I've rekindled my Orchid Addiction! Lord, please don't let me kill these!

[ItsMe122]

Hi All!
Prepare for my super long--probably with a little bit of over-share thrown in--introduction!

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?
About 5 years ago, my husband bought me an Orchid (Phal) for our first wedding anniversary. Naturally, the first thing I did was hop online to find out what I had and how to care for it. When I found out that I could potentially keep it thriving and re-blooming for years, I fell in love with the idea of having our "First-Anniversary Flower" around for a good long while.
I, being the type of person to cannon-ball whole heartedly into any new hobby, soon went out and bought at least 3 (that I can recall) more orchids with high high hopes!
After all of my obsessive research, I repotted all of my new preciousess ASAP into an Orchid mix of bark, charcoal and perlite, trimmed the dead roots (and probably got a little snip happy on some healthy ones too) and willed them to thrive. They didn't. I was devastated to see my once healthy roots continue to rot, my sweet little orchid leaves turn yellow, shrivel and fall off. I realize now that some of the loss of leaves might have been a natural occurrence from the drastic reduction in roots. But I didn't understand (still don't, really) why the roots continued to deteriorate. I probably fussed with them too much. If I was unsure about something, did I pack the bark in too tightly?, I'd pull the whole darn plant out to look at the roots and repot. I was impatient and when a few weeks went by with no signs of new growth, only loss of leaves and roots, I would change something. I might have over watered them, I might have been so afraid of overwatering them that I dehydrated them. Who knows, I guess I've blocked the details of that tragic time from my memory. I just know that eventually, I finally accepted the fact that I had a black thumb and gave up, vowing never to have another orchid's death on my hands again. I probably cried a little too.

That lasted a good long 5 years, until I saw the Blue Mystique Phals from Silver Vase and I rebounded. I told myself that I would just stick with this one and see if I could bring it around to bloom again next year. That is, until I did some research & realized that these would rebloom in their natural white coloring. Ok, that's cool and all, it's not that I have anything against the white flowers...I'm just a color gal! So, **ASSUMING** I could even bring these around again, I'd end up with white flowers. So I decided to go pick out a naturally colorful Orchid as well, to add to the collection, and see what I could do with those two. I told myself I'd only pick out and buy the 1 colorful one and that was it....until I walked by the Shelf of Death at Lowe's and saw 2 little lonely phals whose flowers had gone from their spikes, discounted to $5.00 each. One of the 2 has like 6 leaves (though the most recent leaf is definitely smaller than the previous ones) and even has a new root coming in! I figured the glazed ceramic pots alone were worth the 5 bucks so I bought them for the kittens. You know, the kittens that you see on adoption day at PetSmart that you're so afraid no one will adopt and they will have a dark fate if you aren't the one to rescue them?! I can't adopt those kittens because...responsibility. BUT! what's a few little orchids?!
Plus, the idea of keeping these guys around and having some surprise blooms next year sounded fun! See how I'm getting ahead of myself here already?

So now here I am again, I have 4 orchids. I have repotted 3 of the 4. Obviously, the 2 rescues--chopped their old spike off while I was at it--and also the colorful one that I picked out that day. It looks like a very big, nice and healthy plant but I could see some algae looking stuff on the inside of the pot, the pot wasn't 100% clear, it's a bit opaque, so I couldn't really tell what it was potted in so since one of the buds already looked like it was gong to blast out, I decided to go ahead and repot that one with the hopes of keeping the plant healthy. The 4th one that I have not yet repotted, the blue one, actually looks pretty stinking awesome as it is! The pot is nice and clear so I can see a ton of healthy green roots that have circled around the bottom. The media looks to be mostly bark and in good condition, so I'm going to let this guy chill for a bit until the flowers die off naturally and I see some root growth starting.
I pulled out some old clear tupperware containers that were in the donate box, drilled a ton of holes in the bottom and sides and repotted the 3 into a mix of bark and spagh moss. I didn't use any moss at all when I repotted back in 2010, so I've wondered if maybe those roots that had been in the mushy moss had a hard time adjusting to the bark only mix. I was looking at the newly repotted chids this morning and started worrying that maybe I threw too much spagh in the mix (I don't think I packed it too tightly though!) and have been fighting the urge to pull them out and repot again. The old me would have done it in a heart beat! But I'm trying really hard to be more hands off this time! I'm going to leave them be and try to let them tell me when they need water by judging the color of the roots, which I didn't know to do first time around.
So I guess, now only time will tell. I honestly don't know if I can handle being responsible for another Orchid Genocide...so I am SO hoping that things work out for us this time around. I don't think my husband will ever let another Orchid into this house if I kill these too. I wouldn't blame him! haha!
So please send me all your good vibes, happy thoughts, growing juju...etc. I'll take anything and everything I can get!!

[WhiteRabbit]

You may find some helpful info in this thread The Phal abuse ends here.
Read the first few pages, at least

[astrid]

Oh girl you are at the tip of the iceberg of orchid addiction.

Just wait until you try oncidiums and cattleyas!!! Dendrobiums, paphs, phrags, bulbos....

