Garden

[house_cat]

It's nice to be loved, but I'm on my 4th phalaenopsis orchid in three years and I know it's destined for the graveyard. I can't seem to keep them alive.  I live in an attached home, so there are no side windows and my kitchen has limited sun - no place on the counter there for a huge orchid.  The sunniest place is my livingroom, but again, it's an awkward situation for a plant.  I have orchid food, but that didn't save my last one.

Before I kill this current one, can someone please tell me how to care for this beautiful plant?! I feel like a serial killer...

Thank you.

[tampalady]

If you have a porch or balcony, I would place outside.   I live in Fl. and all of my orchids are in pool area, nothing in the house.  Also, I do not feed anything, and water every now and than.   Orchids are air plants and do not require much care.  Since, you are in LA, you should not have any problems keeping alive.

[Sooner]

Let them die and don't worry about it.  THey are plants. . . LOL!!!!

I have no interest in keeping plants alive in the house, so I have given up feeling guilty about it.  Enjoy themwhie they are alive then pitch them out when they stsart to look sad!  Easy Peasy!  

[ValuSkr]

The orchid should be in special orchid potting mix (basically chunks of bark) and in a special orchid pot (with holes in the side).  If your orchid came in a different, temporary medium, please repot with proper mix.

I water mine once a week, give or take, by dunking the whole pot in water.  The roots absorb moisture through the air, so they need to breathe - hence the coarse bark potting mix and the pot with holes.  The purpose of dunking, as I understand it, is that the bark absorbs moisture and creates a humid environment for the plant and its roots. Some people keep a fan on their plant so air circulates and roots can better do their thing.  

Use special orchid fertilizer.  I add it to the water before the weekly dunking.

The more sun you can provide, the better.  It will stay alive without ideal sunlight, but it really needs a fair amount of sunlight to come back into bloom.

I'm not an expert but these are just a few things I've learned in the ten to twenty years I've grown orchids - often unsuccessful, but the successes make it worthwhile.

[JustJazzmom]

This might help: http://ccenassau.org/resources/orchids

Make sure there is at least a 10 degree temperature from day into night as well, this assures bloom. They like humidity too so it's best to have a tray of pebbles with water in it that the plant sits on to give it more humidity. You have to mimic the environment it comes from -- rain forest regions.

[gardenman]

Phalaenopsis orchids don't really want a lot of sun. They like bright light, but no direct sun. My local Walmart destroys several hundred dollars worth of phalaenopsis orchids each year. They'll get them in for Easter or Mother's day and plop them out in the grden center where the temps get too cold at night and they're in too much sun and the plants are goners within a day or two. Phals like their temps in the same range humans do (70 degrees or so) and prefer the same kind of light you'd give to an African violet. Some orchids want more sun and can tolerate, or demand full sun, but not phals.  

[151949]

We got an orchid as a housewarming gift 7 years ago. When we left the first time to go to Pa for the summer I hung it outside on a branch near the trunk of a tree where it has lived , thrived and grown ever since.They don't need much to survive once they get in the right environment. Mine has attached itself to the tree and it seems to be in a perfect place. Blooms about once a year or so.Now some of my neighbors have done the same so it is very pretty when everyones orchids bloom.Make very sure the pot has very good drainage as they don't like being wet.I have the pot tilted so not a lot of water gets in when it rains.

[house_cat]

Thanks for all the advice.  I'll start by making sure the pot is right and I'll give it a home outside on the deck.  In my previous house I had an orchid for six years - it thrived and bloomed every year.  My kitchen in that house had sunlight all day long.  I think that's the element that's missing now, because I do everything else that's been suggested.

[Another new name Sue]

Just think of the potted orchids as you would a cut flower arrangement from a florist, and when it fails, toss it.  Or put it outside somewhere with a note, "FREE."  No sense upsetting yourself trying to save these plants.

I like potted plants and have many, but I'm not crazy about orchids. 

[sktchy]

Every Friday I 'water' my orchids with 1-3 ICE CUBES.  

I just started fertilizing every other week.  I water the orchids in the kitchen sink - orchids don't do well in water.

Medium - high sun.  They are all getting ready to bloom.

The orchids not blooming end up with an artifical bloom until they get there.