Hello,
I am new to taking care of orchids and I am looking for some help to try and figure out what I need to do to keep my orchids happy and healthy. I received three orchids last November as a gift and they were doing pretty good but the last few months they have been struggling. Here’s a little of their story...
When I received these orchids They were in little white pots with moss in the bottom and with the roots. At that time someone told me to soak them every other week for 15 minutes. So basically every two weeks I would pour water into their little pot and let them soak for 15 minutes then I would dump the water out and just let the orchid sit out of the pot to drain for maybe a half hour or so. That seem to be working the leaves looked healthy the flowers stayed on for a really long time. But then the moss that the roots and everything was packed into started to get kind of mucky. I was afraid of them getting route right so I wanted to replant them into bigger prettier pots so I used an app on my phone to help identify what type of work and I had, then went to an home improvement store for an orchid potting mixture. The app told me they were Phalaenopsis Orchids, they had a potting mix just for that type. Once I got home I removed them from the little white pots and pulled away as much of the yucky moss as I could. I didn’t fill the new parts with the potting mixture and place them in the top with a few pieces on top of the roots just hold it in place. At this point they still had some form to them in the route area with moss so they were pretty secure. It became pretty difficult to soak them once I repotted them with the potting mix because it was more like mulch rather than moss or dirt so I spoke to a friend of mine who works with plants and landscaping and they suggested to just add a couple of ice cubes Every once in a while as they don’t need much water. Since repotting they’ve been struggling droopy leaves and dried out roots. I’ve talked to several people about orchids and I get country victory information some people tell me the droopy leaves mean they have too much water but then others tell me the dry roots tell them that there’s not enough water. At one point I thought maybe it was their environment that they weren’t getting enough indirect sunlight so I put them out on my lanai for a day but then one of them actually ended up getting a little sunburn Mark I think from getting direct sunlight so I brought them back inside. Two of them do you get in direct sunlight where they sit but one of them does not however the one doing the worst or seems to be doing the worst is the one that would get the most in direct sunlight so I’m not sure if it’s environment or not. I am hoping to upload some photos to this post so you all can see exactly what they look like and what I’m working with but I’m using my phone and I don’t see where to add photos I’m hoping I can figure that out after I post this. Two of them do you get in direct sunlight where they sit but one of them does not however the one doing the worst or seems to be doing the worst is the one that would get the most indirect sunlight so I’m not sure if it’s environment or not.
I am hoping to upload some photos to this post so you all can see exactly what they look like and what I’m working with but I’m using my phone and I don’t see where to add photos I see there’s a note at the bottom of the page that says to choose message board from the drop-down list but I don’t see a drop-down list to choose message board from. I’m hoping I can figure that out after I post this
Thank you in advance to anyone who is able to help or give any advice I really want to try to help these orchids become happy and healthy again!
-Angela
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