misterssippi!

[myshka]

Hi! I'm a 23 year old guy from Mississippi. I'm a senior in college and lately I've been having the itch to explore some form of horticulture. I'll be moving into a new apartment soon and I figured having a plant or two would make it feel more cozy. Last night, while walking through Lowes, I ran into the most amazing plant: the orchid!

So now I have my first plant, ever.

I've been reading everything I can find about these amazing plants. It appears that many people end up killing their orchids and I really want to avoid making mistakes and being able to recognize problems before they become exacerbated.

A) My orchid appears healthy, as far as I can tell. Some roots looked dead or rotted; however, more than half look, to me, to be very healthy. I'm concerned about the medium it's in at the moment. I would like to move it into a bigger clear hydroponic style bucket with the ceramic bead things.

Can you buy this stuff at local stores or must you order them online?

B) Is it ok for roots to grow above and between the leaves? The ones above the moss stuff are a white gray color. Is this ok?

If you guys wouldn't mind checking out my new orchid and letting me know if anything looks wrong, I would be sooo grateful!

[quiltergal]

Hi myshka! Welcome to Orchid Board.

There is something classically beautiful about a white Phalaenopsis orchid. Yours looks very healthy from what I can see. You are right to be concerned about the Sphagnum moss medium. It holds a lot of water for a long time, and can easily rot the roots of your plant if it stays too wet. The roots inside the pot that appear green are wet. As the velamin (the covering of the root) dries out it turns a silvery white color. That's one way to tell when it's time to water again.

Check out the Semi-hydroponic forum for lots of great information. You can buy the LECA (light expanded clay aggregate) at any hydroponics store. I order my supplies online from First Rays Orchids.

[cb977]

Your new plant looks very nice

I see Terri has already taken care of your questions :

[whygreenberg]

Hello and welcome, Myshka! Very healthy looking Phalaenopsis! Terri's post is some really good info for you. The roots growing out and all over the place above the medium are aerial roots. Phals will often put tons of them out. These are good things. The one other thing I'd add is to not pot it in too large a new container. Most orchids like to be pretty root bound.

[MuscleGirl'sHobby]

Hello and welcome to orchid board! I can't really add on the info you've been given already. But, I can say contrats on your first orchid... and first plant! Have fun with it, I'm sure that before long it will have company

[l.ania]

Hi and welcome to OB
May I ask you.... are you originally from US? :> or maybe somewhere else?
The Phal is gorgeous I love white Phals...

[ChasWG]

Now that is a very pretty Phal! I love the touch of yellow on the tips! SWEEEEET!

You might want to find a gardening center near you. You'd be supprised at what you can find locally. I'm lucky in that I have a wonderful gardening supply store near me that sells all sorts of orchid supplies as well as many other bits that I can re-purpose into what I need. Either get out your phone book or get on the internet and do a search in your area. If not, I'd suggest Ray's as well. He's a great guy and very helpful!

Oh, and welcome to the board!