What to do now?
 

Someone in town was giving away plants she no longer wanted. I took the orchid. I’ve no experience but have been doing a little reading. I gave it 1/4 cup of water, and I cut a dead leaf and two dead arial roots. It’s in an east window, with a grow light to supplement light on cloudy days and evenings. The leaves are quite dusty….I'm not sure how to clean them. Can I just wipe with a damp cloth? There is a stick where I assume the last bloom was clipped. I’m using that to keep it propped up……it’s leaning a bit. Is there anything else that I should do right now?

First, Welcome!
There's a "sticky thread" that is full of information on basic Phalaenopsis culture. The Phal abuse ends here.

No more cutting. It actually looks good. As far as leaf cleaning goes, you could make up a solution of half milk and half water (or prehaps a little less milk)... people use that to shine up leaves for exhibiting.

For deciding when to water, you can water it well (water running through the pot)
, let it drain, and then weigh it on a kitchen scale or postal scale. Do that the next day and the next. When the rate of weight loss slows down (not much more water to evaporate) it's time to water again. Your goal is "humid air" in the root zone (not dry and not long-term sopping wet) This trick will let you learn how to achieve that in your environment. (Not by the calendar)

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

That plant is in good health now.

I echo what Roberta wrote, especially reading the thread she suggested. These are not hard to grow once you learn what they want.

Different orchids have different requirements, so they can't all be treated the same. This kind, a Phalaenopsis hybrid, likes full shade and does not ever need sun shining on it. In northern areas winter days may not be long enough for it, so if it doesn't flower in spring 2025, consider using electric lights to give it a 10-11 hour winter day.

It prefers warmth, ideally warmer than most people keep their house. With a little care they can be kept well so long as night temperatures aren't much below 68 F / 20C for too long. Some people manage to keep them somewhat cooler, but routine night temperatures in the 50-60 F / 10-15C range will likely kill them. An occasional night in this range will probably be tolerated if the next day is much warmer. Many people with cool homes in winter set them on a seedling heat mat. During cooler periods make sure the plant is almost dry before watering again. You could grow it outside in the shade in summer, in which case it could stay moist throughout warm weather.

Most orchids people grow are epiphytes, growing attached to trees or rocks with roots exposed to air. They always need plenty of air at the roots, so people use potting media with large chunks and large air spaces. Standard potting soil or outdoor soil will suffocate their roots. They often have air roots like yours has.

That's how they grow in the wild. The photo bellow sums it up.


https://i0.wp.com/www.aboutorchids.c...id_1_800px.jpg

Ok….thanks guys. I’ve watered and weighed. When I removed the clear plastic pot from the decorative pot, I noticed it is cracked and there are roots growing out of the crack and the bottom drainage holes. Am I going to need to repot?

It probably needs repotting anyway - one thing that orchids in general hate is stale medium, and if recently acquired and now past blooming, it's been in there for awhile. Choose your medium based on your watering practices - personally, I like medium bark, which has lots of air space. But I also like to water often. Sphagnum stays wetter, so works best for people who can't or don't water so often. Some people on the Board use inorganic medium like LECA (clay balls). So you'll get a bunch of opinions,. There is no one "best" medium... keep in mind the objective, which is "humid air" in the root zone. Lots of ways to accomplish that.

When you do repot, try to preserve those new wild roots - the growing green tips are VERY fragile. You may have to cut the pot to free them safely, that's fine. Root preservation is very import, pots are expendable.

Ok, I’ll get that done soon. Maybe a pot an inch or two bigger than what it’s in?

When repotting remove gently from the old pot and shake off the old medium. If some roots have grown through holes, just be as careful as you can. They will still function if broken. I don't cut off any roots since I can't tell which are truly dead.

Soak the roots in water for an hour to get them as flexible as possible. Pick a pot into which the roots just barely fit when you twirl them in one direction. You can wash the old pot with soap and water and reuse it if it's the right size. After setting the plant into the pot, backfill with new bark (if that's what you use.)

Many people like transparent pots because you can see whether the roots are moist (green or dark tan) or dry (silver or white.) A cracked pot is not a problem.

If you tend to overwater plants look for large bark. If you tend to underwater plants look for medium bark. Clay balls used for hydroponics can also be used (LECA.)

In either case new bark is hydrophobic so it would be better to water by soaking the whole pot in a bowl of water for a few hours until the bark starts holding water better. You will see when this happens. Some people always water their Phals. by soaking for a few hours.

howdy, and welcome to the ob and (possibly) the orchid addiction!

we are on this thing about repotting, and was gonna say that maybe it should be repotted...but then i kept reading. so yes, i agree with the others that it is time.

my only advice here is to get some good media. maybe do a little internen search for a good orchid supply where you can get reliable, quality stuff.

other than that, best of luck with the new plant!

Ditto this 100%

Otherwise, I agree with everyone else, the plant looks in pretty good condition, just in need of a repot. Put the pruners down and step away - that's the hardest thing for me.