Orchids are my friends too!

LittleWatty

Well... I guess I have a habit for loving hardy exotic species XD I've really gotten into growing Phalaenopsis orchids over the past year, and currently have three small ones. Two are very sick - I rescued them from our local Kmart - and one is healthy, which I purchased from a reputable grower. Here are my lovelies:

The first is the healthiest, the second two are in recovery

Shirleythebetta

ooo, I wish I could grow an orchid. They hate me. I had one and killed it. I'm an orchid murdered. I can grow anything else but orchids, roses, and petunias. I can grow teacup petunias okay though :/

LittleWatty

Phal's aren't hard. They're just so poorly taken care of initially (like bettas) that if you don't treat them just right over the first few months, you can lose them really easily. Most of them suffer severely from root rot, and without roots, there's a very slim chance of saving it. The completely purple orchid (not the striped pink-ish one) only has about 4 viable roots left, and they're all only about an inch long. But, because I took care of the rotting issue right away, and was cautious not to over water and cause the problem again, he's making a come back :) The freckled one was so severely dehydrated that everything dried up. Roots, leaves, everything. He lost a lot of roots, just because he was so unused to having a lot of water that they rotted. He's got more of a root system than the purple one, but less than the striped one. The striped one is perfectly healthy, as far as I can tell :D

There's a lot of sites out there, just like this one, that can help anyone trying to grow any species of orchid :)

Shirleythebetta

My main issue was watering. how much water and how often. Also what kind of temperature they should be in.

nel3

orchids reminds me a bit of Poinsettias as for how they're arent as well taken care of as needed. i got a blue Poinsettia arouns september last year and its still alive. most the leaves have gone white (60%), its probably not the healthiest of specimens but still alive.

Romad

Beautiful orchids LittleWatty

@ Shirley - you're not alone. When an orchid comes into my house I'm pretty sure it starts screaming.

Olympia

Hmm, I have three right now.
One of them was a rescue from an office, I'm sure they don't miss him. I put him in one of those special orchid pots.. The roots sticking out are dried and he's down to 2 leaves. Any idea?
I have two others who are okay, I wish they'd flower again, but it hasn't been 6 months or however long they need. My aunt's are rebloowing but they're older.
I'm thinkin of trying Epsom salts now.
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