Hey everyone,
I just wanted to remind everyone that I am constantly updating these post as I gather new information, so make sure to check back! If you want updates subscribe to the blog and there is a link to my orchid Facebook page to subscribe to updates as well.
If you have a question or something is not clear please feel free to leave a comment on the blog or through email. If you have pictures then please email me – myfirstorchid@gmail.com. A lot of times when someone does this I end up changing a post to make it more clear or adding an entirely new post, as I recently did when someone was enquiring about dyed blue orchids.
NOTE: most people want to know why their orchid leaves are wilted, why there orchid is rotting etc. – most of these problems are linked to how you water an orchid. Before asking check out my post on watering. Most people (very common mistake) over water their orchids which produces a myriad of problems. That link is HERE.
I welcome questions but overall if you read the other blog post first on watering, fertilizing, repotting etc. it helps both of us know what is going on a little more before you ask a question. I sometimes get people who are so excited about orchids (like me) that they ask a question before reading the other blog post and then I spend a lot do time linking those post in my answers :)
When leaving a comment or emailing – please answer these questions;
- How long you have had your orchid
- What type of orchid it is
- What the problem/question is
- How are you watering it? How much and and how often?
- Does it have a drainage hole?
- Also a picture of your “troubled” orchid helps. If you can't take a picture that is fine.
Here is a quick guide of terms for you to use when asking questions:
I also wanted give a quick note here: this website/blog is intentionally ad free and I am not an expert. I am a orchid “learner” just like you. That being said I am here to answer questions and not mediate comments left by others. I do not indorse any companies nor any any comments left by viewers. I can only tell you what has worked for me and how I grow orchids:)
Thanks,
Hannah
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Hi, I bought a Phalaenopsis 7 weeks ago. I started following your care steps: watering every 9-10 days or when the roots look dry and I also bought the rePotme granular Orchid fertilizer. Everyday I allow my orchid to grab some indirect sun from the window and at night I put it on my living room where the temp is 70 F. Today I woke up and I noticed the flowers are all weighed down, they weren’t like this this past weekend. What could’ve gone wrong?
Hi,
Flowers falling off soon after you got them is pretty normal as shown here…
Orchid blooms falling off naturally
https://myfirstorchid.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/orchid-bloom-dying-naturally/
Hannah
Both are phils, had one for 1 yr and the other over 2 yrs. I’ve recently started taking exceptional care, replanting, reading up and I water once a week, with my own pots. Saying that…. They are looking great even have new leaves. I’m just wondering when will the stem with the flowers appear again 😟?
Sometimes it takes awhile for them to get on their own schedule. I have had a few rescue orchids that haven’t bloomed in years. Their is an orchid probiotic from repotme that may help…
http://www.repotme.com/orchid-fertilizer/Quantum-Orchid.html?no_redirect=true
Hannah
Yike! After watering my about-to-bloom orchid, I just realized it’s in a NON-DRAINAGE POT. So I followed the advice in this post and it is now repotted. The air is very dry in our home so I put the orchid on a screen above a water bath. I will update with progress reports…
That’s good news – hopefully it will be saved!! Best of luck,
Hannah
All of this info is so helpful thanks! I received an orchid as a gift. It looks like the one in this picture. http://www.floristvancouver.com/shop/lavender- phalaenopsis-orchid Lovely! But I am not really a green thumb kind of person. I would like to extend its life. Should I transfer it out of this pot? Does anyone know if this is a certain kind of orchid or anything else I should know?
Hi,
Make sure it’s potted in a pot with a drainage hole and only water when it’s VERY dry.
No Drainage
https://myfirstorchid.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/orchid-disaster/
How to water
https://myfirstorchid.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/hello-world/
That is the best thing you can do for now,
Hannah
Hannah!
Thank you for all your info!! It’s great!
I received my first orchid 6 days ago..
It’s a phalaenopsis.
It’s has a lot of moss on top, if I water it will it not rot my roots or leaves? My pot is clear and has holes in it .
If my orchid get new leaves will the old one stay or fall off?
Thanks !!
Mieke.
