Newbie but already in love :)
 

Hi, I am very new to owning orchids. I've always admired their exquisite beauty but shied away from getting one because I was a bit intimidated by trying to care for them. Early last month my husband came home and surprised me with the most beautiful Magenta Phalaenopsis Orchid and I was hooked! He gifted me with a devastatingly beautiful white one a few weeks ago and today while we were browsing at the local garden center we found a dish with several flowers...originally priced at 129.00 but because they were in such sad shape I got it for 30.00. I'm hoping that with some TLC and new knowledge acquired here I will be able to nurse them back to health :) I look forward to learning so much here!

Welcome! :)

I'm glad you got a nice surprise.
Dark magenta phals are breathtaking!!! I love them.

By the way, it is best to start with a healthy plant.
Even if it is $30 ( I think that is still too much for a sad looking plant) sounds way too much depending on how sad it really is. lol

:waving Welcome to OB

Thanks :)

There are actually 5 separate plants in the container, they all are budding and the 2 that are flowering are different colors so I'm thinking they may all be...
I see your point but I don't mind investing the 30 on them, even if they don't survive at least I can say I tried :) At best I will have lovely, healthy plants after nursing them back to health, at worst, they die but I gain a lot of knowledge and experience that I can apply to new plants <3

What a great attitude! I have a phal that I rescued from a hardware store this summer, I learned a lot from rescuing it. It's going to take some time to recover from all that it's been through, but the learning experience has been worth it!

These are the two different ones in bloom in the container. I'm wondering if they should all be in that one container (there are 5 separate plants in it) or if they should be in individual pots? Any advice, suggestions?

Well, 5 plants for $30 isn't bad at all given that they are not in terrible conditions. lol

Some are still in bloom, so that alone worth something at least for now! :)

Enjoy~

What are they planted in?? You can have a look in the pot. Or you can separate them carefully, then pot them up separately for the best and easy care.

Good luck!

Speaking of dark magenta phal, I want to go get one myself. lol

---------- Post added at 12:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:26 PM ----------

I guess now I see what you meant by sad. flowers are mostly gone. but there are some buds left, so you will enjoy them for weeks.

I think more close-up pictures will help, but it appears to me that the one on the far left looks rather dehydrated, but it could just be the picture quality.
They all look fine to me actually.

You want to lift that decorative green moss and take a peek inside for the conditions of the roots. If plump, silver white or green, or even white, they are all good.

Are there drainage holes at the bottom of that dish?
This is important. If not, then you want to be VERY careful with watering.

You can grow them together as is, but in case you want to separate them much later, it can be a pain dealing with all the roots intertwined with one another.

Hi! :)

:welcomeflowers:

I did take some more pics but for some reason I'm having difficulty getting them to post...I'll keep trying, something about a security token being missing. It directs me to email an administrator but then tells me a link is missing???

Success with pics!!! (I hope)
 

I don't know enough yet to be able to identify what they're planted in :(

The magenta one (my husband bought it in late September or early November), my first, had nice, healthy looking roots when purchased and had two healthy looking spikes with lots of blooms and buds. I originally placed it in my bedroom where I always kept a window at least cracked and sometimes halfway open because the temperature that that house was kept at was just too warm for me. I realized after it started looking horribly droopy that I'd made a terrible mistake and moved it to the bathroom where the temperature was regulated and warm. Unfortunately I totally lost one spike and cut it close to the leaves. The roots looked great when I got it but now are shriveled up and look awful (Note: I used the "water with ice" method and I'm sure that didn't help the situation much :( ) The 3rd pic is the magenta one slightly lifted out of the pot...those roots look very unhappy to me :(
The white one my husband bought me about two weeks ago and seems to be surviving me so far, the roots, I think, look pretty good. I haven't lifted the pots out yet to really inspect any of them, I have a VERY active, VERY curious 4 year old grandson who spends most of the week here and I am going to have to wait until he goes to his mom's to really get into anything otherwise he will drive me mad wanting to "see" and "help". I'd love to share this with him but as I'm learning just isn't the best time. I'm hoping to get a chance maybe tonight or tomorrow.
As far as the potted "collection", I took the best pictures I could but trying to get any type of clear pic of the roots or under the moss was almost impossible because the moss is really packed in there and for the same reason I mentioned above, I'm going to have to wait to get into that any deeper.
Thanks so much for all the feedback, suggestions, and comments, I really appreciate all the patience given while I struggle to learn :)
And thanks all for the warm welcomes! :)

I have new pics of the magenta Phals roots...it's bad :( most of them are total mush, like jelly <\3 I started a new thread under beginners with the pics in desperate hopes someone knows of a way it can be saved.

Happy New Year to all! May 2014 be filled with blessings for us all <3

Welcome to Orchid Board :welcome: