Hello! Help me save my orchids!?
 

Hi, nice to meet you! I'm a newbie to orchid care and the forum and I'm here to gather some advice on how not to kill your phals - any guidance at all would be very much appreciated!

For me it all began some years ago when my father, for some reason still unknown to me, bought me an orchid. I'm notoriously forgetful so this didn't seem like a wise gift at the time, and the poor thing has suffered ever since. Someone I began dating a while later must have noticed it sat in my window though, because he then bought me three more. Another from my mother, and two more from family friends and I realised I was going to have to learn to love them (or at the very least read the care label).

Some time later... love them I do! Funny how things work out. Now I have lots of questions about how I can bring the orchids I nearly killed to full health :)

Better late than never?

Thanks for having me - I look forward to posting with you all!

Welcome to Orchid Board!

http://www.aos.org/Default.aspx?id=204

Wow, that's a great guide, thanks! I still have a lot of questions though - one of my orchids was flowering and looked great but suddenly all of the flowers dropped and the remaining unopened buds are staying stubbornly closed (though they still look healthy). The roots and leaves look healthy too and I keep it on a south-east facing windowsill. I've never fertilised the plant though which that article says you must do - could this be why the flowers dropped off? Thanks!

:welcomeflowers:

Fertilizing helps the plant grow and bloom. Your blooms likely dropped either because they were just finished, or due to environmental factors, or watering issues.

Welcome to Orchid Board :welcome:

Thank you for the welcome!

The weather has gotten cooler recently, but I thought I'd kept my room temperature stable, perhaps I was wrong :( Is it usual for flowers to drop before all of the buds are open?

I wouldn't know about watering issues, should I be using distilled or rain water? The water where I live is quite soft so I've never worried about it before.

Welcome! :D

:waving Welcome to OB

Thank you, thank you! :)

I would start by reading this thread:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ends-here.html

The first 16 pages or so are loaded with info and the posts by King of Orchid Growing are really useful. It's a lot, so take your time, grab a cuppa and read it when you have time. Don't try to read it all at once, like I did. I overloaded my brain and forgot half of what I read. LOL!

Welcome to the forum!

:welcomeflowers: