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Orchid help needed please

last year

I received this as a gift a few weeks ago. it seems to be doing well but these roots growing from the bottom are a puzzle to me. do i cut them or leave them alone. thsnk for any info.

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Comments (5)

nicole___
last year
last modified: last year
That's a "Moth Orchid" ....Phalaenopsis. Very easy to grow. The roots need to breath. The root in that last photo is not heathy...see the brown spot...that's dead...cut it off above it. The orchid should not be sitting in water and the roots should be covered...you need more filler in the pot. I like small volcanic rock or pine bark. Pine bark is easy for me to get. Put small pieces over the base of the plant to cover the roots. Then once a week take the orchid out of the ceramic pot, submerge it in tepid water up to the brim(use a small bucket)...leave for 30 minutes remove....holding it sideways to drain...put it back into the ceramic pot. It likes bright light, but NOT direct sun. After it finishes blooming do not cut the old bloom stem off. Leave it and you may get new buds......or it may dry up....you play it by ear.
Lyban zone 4 thanked nicole___
Springroz
last year
Beautiful!! I have lots of orchids…they LOVE my big, east-facing bath window, on the tub surround. A hill blocksthe early morning sun, so it is pretty high when it comes in. I water mine about once a week or so, with leftover night water, because the chlorine has dissipated. I use ”Orchid Better Gro” fertilizer from Lowes, in a very weak solution about everyb60 days, once the blooms leave.
Lyban zone 4 thanked Springroz
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I will repot it, then, using the same pot, or at least the same size pot, remove the daughter plant and pot it up separately, and try to give both plants more light. Just guessing that Outside in Colorado in summer might not provide good growing conditions for Hard-Cane Dens. Colorado summers in the Denver metro area where I live, average in the 70's and 80's (F,) and it is usually very dry (of course, it is arid inside the house, too, so I don't know that that will make a difference) and the sun is very intense (as it is all year round.) If I put the orchid outside, I would definitely make sure it only got morning sunlight. Then there are the occasional hail storms...I actually did put some of my orchids outside one summer in some dappled shade and there was some hail damage, but at least one of non-Phalaenopsis orchids bloomed quite nicely that summer and hasn't done so since, so putting them all outside again does rather appeal to me! Is it the dryness to which you are referring, Arthur, when you recommend not placing the plant outside, or some other aspect of summers here? Holly
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Jennie, you need to paragraph your writing more. It makes it easier to read and comprehend. Some of your questions are not getting answered probably because people lose track of them in the thicket of sentences in the middle of your post. DON'T cut the dried up looking roots. They aren't necessarily dead, just desiccated, and they will rehydrate in water. Give the plant a half-hour soak in some water with a drop of Ivory Liquid and 1/4 strength fertilizer solution. When you cut a root, the wound gives bad things a chance to get into the plant. You don't want to do this til you have more skill and experience. Don't cut any root unless its dead, ie rotten and mushy, and slips right off, leaving a string.. You don't need the inserts. As Jane said, any plain plastic or clay (unglazed) pot will do. Just be sure it fits the roots instead of being too big. DON'T USE LIME ON ORCHIDS. Orchid roots are specialized to take up minute amount of nutrients and chemicals that some garden plants can take will kill them. Yes, orchids can get root-bound, but they are always making new roots, and roots can survive in the air (where they grow in nature), so people don't get too uptight about it. If you can't get Phsan 20, plain old hydrogen peroxide, the kind you get in a drug or grocery store can be used. Use about a couple of tablespoons/gallon of water. I have used peroxide on orchids many times. It doesn't harm them, even full strength. The gnats are coming from too wet soil, or they're in the medium. Be sure the soil isn't too wet whenever you see them. When I see them, I take it as a sign I am watering too often, and need to hold back more. They may be in the old medium your plants came in. Your south-sun French door location sounds perfect for them to me. You have to remember that the plant may not be ailing because of anything you did. You repotted because it was ailing--remember? So the bad thing that happened to it wasn't done by you. Besides, you're not an expert til you've killed at least 100 orchids. Just relax, you'll get the hang of it. If your plant doesn't make it, join the club. I'm still killing some after four years. I urgently recommend you read up on phal culture. You can find tons of information on the internet. Some of your questions suggest to me, you need some basic reading under your belt. I also would re-double my suggestion that since you have some sphag, sphag in clay works well to *re-root* ailing orchids. good luck
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I did this when I lived in NY. When Phals are spiking the spikes will head toward the light. You cannot do this under your light set up. You can grow the plant under grow lights, but you cannot get the flowers unless you keep lowering the plant. The easiest way is to buy octopus, floor lamps. Put the plants on a table and point the lights toward the spikes. With an octopus lamp, you can move the lights up, higher and higher. I used simple, cheap CFL bulbs. Here's a picture of what I did. You can see Phal spikes reaching for the lights as well as Dendrobium spikes. This room did not have much natural light but was my 'warm room.' I was able to flower any of those plants which flowered in the winter under those lights. The octopus lamps are inexpensive, I bought mine in Target and Home Depot. Put CFL bulbs in and they will flower those plants. Jane
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bbstx
last year
You’ve gotten good advice from the experts. Here’s what I do…2 oz of water once a week. When it stops blooming, I pitch it just like cut flowers. I love orchids because they bloom for such a long time but I don’t want anything that needs me tending to it more than a little water once a week.
Lyban zone 4 thanked bbstx
RNmomof2 zone 5
last year
@bbstx If you have the right light, I think they are pretty easy. I have 3 right now that have rebloomed several times. I water them when I think about it, probably every several weeks, have never fertilized them, and they are how they came from the store in pots and soil.

Don't tell mine they are supposed to be finicky.
Lyban zone 4 thanked RNmomof2 zone 5
woodrose
last year
Orchids are very easy to care for, almost as easy as succulents. After it blooms, if the flowers spikes turn brown cut them off about an inch from the base. If they stay green you may get a re-bloom or babies. Some experts suggest that you repot an orchid after it loses it's blooms. I have mine in an orchid mix for Phalaenopsis from Lowe's, but if you can get a better one from repotme.com, or so the "experts" say. I use distilled water with a small amount of orchid food mixed in (also from Lowe's) and water when the orchid feels light when removed from the cachepot and the roots look white-ish. be careful not to get water in the crown which can cause rot. The aerial root with the brown section is fine as long as the end stays green, but you can cut it off if you like. Cut off any aerial (outside) roots that are brown and completely dried. I know it sounds complicated, but it's just water, orchid food and bright, indirect light. Now if someone could just teach me how to get them to bloom again, I would be happy. I can keep them alive, healthy, new leaves, new roots, even have a baby growing, but no blooms ! Guess I need to go over to our Orchid forum https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/orchidsand ask for help, or watch some YouTube videos. Anybody here know how to get new bloom spikes on a Phal ?

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