Hello all! Another Southern Newbie here.
 

I had always killed every orchid I got until a friend who's a pro told me two things: that most need to be repotted immediately as they have been planted in Sphagnum moss , and that surface roots should be uncovered. Since then, I have not killed one. I may even have a C. chocolate drop 'volcano queen' setting blooms. So I'm glad to have a place to have questions answered. My first question- should orchids be fertilized? How much, when?

Welcome to Orchid Board! Congratulations on your success with your phals and your blooming cattleya. You're doing very well for someone new to the hobby. Orchids do need to be fertilized. Most orchids grow rapidly during the spring and summer months when the sun is brighter and the days are longer. During that time weakly weekly is what orchids growers say. That means a weak solution (maybe 1/4 the dose on the label) once a week. In the winter the plants will need much less fertilizer. A weak dose once or twice a month is probably OK. They need less water during the winter also. Orchids have difficulty utilizing nitrogen in the form of urea, so fertilizers without urea are best, but any fertilizer is better than none. Good luck.

Hello and welcome.
Joann

Welcome :welcome:

Yes orchids should be fertilised, but it's at a lower strength than some other types of plants.

The advise is usually that they should be fertilised weekly weakly. It's also advised to flush the pots through with plain water once a month.

This link has a calculator for the strength, based on the N value of the fertiliser. You can adjust the target strength, but the default is a strength Ray has determined for a good year round strength for most orchids (some like it weaker, but it's good for most).

Fertilizer Mixing Calculators