A newbie w/ sharp scisors in one hand and Phal. roots in the other.
 

Hello All,
before I get started w/ my question I have to say I love this site it has TONS if information (but you already knew that )

I recently discovered the world or orchids... I have been growing other things and haven’t killed a plant yet.... but there is still time um...
My question if one of opinion and even worse an opinion based of off a series of pics I took....so here is the story

This is my first orchid the day I bought it, from a nursery in Jacksonville:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...0/thumbs/0.jpg

I read tons about orchids AFTER I bought it and as I read I saw tips on buying orchids and what to look for as I started poking around my new plant I started to notice some roots that didn’t look healthy at all....specifically the aerial root in front as you can see here, all shriveled and nasty looking (its circled in red):
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...thumbs/111.jpg

I then read that w/ monopodial its not entirely critical to repot in the spring as long as your not repotting while in bloom so I decided to repot: I bought the medium just for orchids and a better pot for drainage and went to town.. this is what I found when I cleaned all the old medium off of the roots:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...thumbs/210.jpg

so then I trimmed away all the black, mushy, hollow and dried roots away....some of then right up against the ?? nub?? center?? shaft?? (please tell me what this part is called) and overall did my best to clean it up w/o getting carried away and this is what I ended up w/:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community.../thumbs/31.jpg

I don’t think its good but I think that its not nearly as bad... after repotting it in the new medium this is what the repotted plant looks like:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community.../thumbs/41.jpg

you can kind of see I have a piece of clay pot propping up the plant until it roots (a stick wasn’t working) and that’s my 'Does it need water stick' in the front....
basically my question is...what did I do wrong or does it look terrible or did I do the right thing is there something I should still do...um...just over all feed back would be wonderful...oh and what about fertilizer...I haven’t put any on yet doesn’t seem right w/ fresh wounds and all.
um... thanx for any input...as you can see i am already camera happy so there will be almost weekly pics of this bad boy so we can watch it grow together...Thanx again for any help and for a wonderful site.
-TheCanfield

Looks good to me! I think you've done everything as most of us would have done. The pot shard is a plus (neat!) Welcome to the board, by the way!

Welcome to OB. :dance: Wow! Excellent! I do believe you have saved it's little life. :) See how wet and nasty that sphag looked? Not a good thing. Nice fresh medium and a little surgery will go a long way. The first couple of waterings I would use a couple drops of KLN by DynaGro, or Superthrive. Both contain a rooting hormone and will promote new root growth. Then you too can chant Ross's mantra "Roots are good, roots are good" :evil: PUt it in a warm spot with not too much light for a couple of weeks and give it a chance to recover. I think you'll see some new growth very soon. BTW, I love the photos. A picture is worth a thousand words. :nod:

I think you did GREAT!

And I must say. . .that's the greatest thread title ever! ROFLOLOL

Looks good I say :) Though have some fungicide or bactericide ready just in case there are rots occurring.

You did a great job, and WELCOME to the OB. Jim.

:clap: Job well done!!!

For a "newbie", you did what most "experienced" growers would've done! Great instincts :nod:

Do you have any other orchids? We'd love to see some more pics and hear more about what you're growing.

Where are you located? Do you grow indoors or outdoors?

If you have any questions, feel free to ask :D

Good job! I sometimes find that a little rooting hormone will help too to get over the "shock" :shock: of a new "home" after re-potting. Might help you new 'chid settle in a little bit.
Great job on the re-potting!

Alright everybody here we go...
First off ThanX to everybody for the ever so prompt responses and the wonderful information. Now is where I respond to the responses...um...re-re-spond I guess?? hehe anyways.
due to the medium a stick wouldn’t stay upright it just kept leaning over w/ the plant so I had a pot and hammer hehehe
ok I found a bottle or superthrive at a lowes and according to this I mix a bit w/ my fertilizer but due to the very porous nature of the medium should I mix the fert. and Sthrive up in a bowl and set my plant in it for a bit or no (if yes about how long..like 10 or 15 min??)
and trust me "roots are good" is not the only thing ive been chanting lately ;)

I figure the purpose of a title is to get someone’s attention and if it didn’t get your guys attention then at lease it would warn other Phals to run.

My location is Jacksonville FL, Im growing indoors on an east facing window, and my complete list of orchid is as follows: one and only one Phal ;)
I didnt and dont want to know what color it is so i didnt ask, i also removed the id tag before i saw what color was on it. ;) i like suprises.
This is my first orchid and due to current living arrangements I am maxed out on plant space hopefully in the near future that will change and ill have more room for more plants and more orchids...my ultimate desire is to raise an orchid from seed, more specifically a Paphiopedilum Maudiae
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c...1969_104175774
For the record....this is not my plant this is only what i want to rais some day. :D


so ive been doing tons and tons of reading regarding tube vials and glove boxes so that im better prepared when the time comes

and allow me to quote myself here for a min
what is that part of the plant called anyways....um
I guess that basically wraps it up for me ....um...the only other that I left out is the fact that my other plants you asked about are the hard to kill ones I have 2 spider plants ive been razing from babies, a golden pothos I bought at home depot and a golden pothos ive been hydoponicly growing from a clipping off the first pothos ... all are doing great im going to drop a bit of this super thrive in the bottle w/ the pothos and see what happens anyways this is definitely enough typing for one reply
ThanX again
-TheCanfield

Hi there!

I think you might be referring to the crown area.
The wobble you mention could just be simply of the roots not being even on both sides, and it just simply top heavy now. Some of the roots took a real sliceing - But, you gotta do what you gotta do. Pot maybe a bit to biggish'
Anyhooooo, Good job on the phal, your brave :biggrin:
Very nice paph :D

Welcome aboard, good to meet you -- enjoy the forum!

Regards,