Newbie from Southern California

[amarin28]

I'm Ann from sunny California. Very new, only during quarantine & working from home have I really gotten into orchids & gardening in my garden. I have 1 oncidium and 5 phals: most were gifts for birthdays, one was in my office for 2 years now- rebloomed once after the first bloom, then the next year grew what I thought were blooms but turned out to be 2 stem keikis. I've had trouble trying to have those resulting 3 plants thrive. The 2 keikis have roots, but have not sprung any new leaves other than the 2 they grew while on the mama. Also their leaves look so dry. The mama seems is alive but no signs of new growth. I have all in coarse bark mixture in a sunny South facing window in my kitchen. I water them 1x/wk, I usually bring all of them outside for some fresh air and I gently rainshower hose them, then lightly fertilize. Currently my oncidium is blooming for the second time on the same stem! I noticed it was growing green shoots after the blooms died off. So glad I didn't cut stem down to bulb, or I would've missed out on this second bloom. The oncid was purchased mail order from Seattle Orchids and was my first purchase of an orchid for myself. Its called Volcano and is from Hawaii. I am battling gnats which are so annoying so I'd appreciate any advice on how to rid my babies of them. Other than that, happy to be here and learn all about orchids and keeping them happy.

[estación seca]

Welcome!

The Phals are shade plants. They do better with no sun ever on their leaves. They would probably be fine on your kitchen counter near the window, but not in the sun. You can use the sunny spot for more sun-loving orchids, like Cattleyas. There is a great thread here for learning to grow Phals:
The Phal abuse ends here.

Gnats might mean your potting mix is getting old. Most orchids in bark should be repotted every 2-3 years. Many Oncidiums are sold in sphagnum moss, which usually needs to be changed every year. If you haven't repotted for a while, now would be the time. The Phal thread above discusses it well. If you go to the Oncidium forum, accessible via the left yellow menu, you will find threads dealing with repotting Oncidiums. People grow them successfully in sphagnum moss, bark, and bark mixes. The medium doesn't matter; learning how to water does matter.

I know people who spray their house plant's soil with pet flea and tick spray to kill fungus gnats. You can also put a small fan blowing on the plants. The gnats can't fly against the fan, so they can't get back to the soil to lay their eggs. After all the larvae mature you will be free of fungus gnats. Your plants will probably need more frequent watering with a fan on them all the time.

[amarin28]

Thanks! I will take all the advice I can get.

[SouthPark]

Welcome Ann. Also consider 'mosquito dunks' ... a commercial product that could help too.

[Mountaineer370]

Welcome to the Orchid Board, Ann!

[amarin28]

Thanks, all. The potting medium is fairly new so I don't think its breaking down yet. Thinking of moving my orchids further away from the window, but then again they are so nice to look at while working. And I have a sheer curtain if its too bright. Been reading about mosquito dunk- what a funny name- but also would love to not to have to buy something else! Was hoping there was a household product/ organic solution. Will search the other boards.

[SouthPark]

Ann - that's ok ----- the 'mosquito dunks' are just a consideration or option. It could currently be one of the most effective ways to keep things under control. And it is just a consideration - so that if your other future considerations or approaches turn out to be not good enough - then there's always this option to try out

[estación seca]

The fan works better than any chemicals.

[DrDawn]

Hi and Welcome to OrchidBoard!

To your question about the two keikis that don't seem to be thriving - they might need water more than once per week. Phals never like to dry out completely, so you should water them as soon as they are dry. The bark probably drains very quickly and so might need to be watered every other day or so. Also, hopefully you soaked your bark before potting your orchids in it - otherwise the bark can be so dry from packing/shipping that it doesn't absorb any water and can dry your roots out even more! I've got about a dozen Phals and the ones in spaghnum moss need water about every 4-5 days and the ones in bark need it every other day. You can read the posts linked in ES's post for more info and suggestions about watering.

[PeaceDuke]

Hello and welcome! glad to see you here!