Hi,
The old leaves (at the bottom) turn yellow and fall of and new ones grow from the middle…
https://myfirstorchid.wordpress.com/2012/04/14/orchid-leaves-turning-yellow/
If your pot has good drainage then you are fine. You only want to water it when it’s very dry…
https://myfirstorchid.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/hello-world/
Hannah
Hannah,
Your website is amazing and a life saver! I’ve had my first orchid for a little over 3 months and I enjoy reading and learning on how to care for an orchid.
Thank you!
Janette
Janette,
You are welcome!
Hannah
Hi Hannah,
A few of my Phalaenopses have been reduced to nothing but roots! :( is there a way to get them leafing again? the roots are doing nicely and I even spy new roots growing, but no foliage whatsoever…
Hello,
Unfortunately if it has no leaves at all then I have found they don’t survive. https://myfirstorchid.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/orchid-leaves-all-gone/
Hannah
Hi Hannah
Enjoy your website. Some of my orchids are producing an abundance of aerial roots lately. Is that a good thing or is there something I should be doing to prevent this. Otherwise they seem to be healthy. They are in the resting stage right now. One of them is shooting a new spike :) but that one has just one aerial root.
Thank you,
Ada
Hi,
Thank you for the sweet compliment! I would love to help. Some aerial roots can be buried with repotting. I have a link on that…
https://myfirstorchid.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/aerial-roots/
Aerial roots are a good thing and shows your orchids are growing. You never want to repot while the orchids are producing blooms because this could cause Bud Blast (I have a link on this) but you can repot the others if the aerial roots are getting out of control.
Hannah
Hi Hannah! Thank you for all the useful information! I love orchids but have had little success with them….with all of your helpful information I am going to try again. I raise violets and much of the information you provide is similar in growing them. I am very excited because I love these flowers! I researched info (and found your blog YEA!!!) because I want to buy my daughter one….she cannot grow plants at home because her cats destroy them…do you think she could put one in her office if adequate office light remains on all day? Before I give her one, I want to make sure to be able to give her useful advice, I have already forwarded, via email, information on your blog. Thank you!
Hi Linda,
Thank you so much for the sweet compliments!!
Orchids like natural light but you could always try it. Just make sure that her orchid has a drainage hole. Most orchids that are sent via a service to people don’t have one.
Honestly drainage and not overwatering them (letting them dry out before watering) is the main key to successful orchids.
Hannah
Hello, nice to read something about orchids from a person and not a gardening company trying to sell me something. Anyway, I have a question which I can’t find a definitive answer to anywhere.
I have had a Phaleonopsis for 1 year 3 months. It was in bloom when I got it with 2 separate spikes in the same pot. Both spikes had blooms. They fell and I read things on the internet that said to cut them half way down just above a node, which seems to be standard. So I did that on both spikes. This year one of the spikes started growing a branch from the node at the top, that has had about 9 blooms on it. The other spike has done nothing.
The blooms have just dropped from the branch that grew off the spike. What do I do about it? Do I cut that branch above a node like I did the initial spike (but I am assuming if I did that and yet another branch grew off that branch the plant would become too large and weak???) Or do I go back to the main spike and cut above a node therefore removing the branch that just bloomed?
Does that make sense? I’m a bit confused what to do for the best.
Thanks, Gemma
Gemma,
I would love to help! I like to cut my bloom stems down to the base when they are done blooming. I found that they produce bigger blooms this way.
But you can cut your orchid stem either way. High or low. Cutting it higher gives it a chance to potentially bloom more in a span of a year while cutting it back completely gives it a chance to rest and grow new leaves and roots faster which I have found to produce bigger and longer lasting blooms. But again you can do it either way.
If the stem turns brown then it is dead and you can definitely cut that part off.
I have a whole link on this…
https://myfirstorchid.wordpress.com/2011/11/26/252/
Hope that helps,
Hannah
Thank you Hannah, I think I’ll cut it down on the main stem then in that case so it can spend more time growing. I was kind of scared of cutting it and doing it completely wrong!
