orchid

[LynneNY]

I was gifted with this "blue" orchid a year ago. It is growing indoors, by a northeastern window. It's one of the type where the growers are trying to trick people into believing that the flowers naturally grow blue, but in reality the stems are injected with dye as they grow. They start out as white flowering plants.

The flowers lasted a very long time last year, but when they were done, the stem turned brown and died. I know that typically, new blooms grow on old flower stems, but those stems were totally dead.

This year, a couple of months ago, many new healthy roots began to grow. No flower stems though. I was wondering if these roots should be potted into the growing medium, or will they survive the very dry air in our house?  I know that orchids have aerial roots, but the few I've had before dried out sooner or later. I do mist the 2 orchids I have, but I really don't want to lose this one.

Any thoughts?

[Kittyzee]

This is a good time of the year to repot your orchids.  I see you have it still in the growers cup, so I would gently remove it and knock away the old soil and trim off the dead roots: there is one sticking up out of the dirt on the right side of the cup.  That's what they look like.  Then repot them in a slightly larger pot with drainage holes in orchid mix.  I water mine once a week with my outside well water (they don't like my soft water in the house) and let the water run over the leaves. It gives them humidity and rinses off the dust too.  I have a bloom spike on one of mine now!! 

The best time to repot them is when they aren't putting up bloom spikes and they make fertilizer for orchids and give I mine some every so often.

I have had mine bloom from old spikes, even when I thought they were dead.  It sent a shoot out the side of the old spike.  I have a spike that is really, completely dead though too.  But a new spike looks deeper in color, almost purplish and doesn't look like the new fresh roots that it produces.

[Lynda]

They seldom bloom from the old spike; occasionally you can force a second bloom, commonly called a "keiki" by cutting the spike just above the third joint.  I have several phalanopsis that almost always will develop a keiki, and others that never have.  They will bloom approximately the same time each year with a new spike.  Yours looks very healthy, and arial roots are normal for a phalanopisis.  You can repot it any time it is not in spike - get orchid bark, repot gently and then tamp down the bark around the plant so that the plant is firmly in the bark.  It is not necessary (actually it's nearly impossible), however, for all of the roots to be in the bark.  The most important thing for all orchids is that they not be sitting in water and that you do not over-water them.  They are terrestrial plants in their normal habitat and do not grow in soil - they hate "wet feet."

[Mikey]

Great timing for this thread.  I too have a phalanopisis still in the pot like that shown above.  It was flowering when we got it last fall and I have since cut off the dead flowering spike.  Mine isn't sending out new roots like above but it is putting out another leaf.  Mine appears to be planted in sphagnum media.  Should I use orchid bark, sphagnum or a mix of both?  I also have noticed various sizes of orchid bark.  Should I get a medium size bark?

[Lynda]

I've had pretty good luck with moss, but prefer medium orchid bark.  I have phals growing in both and haven't seen any difference in growth or health, but what was good enough for my mother (bark) is good enough for me.  As long as the leaves are "firm" and not floppy, your orchid is healthy.  The best advice I have for new(ish) orchid growers is that benign neglect is what they thrive on.  Water too much, fuss too much, feed too much, and they do badly. 

[Mikey]

A friend told me not to water mine until the roots show shrinkage. 

[CoolShades]

Having been in an Orchid growing family for many years I'm hoping that I can make some comments without offending.

1. Lynda is correct that keiki is the correct terminology and statstically for phals you have a 60% chance of success.  Other orchids have higher or lower chances of success depending on the type.
2.  Sphagum is common with more people going to pellets or bark.  Quite frankly it depends on the orchid.  For example Epi's and Jewel orchids love wet feet.  Others have addressed that it looks like a healthy Phal, but potting media is too tight these roots need air!  in the wild these are air plants.

4. A cute trick to not overwater orchids is to use the 3 ice cubes/ week... clever marketing idea, but it works.  As growers the old touch method for Phals works well,,, moist leave alone dry turn on the watering system!

5. Blue orchids do not exist.  They do not inject the stems but rather soak the roots constantly in blue dye... too much work for injections!!!  No problem with this as they do it frequently with carnations and roses.  For Phals at home I generally soak the roots every 2 weeks during the winter and a 10 day cycle during the summer.

6 You can repot any time, the reson why people don't repot during spiking/flowering period is they don't want to accidently break off the spike!

