Hi everyone! (New to orchids and questions about bark in California.) - Orchid Board

katk925 · #1 05-27-2013, 04:52 AM

Hello forum readers!

I am new to orchids as of about 1-2 months ago.

My first orchid purchase was a small pink miniature phal I got at a grocery store near my new office. I am a lover of general gardening, mostly herbs and full sun flowers so far. Anyway, my new job is in an office with no windows and I was very lonely so I asked the girl at the grocery flower department what kind of plant might live in this office. She recommended getting the cheapest orchid they had and seeing if it would live. I became quickly interested in youtube videos and websites about orchids and after 1 week was concerned it was not getting enough light due to the reddend leaves. However it did open two more buds.

I brought this orchid home and then started worrying about its roots. It was in a very small tight pot of sphagnum moss, with holes, but VERY small ones and I was worried it would rot. So I decided to get some stuff at Home Depot and try my first repot. I got a Miracle Grow Orchid Bark and a pot. Upon getting home I saw that this pot was way way too big. I ended up finding a close to clear Solo cup and cutting a bunch of holes in it. My main mistake was not pre-soaking the bark

Well this orchid has now dropped all its flowers, but the leaves are much less red. There are a few small wrinkles and I am worried that the bark medium is too dry for this Los Angeles weather. I am trying to decide which is worse, leaving it in this and watering it more, or repotting it again so soon, and starting to try mixing this Orchid Bark Mix and Sphagnum Moss.

Sorry this is so long, but I will now talk about the orchids I have gotten since then to explain my reasoning:

Orchid 2: Went to a local fancy garden place I often buy herbs and flowers. They have expensive orchids but there was a discount rack. I got a nice looking phal with huge white and purple flowers. I was expecting to repot it immediately based on the look of the roots. On the way home the flower stem broke in the car. So it got repotted right away with the same orchid mix as the first phal, again didn't know yet to pre-soak, in the larger home depot orchid pot, which fit it nicely. I think this phal is doing much better than the small one as the bark retains more water, since there is a lot more of it. It is a nice lively green color in the leaves and I cut the stem pretty high, I think above the third node, hoping for new flowers.

Orchid 3: Home Depot Phal orangey and pink, was too cute to pass up for $7! I drop potted this according to what the folks at Repotme.com had done with their Mother's Day orchid. I was kind of experimenting. This phal I've only had about a week but it is doing great so I think maybe I was wrong about the bark vs moss for this climate.

Orchid 4: Pretty Yellow phal I saw at Trader Joes. Was trying not to buy anything that day but groceries but had to look and this cheap one looks like it had a new flower stem starting under the 2nd leave on the opposite side of the current spike. Had to experiment and see what it would do. Also drop potted like Orchid 3, also doing well.

Rescue Orchids from yesterday: Well big weekend of Memorial day I had a lot of gardening to do with my hubby. We went to an all orchid store someone told me about here in LA called Pac 8. I got 6 orchids for 6 dollars! I also got some nice ceramic orchid pots and these cool little baskets the girls there said were intended for hanging orchids but I couldn't see the harm in using them for an orchid that was going in a pot that was a bit too big to keep them snug. These all got potted in the rest of my bag of Miracle Grow Orchid Bark, but now it was pre-soaked

These guys are all out of flower (one has a small white flower) but I tried to pick ones that looked like they had healthy roots. When I repotted them two had great looking roots, three normal roots for situation, and one not great. Two have new leaves forming. I am so excited to hopefully find out what color flowers they have next year! I love surprises! I have pictures of all this if I decide to post later.

Well sorry for the long post.

Main question: I would assume there is no one perfect orchid mix, and location and climate matter. Does anyone have any recommendations for my area, LA, CA? Is it too dry here for this kind of mix? Should I incorporate some Sphagnum moss next time?

