the OB has their own opinion with respect to which one is easier - it's really a matter of personal preference. I tend to vote bark.

-J

[Bud]

repotme.com has a phalaenopsis mix that I use and I have to water often... flowershops use moss because you tend to water less...and its good for bussiness; especially if it has to stay longer on the grocery shelves... therefore moss is also doable; you just have to skewer and find the right watering regimen...but i have been using palaenopsis mix=large coco chips, lava rock, charcoal and hydroton...and I have my phals flower and glory in it