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#1
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Help with my Phalaenopsis
Hello,
I am a fairly novice gardener hoping for some help or advice. I have always loved orchids, they are my favourite flower, but have also been worried about looking after them. However, my boyfriend bought me a beatiful Phalaenopsis and I was hoping that I could get some advice on how to take care of it? I have looked on the internet which has some standard advice but was wondering if there was anything else i needed to know... Thank you! Helen |
#2
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Help with my Phalaenopsis
Helen,
Welcome! The most important piece of advice on growing Phals: do not water them too often -- many more orchids are killed from overwatering than from underwatering. They can withstand a lot more benign neglect than constant care. Do you know how to tell when to water your orchid? If not, please tell us what it is potted in (is it in moss or in bark? is it in a transparent pot?) and we can give you additional advice based on that. Try to water in the mornings so that the plant will have time to dry out before night. And ideally do not get water inside the leaves in the top center (that's called the crown), or if you do then remove the water from there with a paper towel of something. The reason for this is that you want to make it less likely that the orchid get a fungal infection, and fungi thrive in wet cold environment. Also if the crown were to rot that would be the end of this orchid, so keeping the crown alive is important. The general advice on fertilizing is to do it with a small amount of plant food (at most the minimum dosage suggested on the label) but do it regularly -- either "weakly weekly" or every other watering (however often that is). However, I have been growing orchids for 4.5 years, I must admit that I am terrible about remembering to fertilize regularly, and yet most of my Phals are thriving, so don't worry if you forget -- it's just that if you are good about doing it regularly, your orchid will do better, have more and better blooms, etc. Make sure that it gets enough light but not too much. If you have any questions about how much is too much or too little, please ask here. Mostly in the northern hemisphere a north facing window is too little and a south facing window is too much -- though one can use grow lights in a northern window, or move the orchid away from a southern window. An eastern window should be just right unless it is heavily shaded by trees or a balcony (as in the case of my condo). Now in the winter it is important to ensure that the orchid does not get too cold if it is very close to a window. However most Phals are sturdy enough so that temperatures in the 50s Fahrenheit should still be fine. A fan is a good thing, especially if the humidity is high. In the winter if the humidity is low due to heating consider getting a humidifier -- both for the orchid and for your own sake. However, both of these (fan and humidifier) while nice to have are not necessities -- most Phal hybrids are quite adaptable to non-ideal conditions, and they should do well in any home with some basic care. Watch your Phal's leaves over time. If more than one leaf (two or three leaves) go yellow and it has not grown a new leaf recently, consider cutting off the flower spike and putting it in a flower vase, then repot the orchid to look at its roots' health. It is normal for the Phal to loose a leaf occasionally especially from the bottom (that's where the oldest leaves are), but a healthy plant should be replacing leaves from the top every few months. You might want to find out if a local plant nursery offers repotting services when you can watch what they do and learn how to do it yourself, or find a local orchid society and learn from them -- I think it is not easy for a beginner to figure out without someone's guidance which roots to trim and which to leave alone when repotting an orchid. However generally you won't need to repot it unless either the plant seems stressed (and thus you need to check it's roots) or the medium that it is growing in is disintegrating or it is falling over because the plant is too big for its current pot. Another piece of advice that is not essential but nice to know: undiluted lemon juice can be used to clean leaves that have waterstains and dust. Last but not least, make sure to get another Phal or two soon, perhaps when this one stops flowering would be the best time to do so. Two or three Phals are not any more difficult to take care of than one, and with more than one Phal you are likely to be more patient with each one, so that if one of them does not reflower for you (do not expect it to reflower sooner than a year later), you can wait for it and enjoy the blooms of another instead. Be careful though: orchids are very addictive. After 4.5 years I have 47 orchids now, and I am fairly conservative in my orchid acquisition rate as compared to many others in this group. :-) Feel free to ask here if you have any more questions. Best, Joanna "smailzy" wrote in message ... Hello, I am a fairly novice gardener hoping for some help or advice. I have always loved orchids, they are my favourite flower, but have also been worried about looking after them. However, my boyfriend bought me a beatiful Phalaenopsis and I was hoping that I could get some advice on how to take care of it? I have looked on the internet which has some standard advice but was wondering if there was anything else i needed to know... Thank you! Helen -- smailzy |
#3
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Help with my Phalaenopsis (P.S.)
