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

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

Hi Jane. I have an orchid that looks alot like yours. It has several
flowers and a 'kiekie' (baby). Yours looks like a Phalaenopsis or Phal.
to me. They sometimes put on a baby plant on end of their spikes (not
stem). Heres a orchid site: crystal-company.com/care.html
The only thing it doesn't mention is not to let the water stand in the
over flow tray-that's death to an orchid. I use rain water and yes
fertilize maybe once a month and your orchid will love it. Good
luck........Burr

On 2006-04-04 20:22:37 -0400, googlemail2003 [at] yahoo.com said:

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


Hi Jane,
What you have is a Phalaenopsis orchid. Sometimes called a phal for
short. Do a google search on it and you'll have enough info to read for
many days!

You seem to be doing the right things so far.

On Tue, 4 Apr 2006 17:22:37 -0700, googlemail2003 [at] yahoo.com wrote
(in article <1144196557.608256.190040 [at] j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.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 here:
>
> 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

Thanks for the help Tom. So when the the plant isn't blooming it will
grow leaves? I had another orchid once that flowered for a long time,
looked great and then suddenly died. The flowers died and then the
leaves turned yellow. At first I thought the plant had gone dormant
but now it sounds like it just croaked.

I hope that doesn't happen this time.

In general how long is the none blooming season? Is it at any
particular time of year? Do I feed it even if it isn't blooming?

I know there is LOTS of info on the Web but I have a very bad back and
can only spend a limited amount of time on the computer. Asking
questions seems to be the most efficient way for me to get help on
this.

Thanks again.

Jane

Jane,

Welcome to our group and to orchid growing. In answer to your questions:

>So when the the plant isn't blooming it will grow leaves? I had another
>orchid once that flowered for a long time,
> looked great and then suddenly died. The flowers died and then the
> leaves turned yellow. At first I thought the plant had gone dormant

A Phal can grow leaves either when it is not blooming or when it is
blooming. Generally it should grow a few leaves a year, and it could loose
some old ones from the bottom each year as well. It should never loose all
leaves however, and I tend to start worrying even when a Phal has 3 leaves
left, since then if it lost one or two more that would be very bad. Also I
tend to worry if one of my Phals looses two or three leaves in rapid
succession. That would be a signal that it most likely is stressed, and not
healthy. Phals do not go dormant.

Remember not to water too frequently, not to leave the orchid in standing
water in a saucer, and not to get water into the crown (top center of
leaves) or if you do to dry the leaves off with a paper towel or something.
These are the most common ways to kill a Phal.

> In general how long is the none blooming season? Is it at any
> particular time of year?

Different Phals have different blooming seasons, although the vast majority
of Phals bloom in the fall and/or spring, it is possible to buy a number of
Phals and have something in bloom at all times in the year. If your Phal is
in bloom now, it most likely is its blooming season now. :-) Although it is
possible for vendors to stimulate blooming out of season, at this time of
year that is unlikely the case, since this is a time of year when many Phals
are in bloom. Summer months are generally the ones when the fewest Phals
will be in bloom. Some Phals can bloom for a really long time -- I have ones
that bloom 6-8 months out of each year. But most Phals are in bloom for less
than that -- 2-3 months is not unusual. Some Phals could rebloom a second
time in the year, so for example in both the spring and the fall. The only
way to tell is to wait and see what your Phal does. And its behavior is
likely to change over the years (orchids like to surprise us :-)

The best way to ensure that one has an orchid in bloom at all times of year
is to keep buying orchids in bloom at different times of year, and they will
most likely rebloom around the same time the following year. Beware however,
this is a very addictive hobby! :-)

In order to rebloom a Phal needs to have sufficient light throughout the
year (but not too much light since its leaves can sunburn). Generally an
eastern window in the northern hemisphere is great (and it sounds like
that's most likely what you have, since you write that it gets filtered
morning light, right?), an unshaded southern one is too much, a northern one
is likely not enough, and a western one may be ok or may be too much
light/heat (the way to tell would be if the leaves got hot to the touch or
even had sunburned brown/black areas).

