Orchid Care
Your second purchase just made your care requirements change. Phals have a low light requirement and will do quite well on a west windowsill. However, Dendrobiums have a high light requirement and a west windowsill just won't do it in my opinion. We have a GH and hang most of the Dens about 2 feet below the glass roof where they are doing beautifully. We use 20-10-20 urea free fertilizer mixed at label directions but any standard fertilizer (20-20-20, etc.) should be fine. Watering depends on the medium the plant is in and how fast it dries out. If your Phal is doing well after 5 months, your watering and growing conditions are fine for it. Give the Den more light and do everything else like you've been doing and it probably will do well too. Be sure to check the medium and make sure it is similar to the Phal's to use the same watering schedule. Phals and Dens both like intermediate temps but it got to about 100 degrees in our GH last summer and we just lost a few blooms while the plants did fine. Air movement is really necessary during high heat times. Also, your Phal will need 4 to 6 weeks of a 10 to 15 degree temperature drop (daytime high to nighttime low) in the fall to reliably set blooms for next spring. You can put it out on a patio overnight and bring it back in in the morning but that temp drop is hard to achieve in the house.
You also might want to buy Ortho's "All About Orchids". The big box retailers (Home Depot, etc.) usually have it and it is the best general instruction manual in my opinion. Good luck!
Sandra in South Carolina
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