P.S.: Make sure that the Phal does not stand around in standing water. If
after watering you have water in the saucer, purr it out. Use a lot of water when watering though, just be sure to let the orchid drip above the sink or pour out the water from the saucer. This is to avoid root rot. "J Fortuna" wrote in message news:iXgqf.674$2B5.139@trnddc01... Helen, Welcome! The most important piece of advice on growing Phals: do not water them too often -- many more orchids are killed from overwatering than from underwatering. They can withstand a lot more benign neglect than constant care. Do you know how to tell when to water your orchid? If not, please tell us what it is potted in (is it in moss or in bark? is it in a transparent pot?) and we can give you additional advice based on that. Try to water in the mornings so that the plant will have time to dry out before night. And ideally do not get water inside the leaves in the top center (that's called the crown), or if you do then remove the water from there with a paper towel of something. The reason for this is that you want to make it less likely that the orchid get a fungal infection, and fungi thrive in wet cold environment. Also if the crown were to rot that would be the end of this orchid, so keeping the crown alive is important. The general advice on fertilizing is to do it with a small amount of plant food (at most the minimum dosage suggested on the label) but do it regularly -- either "weakly weekly" or every other watering (however often that is). However, I have been growing orchids for 4.5 years, I must admit that I am terrible about remembering to fertilize regularly, and yet most of my Phals are thriving, so don't worry if you forget -- it's just that if you are good about doing it regularly, your orchid will do better, have more and better blooms, etc. Make sure that it gets enough light but not too much. If you have any questions about how much is too much or too little, please ask here. Mostly in the northern hemisphere a north facing window is too little and a south facing window is too much -- though one can use grow lights in a northern window, or move the orchid away from a southern window. An eastern window should be just right unless it is heavily shaded by trees or a balcony (as in the case of my condo). Now in the winter it is important to ensure that the orchid does not get too cold if it is very close to a window. However most Phals are sturdy enough so that temperatures in the 50s Fahrenheit should still be fine. A fan is a good thing, especially if the humidity is high. In the winter if the humidity is low due to heating consider getting a humidifier -- both for the orchid and for your own sake. However, both of these (fan and humidifier) while nice to have are not necessities -- most Phal hybrids are quite adaptable to non-ideal conditions, and they should do well in any home with some basic care. Watch your Phal's leaves over time. If more than one leaf (two or three leaves) go yellow and it has not grown a new leaf recently, consider cutting off the flower spike and putting it in a flower vase, then repot the orchid to look at its roots' health. It is normal for the Phal to loose a leaf occasionally especially from the bottom (that's where the oldest leaves are), but a healthy plant should be replacing leaves from the top every few months. You might want to find out if a local plant nursery offers repotting services when you can watch what they do and learn how to do it yourself, or find a local orchid society and learn from them -- I think it is not easy for a beginner to figure out without someone's guidance which roots to trim and which to leave alone when repotting an orchid. However generally you won't need to repot it unless either the plant seems stressed (and thus you need to check it's roots) or the medium that it is growing in is disintegrating or it is falling over because the plant is too big for its current pot. Another piece of advice that is not essential but nice to know: undiluted lemon juice can be used to clean leaves that have waterstains and dust. Last but not least, make sure to get another Phal or two soon, perhaps when this one stops flowering would be the best time to do so. Two or three Phals are not any more difficult to take care of than one, and with more than one Phal you are likely to be more patient with each one, so that if one of them does not reflower for you (do not expect it to reflower sooner than a year later), you can wait for it and enjoy the blooms of another instead. Be careful though: orchids are very addictive. After 4.5 years I have 47 orchids now, and I am fairly conservative in my orchid acquisition rate as compared to many others in this group. :-) Feel free to ask here if you have any more questions. Best, Joanna "smailzy" wrote in message ... Hello, I am a fairly novice gardener hoping for some help or advice. I have always loved orchids, they are my favourite flower, but have also been worried about looking after them. However, my boyfriend bought me a beatiful Phalaenopsis and I was hoping that I could get some advice on how to take care of it? I have looked on the internet which has some standard advice but was wondering if there was anything else i needed to know... Thank you! Helen -- smailzy |
#5
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Help with my Phalaenopsis (P.S.)
*G* Perhaps they are.
Joanna "Reka" wrote in message .. . In article zZgqf.675$2B5.119@trnddc01, says... ~P.S.: Make sure that the Phal does not stand around in standing water. If ~after watering you have water in the saucer, purr it out. Use a lot of water ~when watering though, just be sure to let the orchid drip above the sink or ~pour out the water from the saucer. This is to avoid root rot. *Purr* it out? Joanna, I think your motherly instincts are running a bit rampant! ;-) -- Reka This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it! http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html |
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