Maybe you should explore mounts for the last orchid- they're almost impossible to over water, and they look way too cool!

[LizB88]

and welcome to the OB!

I totally understand the need to look at what is going on If one thing orchids teach us is patience, my suggestion is when you get the worry worm I call it, read about them, look at youtube videos about how people take care of their orchids or even what types of conditions they grow them in. That way you will pass the time and if something does come your way that needs attention, you will not go into a panic. I think we all have had to learn to ignore them (specially phals) in order not to kill them with too much loving care.

Once again welcome and remember that we all have killed a good number of orchids before we learn how to really care for them, and even then we still can kill a few more. We just learn to look at the demise of one as an opportunity to get a new one

[ItsMe122]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

You may find some helpful info in this thread.
Read the first few pages, at least

Thank you! Yes, I've spent all week long lurking and searching everything I can find in here. I'm pretty sure I spent a few good hours in that Phal Abuse thread. Now it's down to time and patience.

Originally Posted by astrid

Oh girl you are at the tip of the iceberg of orchid addiction.

Just wait until you try oncidiums and cattleyas!!! Dendrobiums, paphs, phrags, bulbos....

Maybe you should explore mounts for the last orchid- they're almost impossible to over water, and they look way too cool!

Shhh... Don't tell me all that! these poor Phals need to survive in my care for at least a year before I can subject and entire new type of Orchid to my whims.
I think mounting would be awesome! It would have to be able to survive outside mostly with the help of our humidity. I'd be afraid that I'm too spacey to keep it adequately watered. With a two year old toddler running around and one on the way, some days I'm lucky if I even manage to get fully dressed!

Originally Posted by LizB88

and welcome to the OB!

I totally understand the need to look at what is going on If one thing orchids teach us is patience, my suggestion is when you get the worry worm I call it, read about them, look at youtube videos about how people take care of their orchids or even what types of conditions they grow them in. That way you will pass the time and if something does come your way that needs attention, you will not go into a panic. I think we all have had to learn to ignore them (specially phals) in order not to kill them with too much loving care.

Once again welcome and remember that we all have killed a good number of orchids before we learn how to really care for them, and even then we still can kill a few more. We just learn to look at the demise of one as an opportunity to get a new one

Thanks so much for the warm welcome! Yea I definitely pass a lot of time reading about Orchid growing methods. Sometimes I think that might be part of my problem, lol! I'll read something and be like, hey I didn't do that but it worked for them so let me go disturb my lovelies to try this new thing! I know I've lacked the patience in the past to find what would really work for me by trying what had worked for everyone else under the sun. That's what I'm trying to master this time around. That darn patience thing.

[judith_arquette]

Originally Posted by ItsMe122

Shhh... Don't tell me all that! these poor Phals need to survive in my care for at least a year before I can subject and entire new type of Orchid to my whims

I can't grow Phals to save my life, I just murder the heck out of their root system and they die a slow death while looking at me reproachfully. I have found that the oncidiums and cattleyas are much more forgiving. I annihilate their root systems and they still put out new growths (albeit smaller and less healthy looking) and new roots. I believe it has to do with the energy stored in their psudobulbs. I may just be killing them much more slowly because of this but I did actually get a new growth under my "care" to bloom...good luck with your new chids and welcome, this is a really great place full of people who genuinely want to help

[Optimist]

I sure hope things do not go badly for you. The hands off philosophy is good but first you need to have the orchids in an optimal situation.

The phals chosen for blue dying are usually strong cultivars. I bought one a while back just so I could see what the white one looked like. When it rebloomed, it was actually white with a red lip, so it wasent a waste.

Phals are advertised as being an easy orchid for beginners, but a dendrobium or cattleya are much easier to take care of.

Lastly, rescue phals are cheap and good plants to learn on, but often a person with more experience should take them on. Mainly due to exactly what you are talking about.

[RosieC]

Welcome to Orchid Board

I think your instinct to not mess with them too much after repotting is right. The roots need to settle down and get established in the new medium.

Also as you say switching from a very moist medium to a very dry one probably means the old roots will die back and you need new ones to grow. Keeping it moister this time is probably the right way to go.

[astrid]

You should get chopsticks or bamboo skewers to poke down in the center of the media. You can pull it out before you wanter and feel how wet it is. If it's just barely damp to the touch or even drier, you are probably safe to water.

If it is wet, don't water!

Also, you can put packing peanuts or LECA balls in the center of the media to keep it more dry on your last repot.
I hope those tips are helpful. I would probably be unpotting my orchids every week without the skewers!! I get so freaked out worrying about what's going on inside of my clear pots! I couldn't survive without skewers haha!

You should also look at other people from your area and see how much they are watering their phals. Do they keep them inside or outside? Just check with other folks from Florida.

Like, a person from Florida will say that masdevallias are impossible to grow and so finnicky, but everyone in my local orchid society in Oregon says, "Oh masdevallias are a snap! It's no problem to grow them here!"

So look for what locals tell you.

Also. Join a local orchid society! They'll be really helpful and friendly. And other orchid growers are MAJOR enablers so you can get more lil baby plants *evil laugh*