Boothbay wrote:
Bought my first moth orchid and am slightly confused by its growth.
it
only has one long stem where the flowers are and large bottom leaves.
From the look of things i do not see how another bud would emerge on
that 12" inch stem. There does not seem to have any nodes. Does
another
pop up from the base? If so, how long does it take?

1. Usually, Phalaenopsis produces a new inflorescence once a year. The
inflorescence emerges from between the leaves.

2. An information sheet on Phalaenopsis produced by the American
Orchid Society can be found he
http://aos.org/aos/uploadedfiles/docs/culturephals.pdf
An older, html version is he
http://www.taygeta.com/phalaenopsis.html
They should answer most questions about fertilizing and watering.

3. You may have more luck with orchid questions at rec.gardens.orchids
rather than rec.gardens


4. You might also consider purchasing an introductory book on orchids
form your local bookshop. Despite massive cloning, most orchids are
still expensive enough that the cost of a book is less than killing
plants by trial and error.

Hope this helps