Hello from NYC metro area
 

My parents love orchids and started growing them all year round about 10 years ago. I've always been fascinated by orchids and their collection enabled me to do a good variety of photographic shoots. I'd thought about owning some myself, but for some reason I was under the impression that they're finicky plants and tricky to care for.

Well, as orchids have picked up in popularity recently and are widely available at affordable prices, I finally decided to take the chance. Last year I bought my first phalaenopsis. It survived the winter and returned to give me 15 flowers, a huge jump from 6 in the previous year! All I did was just water it about once every 2 weeks, ensured it got ample but indirect sunlight, and of course sufficient drainage. I never pruned it either.

My mother does the most basic care of her orchids and she wasn't able to answer a lot of my questions. So I went on-line. First I found quite a number of YouTube videos, which were rather spotty in helpfulness. Finally, I managed to use the right keyword search to bring me here. I'm now seriously interested in learning about phalaenopsis care, especially the nuances of pruning, fertilizing, and repotting. I'm eager to get started. Great to be here! :hello

Welcome to Orchid Board. There's plenty of good information here. As far as repotting, take a look at youtube also. There are good demonstrations on repotting there.

Thanks, Tucker!

Btw, here are a couple of shots I took of my 15 flower phal:
Shot 1
Shot 2
Unfortunately, I took these after a couple of flowers had already fallen off... wish I'd thought of photographing it when it was in its full glory! :)

:waving:hello

:welcomeflowers:
glad you found us!

welcome to the forum. glad you found us.

i love the spots on your phal! dont be afraid to ask any questions you might have, we are all eager to help!

^ thanks for the warm welcome, WhiteRabbit and help. :)

no problem :) glad to have you

Hello and welcome. You've got a beautiful phal.
Joann

i agree! i love the colors!

^ Thanks! I had a typo in the 2nd photo link--it's been fixed. Just another angle on the plant. It really had a terrific bloom cycle. I'm just hoping the next one will be as plentiful and vibrant. :)