Hello from London, England

[lovenostalgia]

Hello! I am a complete newbie to owning orchids, but I have fast fallen in love with these gorgeous plants and their beautiful blooms.

I only purchased my first phalaenopsis earlier this summer as it was reduced in my local garden centre. I have since purchased five, with two of those only yesterday. They were reduced in homebase to £1.69 each so I couldn't pass up on such a bargain.

I am glad that I did, as I stumbled across this forum while researching how to look after the spikes once the flowers have faded and fallen off.

I will take some photos of my collection and upload them once I work out how.

I hope to become an experienced orchid owner and eventually move on to different varieties over time.

Why are orchids so addictive? My family think I have gone mad

[l1sav]

I'm a new recruit also........ its a mind of information on here.

They are addictive because they r so beautiful and so unassuming. My other half just rolls his eyes when I come home with yet another one......

[Paul Mc]

Hello there! My name is Paul, and I am an orchid addict as well! (Covering laugh). Welcome!

Just an FYI, the neighborhood thinks I'm the crazy plant guy! LOL!


Paul McMahon
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[WhiteRabbit]

Glad you found us!

[Bud]

WELCOME ABOARD!!!!

[RosieC]

Welcome to Orchid Board from the The Midlands England

[lovenostalgia]

Thank you for the warm welcome everyone!

I'm off to the garden centre for my Saturday morning browse and to buy some fertiliser for my orchids. Any recommendations on the best type would be much appreciated.

[RosieC]

I DON'T like those little bottles you stick upside down in the pot and they are meant to release fertliserer slowly. They seem to release too quickly and I don't feel like I have control of what I use. They tend to be promoted a lot near the orchids in garden centers.

I used this one when I was first growing. I got it from Dobbies Garden center (though this is a tesco's link). It was fine though I use something else now.

Buy Chempak® Orchid Growth Formula - 1 x 250ml bottle from our Topsoil & Compost range - Tesco.com

There are various others, including a baby bio one. Any of them that say they are for orchids are fine provided you use the correct strength which does not always match what's on the bottle. If you get something and tell us the N-P-K numbers on the bottle then we can translate that to a recommended concentration for you.

The one I would recommend though these days is a mail order one, which means delivery charges, but you only use a tiny amount so it lasts a long time.

Akernes Rain Mix- Powder Orchid Food

[phraggy]

And a big welcome from the North of England. Go easy on any fertiliser the vast majority of orchids aren't big feeders.Go easy on the watering also--a good rule is small roots require moisture whilst large roots like phals require air'
Hope all goes well for you.

Ed

[lovenostalgia]

Thank you for the advice. I picked up the baby bio orchid fertiliser in the end. I will follow the guidelines and make sure that I don't over fertilise!