On Tue, 4 Apr 2006 17:22:37 -0700, wrote
(in article .com):

My husband bought me a gorgeous orchid plant for Valentine's Day. I'm
not sure what type it is. You can see it he

http://home.comcast.net/~jbcamel/temp/long.jpg

It is a single plant with two long stems covered with flowers. In fact
it has not lost a single flower since he gave it to me and has grown at
least four or five new ones. It also has several new buds. Most of
the buds are at the end of the stems but a couple are in the middle.

Questions:

- Should I prune the flower stems so that they do not get extremely
long and spindly? If so, where do I prune them?
- What about feeding? The instructions said to only feed them monthly
in warm months. I do have orchid food but I haven't fed them yet. I
thought I'd start in May. Does that sound right?
- I have no idea what I'm doing but so far the plant seems to be very
happy. It gets filtered morning sun and bright light the rest of the
day. Do orchids continue to flower all year or do they have a season?
- Does it ever need to be repotted?

I'd really love it and would like to keep it beautiful and happy as
long as possible. Any help would be appreciated.

Jane

Welcome to the group, Jane. The genus is Phalaenopsis, but unless you have a
tag somewhere about the pot, you'll never know the species or hybrid name.
That's OK; most of us have picked up what we call "noids" for No ID because
they're pretty.

Phals need warmth, but only low to moderate light levels; they sunburn rather
easily.

They need to be kept moist, but never standing in water, and it's important
to keep water out of the crown of the plant, where the leaves come together,
because the roots and crown are very susceptible to rot. How often to water
depends on the ambient temperature and the medium they're in, but a good
drenching once a week in warm months, and every 10 to 14 days in cold months
is plenty.

The recommendation for fertilizing is "weakly, weekly." One quarter
teaspoonful of the usual granular fertilizers in a gallon of rain water would
be fine. Everyone has his or her own magical routine, but I like to water
with a fertilizer solution three times in a row, and then just drench with
water the fourth time.

Phalaenopsis blooms are exceptionally long lasting - up to several months.
You shouldn't prune back the inflorescence, or "spike," until the blooms have
mostly withered (or you're tired of them!), and then cut it as close to the
leaves as you can. Most Phals bloom once yearly, adding new leaves on top
between times, and losing old leaves on the bottom as they grow.

If yours is in a medium like bark or coconut chips or sphagnum, with or
without Perlite and charcoal, it should be repotted every two or three years.
If you don't know when it was last repotted, I'd do it after these blooms
have faded. Otherwise, the medium could decompose, keeping the roots wet with
poor air circulation, and harboring the organisms that cause rot.

If you're impelled to keep this orchid growing or add others (it's an
insidious addiction), join a local orchid society, read any one of the many
good orchid primers, and/or keep coming back to this generally friendly
group.

Tom
Walnut Creek, CA
Nikon D70