WGRZ,

Did these orchids happen to come with little plastic tags or dogtags or
instructions or anything at all identifying them? There are so many
different kinds of orchids. It's almost like saying that you have a "pet"
without identifying whether it's a dog, cat, or hamster. Sorry. :-(

I am sure that for some of them growing from 2.5 inches to 6 inches in this
amount of time is huge progress while for others it's not. Actually you said
that you got them last October, then why are you worried if they have grown
to be twice as large in only that little time, that's probably pretty good.
Even assuming that they are for example Phalaenopsis orchids, there are some
species Phals that never grow large, but even for those species and hybrids
that do grow large it takes a while to get to blooming size.

Just to make sure that we have the same understanding of what exactly you
mean by this measurement, are you measuring the plant from the tip of one
leaf to the tip of the other leaf? If not, what is that measure? Also what
size of a pot are they planted in, and are these orchids still together in a
common pot or are they separate?

Orchids that are grown from seed take years until they bloom, which is why I
(impatient that I am) tend to buy blooming size or at least near blooming
size plants.

Do you have any other reason to believe that these are not doing too well?
Have these orchids grown new leaves, lost any leaves? What color are their
leaves (dark green, light green, yellowing)?

Aerial roots above the potting mix are a good thing and no reason for alarm,
enjoy them. If you have the sense that the plant is getting way too big for
its pot, you can repot it to a slightly larger pot and then you can try to
put some of the aerial roots into bark as well, but if the aerial roots are
looking well, then why try to fix it if it isn't broken -- the orchid uses
them to get some moisture out of the air.

You might consider getting a beginning book for orchid growers such as for
example "Orchid Growing for Wimps" by Ellen Zachos. Among some useful links
for information on orchids are the following:

http://www.orchidlady.com/
http://www.firstrays.com -- look at the Free Information section
http://orchidweb.org/orchids/beginner/

Hope some of this helps.
Good luck,
Joanna

"hi" wrote in message ...
Hi,

We were in Hawaii last October and picked up a couple of orchids (small,
sold in plastic bag at a gift shop). It's been almost a year but they
don't seem to be growing that great (from 2-3 inches when we got them to
about six inches now). I've been using Schultz's potting mix and food.
The roots of one of the orchids are actually above ground. Should i force
it back underground? Is there a site for more orchid care/maintenance
specifically for beginners? Thanks