Thanks for sharing this great blog on orchids! I love orchids and i have three of them. I will refer to this blog for many questions i have. I have a lot to learn about orchids. I am a young florist looking to learn more about a number of plants and this blog will surely help. I have two dendrobium and one phalenopsis. I am trying really hard to get my fist one to rebloom but i have not had any luck so far. I am going to try a new orchid fertilizer and see how that goes.
Best of luck and glad I could help,
Hannah
Hi Hannah,
I have had my Phal for about a year. It was a rescue from Ikea. Got it in february in bloom. It had bloom blast. right after that it put out a second spike and bloomed from that! Over the summer I had it in a west window and it did ok but it’s new leaves came out very skinny and straight up. I also did not cut back the two spikes because they stayed very green and I thought I should only cut them back if they died completely (Was going from very basic knowledge then). I moved the orchid to a large east window in late August or September. One of the spikes put out a side spike and the other looked like it would develop buds but neither of them did. Do you think the orchid simply doesn’t have enough energy now? Do you think I should cut them back now and hope for next year? Or wait a little bit and then cut them back when it gets to be spring.
I am kind of leaning towards cutting them back now to give it a head start in gathering energy. Thanks for all your great info here!
Hi,
I would love to help. If it shot out an additional side spike – it is trying to bloom and this is the blooming season.
This is a tricky question… I think I would wait to see if it blooms but then again if it has been in “bloom” for this long you could definitely cut it back and preserve its energy for next year.
Hannah
Thank you! I will wait and see. Thanks to all your info here I am now curious to try growing other types of orchids too.
Hi Hannah
My orchid is in a 5 inc. pot. Can I put the orchid in a 8 inc glazed pot? I love your blogs it is extremely.
Thank you!
I would love to help. You can move orchids up one pot size when they have completely outgrown the one they are in. You don’t want to pot in a much bigger pot then it’s currently in like you would a normal plant to let “it grow into it.” You want it to be snug – orchids like being in tight spaces. I had a similar problem when I had 5 inch pots and the only next size up one was an 8 inch. I found that putting packing peanuts to fill the dead space helps and orchids also like this because they grow right threw them. Let me know if you have further questions.
Hope that helps,
Hannah
All right, I’ll send a pic tomorrow. Too dark to get pics now. :P
Hi! I’ve recently bought a white Phal, growing my collection to four. It’s in flower, with two spikes and twelve flowers. However, the ends of the roots are shriveling and dying. The healthier ones have little rectangular spots that look like scales. I cut off the worst one, which had dead gashes in it. Any tips?
Devyn,
Hi! I would love to help.
What kind of orchid is it? Are you talking about aerial roots or the ones buried under soil?
I have a post on aerial roots if that is what your talking about…
https://myfirstorchid.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/aerial-roots/
Hannah
It’s in a fine bark mixture, I plan to repot it when it’s out of flower. I think the one I cut was a buried root, but it grew out of the pot. The ones with scales are in the soil, visible because of a clear pot. Could the cuts just be a result of rough handling?
Is there any way you can send me a pic at myfirstorchid@gmail.com? If not we can try to figure it out on here.
Many roots have spots on them, which can be normal. But I can’t tell unless I saw a picture of it.
Hannah
Hi Hannah…I’m a newbie to the orchid world and just want to say what an awesome blog you’ve created. It has so much useful into and tips Thank you for sharing.
Thank you!!! Means a lot:)
Any updates? :)
Hi! I love your blog so much that I decided to start my own blog about growing orchids.
It won’t be so full of advice as yours, since I’m still learning, but I thought it might be fun to start a diary about my orchid growing experiences.
Anyway, I added your blog as a useful link.
I’d love it if you came to check it out. The link is: orchidgrowerdiary.blogspot.com, if you are interested.
Misha,
That is awesome!! I will totally check it out! If you have any questions then please ask. And feel free to quote me with links to my blog if you want. You also can email me if that is easier at myfirstorchid@gmail.com.
Thanks again,
Hannah
Hi hannah,
Thanks for all the tips and info that you sent me.
It was very helpful for having this kind of website especially to all the beginners like me.i also thank you for your quick reply.have a good day