Hi everyone! (New to orchids and questions about bark in California.)

[katk925]

Hello forum readers!

I am new to orchids as of about 1-2 months ago.

My first orchid purchase was a small pink miniature phal I got at a grocery store near my new office. I am a lover of general gardening, mostly herbs and full sun flowers so far. Anyway, my new job is in an office with no windows and I was very lonely so I asked the girl at the grocery flower department what kind of plant might live in this office. She recommended getting the cheapest orchid they had and seeing if it would live. I became quickly interested in youtube videos and websites about orchids and after 1 week was concerned it was not getting enough light due to the reddend leaves. However it did open two more buds.

I brought this orchid home and then started worrying about its roots. It was in a very small tight pot of sphagnum moss, with holes, but VERY small ones and I was worried it would rot. So I decided to get some stuff at Home Depot and try my first repot. I got a Miracle Grow Orchid Bark and a pot. Upon getting home I saw that this pot was way way too big. I ended up finding a close to clear Solo cup and cutting a bunch of holes in it. My main mistake was not pre-soaking the bark

Well this orchid has now dropped all its flowers, but the leaves are much less red. There are a few small wrinkles and I am worried that the bark medium is too dry for this Los Angeles weather. I am trying to decide which is worse, leaving it in this and watering it more, or repotting it again so soon, and starting to try mixing this Orchid Bark Mix and Sphagnum Moss.

Sorry this is so long, but I will now talk about the orchids I have gotten since then to explain my reasoning:

Orchid 2: Went to a local fancy garden place I often buy herbs and flowers. They have expensive orchids but there was a discount rack. I got a nice looking phal with huge white and purple flowers. I was expecting to repot it immediately based on the look of the roots. On the way home the flower stem broke in the car. So it got repotted right away with the same orchid mix as the first phal, again didn't know yet to pre-soak, in the larger home depot orchid pot, which fit it nicely. I think this phal is doing much better than the small one as the bark retains more water, since there is a lot more of it. It is a nice lively green color in the leaves and I cut the stem pretty high, I think above the third node, hoping for new flowers.

Orchid 3: Home Depot Phal orangey and pink, was too cute to pass up for $7! I drop potted this according to what the folks at Repotme.com had done with their Mother's Day orchid. I was kind of experimenting. This phal I've only had about a week but it is doing great so I think maybe I was wrong about the bark vs moss for this climate.

Orchid 4: Pretty Yellow phal I saw at Trader Joes. Was trying not to buy anything that day but groceries but had to look and this cheap one looks like it had a new flower stem starting under the 2nd leave on the opposite side of the current spike. Had to experiment and see what it would do. Also drop potted like Orchid 3, also doing well.

Rescue Orchids from yesterday: Well big weekend of Memorial day I had a lot of gardening to do with my hubby. We went to an all orchid store someone told me about here in LA called Pac 8. I got 6 orchids for 6 dollars! I also got some nice ceramic orchid pots and these cool little baskets the girls there said were intended for hanging orchids but I couldn't see the harm in using them for an orchid that was going in a pot that was a bit too big to keep them snug. These all got potted in the rest of my bag of Miracle Grow Orchid Bark, but now it was pre-soaked These guys are all out of flower (one has a small white flower) but I tried to pick ones that looked like they had healthy roots. When I repotted them two had great looking roots, three normal roots for situation, and one not great. Two have new leaves forming. I am so excited to hopefully find out what color flowers they have next year! I love surprises! I have pictures of all this if I decide to post later.

Well sorry for the long post.

Main question: I would assume there is no one perfect orchid mix, and location and climate matter. Does anyone have any recommendations for my area, LA, CA? Is it too dry here for this kind of mix? Should I incorporate some Sphagnum moss next time?

Nice to meet you all!