Also in order to rebloom a Phal needs 10-15 degrees Fahrenheit temperature
difference between night and day for a week or two right before it starts a
new flower spike. If it stands close to the window it may well get this
temperature difference in the cooler season(s) without your doing anything
about it. However, you could encourage it by opening a window at night, if
the night is forecast to be about 60 degrees Fahrenheit or even a bit less,
but not much less, since Phals are not hardy -- and while most do fine even
in the low 50s, some do not.

>Do I feed it even if it isn't blooming?

Yes, the most common advice given is to feed regularly throughout the year
no matter whether the orchid is in bloom, but do not use too much fertilizer
(weakly weekly, or weakly at every other watering, or weakly at 3 out of
every 4 waterings). However, even if you forget and are not as conscientious
as that about fertilizing, in my experience Phals can be quite forgiving of
benign neglect for a while -- I do not fertilize mine regularly most of the
time, and then I feel guilty and start fertilizing again for a while until
my guilt wears off, and my Phals are flourishing despite this neglectful
treatment.

Feel free to ask more questions, and someone here will most likely have an
answer.

Good growing to you,
Joanna

On Wed, 5 Apr 2006 17:39:55 -0700, googlemail2003 [at] yahoo.com wrote
(in article <1144283995.228006.152860 [at] g10g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>):

> Thanks for the help Tom. So when the the plant isn't blooming it will
> grow leaves? I had another orchid once that flowered for a long time,
> looked great and then suddenly died. The flowers died and then the
> leaves turned yellow. At first I thought the plant had gone dormant
> but now it sounds like it just croaked.
>
> I hope that doesn't happen this time.
>
> In general how long is the none blooming season? Is it at any
> particular time of year? Do I feed it even if it isn't blooming?
>
> Jane

Some orchids are deciduous; most, including Phals, are not. It is normal for
the lowest pair of leaves on a phal to yellow and shrivel with further growth
of the upper part, but generalized yellowing and shriveling suggest
approaching death, often due to poor condition of the roots, which is why a
look at the root system, and repotting when necessary, are so important.
BTW, Phals often put out a lot of aerial roots, which are not a bad thing,
and should probably be left alone except for soaking or spraying when you
water.
I'm not one of the several experts in the group, but my experience has been
that the most prolific blooming season is in the late Winter and Spring,
though some orchids seem to enjoy blooming in Summer and early Fall. Not
infrequently, a healthy orchid will even bloom 2 or more times a year.
Probably varies with the species and cultural conditions. It is common for
growers to manipulate light and temperature exposure to bring plants into
bloom at any time for the market.

Tom
Walnut Creek, CA
Nikon D70

Joanna - thank you for spending so much time answering my questions.
This has helped a lot.

Jane

Thank you all for your help. I can see myself getting addicted to
this. Right now my plant has 15 gorgeous flowers on it. What a
pleasure.

Thanks again. I'm sure I'll be back for more help.

Jane

googlemail2003 [at] yahoo.com Wrote:
> Thank you all for your help. I can see myself getting addicted to
> this. Right now my plant has 15 gorgeous flowers on it. What a
> pleasure.
>
> Thanks again. I'm sure I'll be back for more help.
>
> Jane
You have a lovely Phaleonopsis there... mine is the same colour and
produces a flower stalk every year, last count being 13 blooms at one
time. I have mine in front of a south facing window, the light being
filtered through net curtains. I usually leave the blooms to die off
naturally then snip the flower stalk a little, maybe a couple of
inches, to leave some of the nodules on. After this, if the conditions
are right, it might produce another stalk from one of these nodules and
flower again for you. Also, it isn't unusual to have more than one
stalk at the same time! I was amazed when I found mine to be in flower
from July - February one year! Be careful not to let it dry out too
much, as the flowers will wither and start to drop. Good luck!


--
Stikeebun