Need to vent my anger and frustration at my poor growing skills

[shakkai]

Oh, Camille, I'm so sorry to hear about your Nelly... I agree with Sue 100% - don't give up! And repot your orchids, no matter what, when you get them. If I didn't do this, I wouldn't have known that beneath the surface layer of small bark chips, my new Phrags were potted in a mixture of bark and rockwool! Imagine what that would have done to them if I had followed the advice to let them stand in a dish of water?!

Clear pots are another great suggestion here. I can find them at my local garden centre, but I have also seen them available at most every on-line orchid nursery - under 'Supplies' or similar.

Whatever you do - don't give up! I think everyone needs to go through these experiences in order to realise what 'right' is for them (and the 'right' potting medium, watering regime, fertiliser, etc... are all different for each person and circumstances). Go get another one and try again - or go and try something else new!

[GreggC]

I have to order them for our Orchid Society, so I order them from Calwest Tropical. It may be that you have to order too many from them to make it worth your while, but the 4" pots average to be about 40 cents apiece for us. It is okay unless you are ordering the bigger pots, like the 8" pots-they are pretty near $1.00 eaqch by the time I include p&h. Having said that, I like to see what is going on with my plants, and this is the best way.

[camille1585]

Thanks everyone for your kind words. I was a bit over reacting yesterday since I was really upset about it! I love my orchids too much to give them up, no matter how many go to the compost heap. Unfortunately my wallet does not seem to agree with me on this point! Next time I'm in Amsterdam, I'll speak to the vendor. He's seemed really knowledgable, so it's possible he just doesn't know what's going on with his suppliers.

But what I'm going to do with Nelly is see if I can drop it off at a grower near Paris when I go there soon and see if he can somehow nurse it back to health. They have an orchid sitting service, and he's one of the most reputable frenh growers.

So I guess the only way to make myself feel better is to......buy more orchids!! This time some phals since they seem to like me. And they will be repotted ASAP. By the way, are species phals harder to grow than hybrids??

[GreggC]

if you go to orchidspecies.com, they can tell you what conditions your species plants will like. Other than that, I have a program called OrchidWiz that has that info on most hybrids and species.

[Leisurely]

With a little TLC your plant will survive. I have grown plants of the oncidium intergeneric variety from a single leafless backbulb.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Leisurely

With a little TLC your plant will survive. I have grown plants of the oncidium intergeneric variety from a single leafless backbulb.

I guess that if you can do that (wow, resistant little plant ), I can manage coax a little growth out of the remaining roots. If Nelly doesn't hate me too much!

Like I said the remaining roots are the ones half out of the bark at the top. They are starting to dry a bit though. What if I top dress the pot with a little bit of barely damp sphag to keep a bit of humidity?? (my mortal enemy )

[GreggC]

just make sure you keep the top of the bag cracked a little bit. Keep it moist, but not wringing wet.

[Ross]

May I join in? Sphagnum is pretty hard to deal with for most folks. It holds moisture, yes. But it holds it for too long for lots of plants. Those folks who use it regularly, swear by it, but they tend to be the advanced growers who can judge how to handle it. I think for the orchids you have mentioned, you'd be better off with coarse bark (or coco fiber) mix. I think wetness may be your biggest nemesis.

Now for the backbulb. I have grown a substantial Miltonidium from a rootless backbulb where the label said (sort of) "Don't bother trying to grow this orchid. We will grow more". I simply potted it in new mix, watered faithfully and after two years this is what I got. Back bulbs are fine for new plants with enough care.

[GreggC]

But if as Ross says, you are a fairly new grower, you might want to try as he has suggested.

[camille1585]

The biggest problem is that I am going back to France at the end of the week for the holidays. My plants will be in the care of my landlord (I live in a house in her backyard) who knows nothing about orchids. I need to give her a crash course in watering. 2 weeks is going to be a long time!

As for sphag n bag, it would mean cutting off all 8 spikes (as I should probably do anyway). Since I'm not sure I'll ever see flowers on this one again, I'm hesitating...