[greenthumbnails]

This is a good thread.  I've had trouble with orchids ever since a co-worker gave me my first one for christmas 2 yrs ago and it died after blooming.  Not to be outdone by a plant I bought a few more on my own and managed to kill them all save for 2.  I was happy to just be able to keep them alive.  After two years one of them finally gave me blooms in February and bloomed for the whole month 

Good luck with your orchid 

[Kittyzee]

I agree, this is a great thread!  I've killed a few orchids myself in the beginning, they just don't take well to much fussing. And even less water.  Mine have done well with water running through the growing medium (usually orchid bark mix) and not letting water sit at the base of the plant.  I have put small bowls with rocks and a little water under them in the winter for humidity, but am careful that the roots are not wet.  I have not had much luck with moss in the mixture as it tends to stay moist and rots the roots down in the pot.

In nature, these plants hook themselves to the crotch of a tree, or some other place with some litter in it by their aerial roots.  Rain and nutrients filter through giving the plant what it needs. I try to simulate this at home.  I am going to try and fix one to some wood with a small basket that has orchid growing medium and see how it goes.  They are more time consuming to water since I always take the plants to the water so they can drain and then put them back in the light.  That's unlike most other plants where you can just water them where they sit. 

If you have an orchid you have purchased, they are usually in a small plastic growers pot stuck down in an undrainable glass jar.  I always remove them from the jar, water them, let them drip for a few minutes and then put them back in the jar.  It's a good idea to repot them as soon as you can, but I'd wait until they are finished blooming. But like CoolShades said, maybe it's okay, just be careful not to break the spike!

[Mikey]

I do great with my outdoor terrestrial plants but I'm something close to 0 for 5 with Trader Joe orchids.  I no longer buy orchids and the latest orchid was a gift to the Fetching One that I'm trying to keep alive because the friend who gave it to her thinks that my green thumb applies to all plants.....   

Well I repotted mine in a slightly larger clay pot and I used medium sized bark.  I didn't water it afterwards since the plant seemed moderately moist and the bark was somewhat damp.  After I repotted it I then wondered if I was supposed to carefully pull the media and roots of the plant apart a bit before setting it on top of the new media.  Too late now. 

Coolshades: Does the water you freeze contain fertilizer?  I have two containers of "Grow More" orchid fertilizer.  One is 30-10-10 that is supposed to be used March-August and the other is 6-30-30 and is to be used September-February.

[Lynda]

I do not purchase mass-produced orchids that are sold at the large retail outlets.  I have had good luck with orchids that I've purchased over ebay, and I also attend any orchid show that is anywhere nearby.  Mikey, there are a couple of good orchid shows not far from you that you and The Fetching One would enjoy - the Santa Barbara Orchid Show is awesome, and there is also one (if it's still there) at South Coast Plaza.  Most of the orchids you get there are direct from growers or hobbyists, and are generally healthy and hardy.  I never missed the Santa Barbara Show when I lived in So Cal. 

[CoolShades]

Hi Mikey:

Ferilization can be done in many ways.  At our nursery we use to have a very dilute solution that would go into a reservoir feeding the distibution lines for each orchid a couple of times a week.  Most of the fertilizer companies selling to the hobbyist, I find the recomendations are too strong.  You can usually tell by the leaves if they are green and firm  you don't need to fertilize, if the color starts to go use fertilizer on your next watering day...note water first then follow with the fertilizer solution and drain well.  A lot of people miss the first part since fertilizer can burn the roots.  The biggest culprit is overwatering. especially with Phals (most common orchid), the next culprit is overfertilizing followed by light level.  Once you find  a spot in your house or for those lucky to be warm all year round outside, that the orchid responds well, leave it there! 

Also forcing spikes from old burnt spikes is common, but didyou know storing your orchid at 45-50 F  for two weeks and then bringing it out to warmer climate initiates spikes.  We forced many orchids this way in our 15x20 cold room in Miami. 

[Desertponder]

The medium you use depends on the type of orchid and the level of humidity you have in your house. You can use moss but if you have a higher humidity level and water too much you can run into trouble.
I use medium bark with a little bit of moss over the top to help keep moisture in the bark.
I've had a number of orchids that have rebloomed from the same spike. Mine usually all start spiking in December.
I've always had really good luck with orchids but when we moved into this house about 4 years ago, everything went down hill. They just have not been as happy and I immediately ended up with mealy bugs. Once you get them, you might as well give up and throw them out because they slowly kill them and nothing gets rid of them. I had about 25 orchids and now I think I have about 12. They don't bother my cattleyas, just the phals.

[miguynmkoi]

Also forcing spikes from old burnt spikes is common, but didyou know storing your orchid at 45-50 F  for two weeks and then bringing it out to warmer climate initiates spikes.  We forced many orchids this way in our 15x20 cold room in Miami. 

Nice to know this fact!  Unfortunately there's never any room in the frig.  Plus I managed to kill all my phals and all but 1 catts.  Put they in a deserted corner of the garden and literally forgot about them    Dumb bunny!  Now the one Catt gets to sit with the cymbidiums under the peach tree.  Hope she survives!