Nice to meet you all!

silken · #2 05-27-2013, 02:14 PM

Welcome! Sounds like you got instantly addicted to orchids

There is a thread on here that you should have a look thru: http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ends-here.html It is very long but worth skimming at least.

You are right in your thought that there is no one perfect orchid mix. It does depend on climate but since you are growing them in your home or office, your outdoor climate doesn't matter quite as much. We often don't have high humidity where I live either. I have found that my Phals do well in a loose mix of medium bark and sphagnum moss. I put them in clear pots with very good air and drainage holes. Some Phals do suffer from a straight transition from moss to bark as new bark dries out very fast compared to moss that is tightly packed in the pot as it likely was when you bought them. For the ones that are not too happy, you could soak the entire pot in water for about 20 mins so the roots can have a good drink and the bark can get hydrated. Just make sure you don't soak the stem too high up and don't let water sit in the crown or crown rot can occur. Once the bark is a little older, it will hold moisture better. If they still aren't happy, you could carefully re-pot adding some moss. But they will likely settle in if you don't let them get too dry for too long. Misting the top of the pot daily could help.

The reason I like the clear pots is because I can see some of the roots and tell how they are doing. Green roots means they are still wet and silver colour means they are dry. Phals in the wild grow in trees where their roots attach to the trunks. So the roots get breezes and sunlight. I really feel mine do better in clear pots where some of the roots get light to them.

Good luck and I hope that helps. If you can't find clear pots, their are places on line such as Quarter Acre Orchids, Tindara, and repotme.com for orchid supplies. I also like some rooting hormone such as kelp (seaweed) which helps induce root growth.

Leafmite · #3 05-27-2013, 04:37 PM

Hello and welcome! I also enjoy herbs and flowers. Good luck with your new orchids!

KellyKhaos · #4 05-27-2013, 11:39 PM

Welcome & good luck with your orchids.

katk925 · #5 05-28-2013, 01:12 AM

Thanks for the advice! I think I will add a little sphagnum on top this orchid for now rather than repot it again and stress it more. Misting is also a great idea! Thanks! Will update!

RosieC · #6 05-28-2013, 05:23 AM

Welcome to Orchid Board

I can't really advise for your area, but you are right that what is good in one place is not good in another. It also depends on you though, what is good for one grower is not good for another. It can be best to experiment a bit and see what works, just don't switch orchids around too often. I used to buy new cheep NoID phals to try different ways of potting rather than switch around a particular one.

tucker85 · #7 05-28-2013, 11:26 AM

Welcome to Orchid Board! Everyone has their own little micro-environment and their own culture habits. Basically you're trying to strike a balance between air and moisture in the root zone along with frequency of watering. Most growers want to have a mix that will retain enough moisture that they can go a few days without watering but that will dry quickly enough to prevent root rot. My personal preference is to have a mixture that drys out in 4-5 days. I seldom have root rot problems if I can accomplish that goal.

katk925 · #8 05-29-2013, 12:35 AM

I think I found a good solution for now that may work out well in the long run for my climate. This climate can be very unpredictable, sometimes hot and sometimes suddenly foggy and raining for no reason. I went to water three of my Phals that needed it today. They were all the three in the smallest amount of medium so they dried the fastest. One is the one in the solo cup I cut holes in, the other two in Net Baskets. I had the Net Baskets in larger clay pots. I took some fresh soaked Sphagnum and layered it around the outside of the baskets between the basket and pot. This way I can replace it frequently, its keeping the plant from drying as fast but the core isn't all moss to rot and I didn't have to repot, and wont have to repot if I want to freshen up the Sphagnum. Seems like it will work well, but we will see. The solo cup one I just added some moss on top. Update later. Maybe pictures...

Kat

katk925 · #9 09-01-2013, 08:52 PM

So it turned out after a while that method was not working at all. I took all the outer moss out and began watering more frequently and I got a new leaf about two weeks later.

GardenTheater · #10 09-03-2013, 01:38 AM

Welcome aboard. Congrats on the new leaf.