My Phalaenopsis Orchids

Stunning display... well done Sid !

Thank you TT :-) But really the credit goes to the GoYers who helped me out with how to look after these - if it had been left to me they'd all have died by now!

Pretty - you know I love Orchids!

I think you were one of the ones that gave me advice Barbara :-)

beautiful Sid,well done

I hope so, Sarah - it's good to see them flourishing. Mine are all doing well, too. Remember the one I had to nurse back to health after my daughter almost killed it? Well she's been given another one, and she says I can have that as well! Hooray!

Yes I remember that vaguely Barbara - lucky you! lol I think my Phal collection is complete now..........but, I did see a lovely lemon-yellow one in a shop that would sort of round things off a bit......will have to look out for one I think. And then I can stop buying orchids!! lol

Damn it I think I've been bitten by that orchid buying bug, I knew I shouldnt have looked too closely!!lol :~)))

It's catching, Indy - you... have... been... warned! LOL.

I noticed Spitz.. I noticed! 2 weeks back I photoed a few, now i'm feeling sorry for them and buying them out of their purgatory! I'm sure its a very slippery slope, lol

I have two windowsills completely full of them - no space left! LOL.

I started off with one....................................................as you do!

Thanks for the warning , I'm sure its too late... I started dreaming of them when I saw the ones in Treborth,but I'm not sure how theyll do here, as the house does not have great light and the conservatory is unheated through the winter, so they may not like our environment in the long run...but they are SOOO beautiful...

They do need warmth...so be careful!

Its on the Kitchen window sill where it gets some light in the morning till the suns gone over the house and its the warmest room on average.

I reckon that should be ideal! Space for more there? ;-)

Not if Mairs got owt to do with it, the window doesnt let a lot of light into the kitchen as we have a conservatory on the back with an opaque roof (mistake) so shes jealous of the added shading!! cant blame her it is dark in here through the winter, the sills light enough though!

The answer to that is - buy one for her as a gift! ;-)

Most of my orchids never get any sun ..and they live on the kitchen windowsill - which faces north!! The seem to thrive on it and as long as I never feed them when they are in flower...they do come back and flower again...but oh they ARE addictive. I always vow I won't get any more and I always do! I keep rescuing them from supermarkets etc..so now I have actually lost count...LOL

LOL. Orchid addiction at its worst - or best??

You tell me...LOL..they really are difficult to resist. You will see what I mean if you look among my pics....there is a photo of the ones that are currently flowering (not including the oncydium!) on the kitchen window sill. There are quite a few others that are "resting" (ahem!) in an alcove window as well and they will suddenly surprise me by producing flowers after sitting sneering at me for months :>>>)))

If they are Phalaenopsis, do you know the 'shock' treatment to get them to produce a new flower stem, Alz?

DO tell!!! I am all ears..and eyes!!

OK. It works for me every time...take the 'slow to flower' plant into a room that is 5 - 8 degrees cooler than its normal temp. Leave it there for three weeks, then bring it back! Easy-peasy! Sometimes the new stem appears from between the leaves, but I expect you know that. :-))

Not a problem....my drawing room has just had a new windowsill/ shelf installed (to take some of the baby streptos in the winter!!) and it is definitely that much cooler than the kitchen most of the time. My sitootery of course would certainly fit the bill!! And yes - the new flowering shoots pop out when and where ever they want...I frequently find them lurking at odd angles in among the clutter of foliage!!
Thanks very much Brenda...you are a mine of information...I will certainly try it...and report back!!

Only problem - I'm not Brenda!!!!!! LOL.

OMG - SORRY..."slop of the tingue" there....too many things happening at once here ....can't blame the anaesthetic any more either!

Thanks I'll remember that bit of advice and maybe buy another one or two, there were lots of dying ones at wilkos the other day (outside would you believe ) but at £5 I wasn't going to gamble on them....

I would believe - they are hopeless at plants!

LOL, Alz - no problem! We all do it....:-))

Alz, Indy and 'Brenda' (snigger snigger), two of my Phals have now dropped their flowers - the tall white one and the purple one in this picture. Should I give them the cold treatment now or wait to see if another flw stem is going to form first? Also, should I stop feeding now?

