Hi All,
Since I regularly visit and find useful information in these forums, thought I'd finally register and introduce myself.
Not an expert by any stretch, but I've had orchids (generic phals) for about 15 years, but for many of those years they were quite neglected; either not watered enough or more often overwatered, potted in poor material, etc. Several had no new leaves or visible roots for many years. It's a testament to how sturdy they really are that they're all still alive today. About 2-3 years ago I set about to learn more about them and take better care. They were all repotted in fresh material in well ventilated pots, had a dead root cleanup (there were plenty of those), and were set on a regular schedule of watering and fertilizing. Just generally a lot more TLC..
And it's been very rewarding to see how all of them have gradually recovered and grown much larger and healthier. I was just noticing this week that two of my orchids that haven't bloomed in a very long time (6 years and ~10 years) have flower spikes just starting to come up.
I now have 12 orchids in total, 5 in bloom currently with 3 more that have spikes coming up (one with 2 spikes). The collection includes 2 keikis; one from a flower spike from my daughter's plant, doing very well (5 leaves) but still small, and a basal keiki from a miniature phal, that was very very tiny when separated, but is also doing fine. The newest member of the family was a valentine's day gift, and will be very interesting to follow as it has what looks like a terminal spike, along with what I think is a keiki on it.
Assuming I did this correctly I attached a picture of one of my more interesting orchids, which happens to be in bloom at the moment.
Cheers from Nova Scotia,
MCD
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