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  #1  
Old 07-07-2013, 10:00 AM
Phalorchidnew Phalorchidnew is offline
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Completely new to orchids need help Female
Question Completely new to orchids need help

I live in the UK, and got my orchid today. A rose coloured Phalaenopsis Orchid that is currently blooming not sure which one specifically. I need a bit of overall help. It is potted in peat, with some drainage holes. I believe there to also be a few wood clippings in there too. One of its roots is already coming out of the drainage hole. I need a bit of advice in several categories

Location
Lighting
Feeding
How often to water it
Replanting of necessary
Care once it has finished blooming
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  #2  
Old 07-07-2013, 02:25 PM
bellini girl bellini girl is offline
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to OB. First off on breaking the 77 year curse at Wimbledon. I watched Andy finally win at home. Anyroads, there's a really good post ..entitled "The Phal abuse ends here". Check it out. It has loads of info on growing Phals.
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  #3  
Old 07-07-2013, 03:35 PM
Bill U. Bill U. is offline
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Welcome to OB! There are tons of great people here that can help you out with just about anything you may need with orchid growing!

As was already suggested, reading the "Phal Abuse Ends here" thread all the way through (I know, it's long, but there is a ton of useful information for beginners in there!)

Without knowing too much about your growing area, here are some very brief things to think about when taking care of a phalaenopsis:

Location- somewhere that it will get bright, indirect light (a good recommendation is between 1000-2000 footcandles in light intensity). Also make sure that the relative humidity of the area is at least 40% or so.

Light- see above please for strengths. Light can be given from natural lighting or from artificial lighting to supplement what you need.

Feeding- there are a bunch of different ways that you can do this, but a good recommendation is to buy a balanced fertilizer (20-20-20, 10-10-10, or a semi-unbalanced fertilizer of 30-10-10) and dissolve it in your water to feed every time that you water at approximately 50ppm Nitrogen (the first number. That would be approximately 0.25 teaspoons of a 30-10-10 to 1 gallon of water). Then another method is to use 0.5 teaspoons of 30-10-10 every other watering (because it is stronger, it's not applied as often).

A HUGE help for fertilizing amounts (in addition to metric measures is https://www.firstrays.com/fertcalc.htm

Watering- There is a slight trick to getting your watering schedule down depending upon your growing conditions. Everybody waters a little bit differently. If your phal is mostly in peat moss with a few bits of bark, I would say that you will probably end up watering somewhere in the region of 10-14 days (again, depending upon your conditions). A good way to test when you need to water is to take a bamboo skewer and put it into the pot near the center (try not to stab any roots or anything like that!) and check it periodically- when the skewer is still wet or damp, wait a day or two; when the skewer is dry, it's time to water. *personal opinion- I personally try to keep all of my phals, or orchids in general, out of peat moss because in my conditions, I find that it will dry out too slowly and unevenly- the center will stay much more moist than the outsides or top of the pot. This being said, I prefer to put my orchids in a bark mix that allows them to dry out a little faster (just short of 1 week or so- longer when it is cooler). That is my personal preference because I have lost some orchids to root rot in the moss.

Repotting- For phals, repotting is usually done once a year or so with bark mixes and sometimes less than a year with mosses because it stays wet longer, which means it usually starts to break down a little faster. Phals are epiphytes (air plants), so when a potting medium is breaking down and becoming rather soil-like, it can actually smother it to death. Phals tend not to be too fussy about when they are repotted, but good times are often after it is done blooming. (If an emergency repot is needed while it is in bloom- I would repot and possibly sacrifice the bloom if the plant was in poor health.)

After-bloom Care- After bloom care is very easy. Once your flowers have started to wither or fall of your inflorescence (flower spike), then you have an option: 1) cut the spike as far down the the base as possible and dust the cut end with regular cinnamon to help it dry out and prevent infection OR 2) cut the flower spike between the first node that bloomed and then first un-bloomed node to try and make it flower again. Each option has its pros and cons. *Personal opinion- I have done both to various phals with success with both, however, I judge the plant to see what is best for overall health. If the phal looks a little sad or tired (somewhat limp leaves, etc), then I will without hesitation cut the flower spike all the way down and wait for it to put out another one. If the plant is going very strong and hasn't had any issues in the last several months, then I may cut the spike and try to get it to re-bloom for me. In the end it is up to you, but there are some ways to extend the life of your plant by not overly-stressing it.

As I mentioned before, these are just BRIEF descriptions about the things you asked, and as you will come to find out here on the OB, you will many times get more than 1 answer or way of doing something.

Welcome again! Let us know how we can help you become just as crazed about your orchids as we are!

Bill
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  #4  
Old 07-07-2013, 04:50 PM
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james mickelso james mickelso is offline
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Great post and advice Bill-U. If he follows these guidelines the phal will be sure to grow and flower well. This should go up in the phal abuse thread, or as a stand alone.
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  #5  
Old 07-07-2013, 08:35 PM
WhiteRabbit WhiteRabbit is offline
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  #6  
Old 07-09-2013, 09:21 AM
RosieC RosieC is offline
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Welcome to Orchid Board

I agree with Bill's post above. However I would recomend if you can't face the whole of the 'The Phal Abuse Ends Here' thread (which is very very long) then make sure and read the few several pages.

I would guess it's not in peat, but actually in bark which has broken down so much it looks like peat. That's what I usually find with orchids sold here in the UK.
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  #7  
Old 07-09-2013, 05:08 PM
Calbears Calbears is offline
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Ditto what everyone has said and

Fair warning, once you rebloom that phal, your interest in the subject will really be piqued (at least that's what happened to me.) Lucky for you, you've already discovered one of the great resources in Orchid Board.
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