When to repot a Phalaenopsis - Page 2 - Orchid Board

camille1585 · #1 02-19-2011, 05:48 PM

No, orchids aren't complicated, they're just different!

If you think about it, it's logical not to get water in the crown. In the wild a phal grows attached to a tree with the top of the plant facing down so that rainwater will drain out of it. The only food they get comes nutrients in the water running off the tree onto them, or from debris around the roots. Once you understand how a plant naturally grows, it becomes easier to see how to care for it in our homes. Hope this helps.

For your fertilizer, it's hard to judge what is enough or too much without knowing the original strength of it and doage you are basing the 1/2, 1/8 etc on. If the NPK ratio is something along the line of 20-20-20 then you only need about 1/2 teaspoon per gallon at each watering for example.

scy · #2 02-19-2011, 05:50 PM

I also think it's a bad idea to add too much fertilizer. I normally use 1/2 strength of what's recommended. Avoid getting water in the crown as that will lead to crown rot, which can be fatal.

orchidkilla · #3 02-19-2011, 06:01 PM

I examined the three living leaves and the wilt is similar to the now detached leaf, but with less intensity. The wilt is worst near the base, with a red and orange color, with yellow as you look towards the middle of the leaf, then green for most of the leaf, with the end being the greenest.

As for the fertlizer:

Name: Orchid Plus
subtitle: Water Soluble Orchid Food
Nutritents 20-14-13 plus essential minor elements
Brand Name: Better-Gro
Directions: Feed at every watering with one teaspoon per gallon of water or every 14-21 days using one tablespoon per gallon of water.

orchidkilla · #4 02-19-2011, 06:10 PM

As for watering I looked at my water jug and it is half a gallon or 2 quarts, not one quart like I thought it was. Since I posted the wrong info about the watering jug I took another look at my measuring device. It is one tablespoon in size, and I used half a tablespoon last time dissolved in 2 quarts.

The weeks before I put as low as 1/50th of a tablespoon, I figured it was better to do less more often. I use the same water jug each time, and pour about 1/3-1/2 the contents so about 2/3's of a quart to a quart of water each time. Next, I refill and put the cap on the jug and let the water sit for a week. In short, each week the dissolved but unused fertilizer from last week accumulates.

camille1585 · #5 02-19-2011, 06:20 PM

Do you have any pics to post? It's easier to see it I think.

For your fertilizer, I think that they recommend too much.

The prefered way to fertilize is to use a lower dose of fertilizer, but at each watering (but water with plain water every 4-5 watering to leach out the salts.) A target that many people use for phals and orchids with similar food requirements is to have 125ppm N (parts per million of nitrogen) at each watering. You can read more about this here: Your Feeding Regimen There's a bunch of other nice stuff to read in the 'free info'. With your fert, that works out to about 1/2 teaspoon per gallon at each watering.

Btw, when you were mentioning how much you use, is tbs a tablespoon or teaspoon?

orchidkilla · #6 02-19-2011, 06:34 PM

tablespoon, I'll try to take a pic tomorrow in the day, I'm going to look online about orchid crown rot.

orchidkilla · #7 02-19-2011, 07:53 PM

I decided to take a look at the crown. The crown is yellow and purple. I'm not sure what the color of the crown was when I bought my moth orchid. I never would have thought to look at the crown. What is the crown color of a vibrant Phalenopsis? You have to know what is healthy to know to know when something is wrong.

Zoi2 · #8 02-19-2011, 10:59 PM

There is a picture of a very healthy phal on this page. The crown is where the newest leaf joins the plant. The picture is in the 20th response from Pilot. Hope this helps.
Joann
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ly-not-me.html

camille1585 · #9 02-20-2011, 05:24 AM

The crown (or at least the base of the leaves) can also have some measue of purple on them. I have a phal growing a new leaf, and while the light it gets is not enough to affect the old leaves, the base of new leaf is very tender tissue, and has gotten purple from the light.

Having yellow is not good though, you want everything to be green.

orchidkilla · #10 02-20-2011, 06:48 PM

That's an impressive orchid on post #20. I've seen the bigger Orchids on sale retail and none are nearly as big or flowery as pilot's, usually 2-5 flowers.

In Pilot's picture I can't really get a good look at the crown. I do see green about the same shade of the leaves, just below where the leaves start, in Pilot's picture.