Naughty naughty Sid!! My head is bowed......;<<((
My multi-tasking skills failed me last night I know....LOL
Too many Q's and A's and phones all happening...I gave up after that and hit the sack!!!
Personally I would rest them for a few weeks but keep them fed .....then if they don't produce more flowering shoots....do Spritz/s trick. I have a few at your stage and I am just about to cut back the shoots that have just flowered to just above the lowest node (just below the where the last flower was)... sometimes .... if they feel like it - they will produce more shoots from there.
My ones that have been doing sod all for some time now are going to get the "Spritz Treatment" this afternoon. A friend who was in seeing me this morning is away home to move hers to a "cooler climate" to see if it will work for her wee collection that have also gone dormant!!

Yesssss!! 'Brenda's' fame is spreading! Betcha it works! Just don't forget to bring them back, will you? lol.

Sid, Alz is spot on - give them a chance first. It's the recalcitrant ones that need the shock! Don't stop feeding them, as long as it's the 'powder' stuff in a pot that you've got.

For my Cymbidiums, I have two sorts of food - one for when they're NOT in flower, and one for when they are!

I have to confess my total failure with Cymbidiums - once they go out of flower - they stay full of healthy leaf ...for ever ..and ever...amen!! How would the shock treatment do for them Spritz.? I only use the powder feed...didn't like the drip-feed stuff...wasn't in control!!
Oncydiums seem to like me...no problems so far at least..and the one I pictured recently is really blooming its sox off still...third time in a year...grrreat!

My Cymbidiums were great the first and second year but last year - one stem only out of four plants - they've been outside as recommended all summer, and now they're in - I have to be patient. I don't know if shock treatment would work - they prefer it cooler anyway! So I guess not, really.

Aren't they a pain! I felt like chucking them out last year after chatting to them, feeding them, oh, everything. :-((

Confession time, Spritz...I DID chuck mine out!! I'd had three for 3-4 years - and no repeat flowers - so they got the heave!! I think I have one left - which I haven't brought back in yet....oh dear.....oh well we will soon know if the shock treatment actually works. With a capital S come to think about it...we have had some sharp frosts....eeek..I had forgotten about it until now!! Oh well - kill or cure!

I've got liquid feed for mine, not powder, Brenda :-o

I hope it's not those little phials that you stick in the pot upside down! They are soooo expensive!

What !!!!! you mean you gotta feed em too, oh no.. its not enough you feel sorry for em and rescue em ... you gotta feed the damn things as well. Whats wrong with water I ask you ALL me other houseplants do fine on that !!! plant food...mumble moan gripe....will sheep sherbert do? (said he brightening at the thought of ready made pellets for free all over the surrounding countryside), whats in the feed then who's got the recipe for it?

Sorry, Indy - it's special orchid food. If you get a little tub of powder, it lasts for AGES!! I only feed them once every few weeks.

No, it's a liquid feed - not very expensive - you just add a quarter capfull (very little) to a litre of water. Says to feed once a fortnight when in flower during the summer and once a month in winter. So I'm not sure what you're meant to do if your orchid is in flower in the winter.....

Ha Ha....join Clan Confusion, Sid!!! I never feed mine when they ARE in flower as they then seem to drop the flowers they already have!! I "dunk and drain" in warm water once a fortnight only ....then when they go out of flower - I add the feed to their fortnightly watering . End of story. Most respond as you can see in my pics...but the stubborn/sullen (!) ones are now having Spritz's shock treatment.

I do the dunk n drain thing too. With confusing and vague instructions on stuff, i think that's where GoY comes into its own - nothing beats advice from first hand experience!! What irritates me are instructions you sometimes find on plant lables that say things like "Prefers full sun or shade"....sooooo, which is it then?

Your decision? Hahaha. Then, if it goes wrong - it's YOUR fault!

Yup, guess so.... wonldn't mind so much if they said "Tolerates full sun or shade".........

I've noticed a few labels lately that say e.g. 'Needs 5 hours of sun' or suchlike comments. I thought that was much more useful!

I think maybe that's too precise - I'd be out there with a stop watch timing it LOL

Ah, but - if your bed faces east, you know it gets the sun in the morning! And so on...I thought that was quite useful, rather than the vagueness of 'sun or partial shade' etc.

Yes, useful. But I'm afraid I can get a bit compulsive obsessive about these things - if someone said it needs 5 hours, I'll be out there trying to work it out to the nearest minute....and what happens when a bit of shade comes from that plant next to it at about 2:35pm GMT? You see? Not that easy is it?! LOL LOL ;-D

Oh dear, Sid - the poor folk who write the plant labels can't win with you, can they?? lol.

Nope, 'fraid not... LOL

;-)