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I somehow managed to rehab an orchid that was so rotted out in the roots that it only had 1 tiny inch long section of live root left. The poor thing was all dehydrated and floppy, but I liked the pot that it was in so I figured for $5 it’d be okay if it died- I’d just put something else in there. I pulled out all the moss and cut off all the dead wormy roots, put it into fresh bark/charcoal/perlite mix and soak it once/week for a couple hours, then drain it completely and ignore for the rest of the week. This was in February, and it’s somehow regrown tons of new roots and replaced 2 of its leaves. It’s even growing a flower spike! If I can save that thing, you can do it too! I’m known as the black thumb of the family and a huge disappointment to my mother, the horticulturist.
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Dec 18, 2020 00:11
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 00:52 |
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I'm in Chicago, so also no natural light and the heat is on from October to May. I have a humidifier for the living room that sometimes I move into the bedroom overnight, but it's just keeping the apartment at a comfortable humidity for people so I don't get shocked by everything I touch. I did get a little led grow lamp for it once it started spiking on my brother's recommendation. Moth orchids are much hardier than you seem to believe. Just try a cheap one out from Trader Joe's or Aldi and repot it into a better medium asap. If it dies, you're only out $10.
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Dec 18, 2020 04:18
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It's the gritty mix that keeps getting mentioned. Basically just low organic matter, well draining soil for plants that drown easily.
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Oct 7, 2021 18:19
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Ok Comboomer posted:hybridization is a motherfucker, four (out of eight) of my phalaenopsis orchids are throwing out their third leaves of the year, including the two biggest plants. I have them all on a bench in a windowsill and they show zero sign of slowing down My orchid decided to flower normally last winter, grow a new leaf in March, then reflower in May. That spike finally dried up in September, and now it's growing another leaf. 
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Oct 13, 2021 21:32
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I live in Chicago and have them next to a poorly sealed west facing window. I thought that orchids get triggered to bloom with a cold period? It usually gets pretty chilly by the window before the heat mandate goes into effect so I think that was enough for my $6 Aldi moth orchid. It got really warm in my apartment in March(building heat plus False Spring) for a couple weeks last year, so the landlord shut the heat off early and then we returned to Third Winter and it was cold inside for most of April. Maybe that did it? It just grew a bunch of roots and leaves the summer before that.
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Oct 16, 2021 00:43
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My brother keeps his orchids in leca and they flower so huge that they have to support the spikes with string suspended from the ceiling. He’s got some sort of algae growing in the bottom with the water, I have no idea what’s going on but it’s amazing.
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Feb 20, 2022 02:03
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If you transplant directly into the fancy pot, you need to remove the drainage plug so that you don't drown the roots. Water it in the shower or something and let it drain there. If you leave it in a plastic pot and just slip it inside the pretty one, you remove the inner pot to water, drain, then replace.
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Mar 9, 2022 21:34
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No, leave the plug out completely if you're not using an inner pot. Some people put a little bit of mesh over the hole, but the soil will compact itself after a few waterings enough that you don't really loose any more when watering.
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Apr 10, 2022 20:55
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Start yourself off with Babby’s First Plant, a snake plant/mother-in-law’s tongue. You can buy these for cheap, they are extremely difficult to kill, and they have nice dark green leaves. You can find these anywhere including IKEA.
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May 12, 2022 02:00
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 Including cat chomps. The spiky one is actually a big one plus 3 babies.
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Jun 16, 2022 23:30
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It’s sunburned- it was probably an indoor plant in its prior life. When changing conditions so drastically, you have to do it gradually so that the plant can adjust. Think about if you’ve been inside your entire life then went outside all day in just a bathing suit- you’d get burned too! Bring it back inside, wait for it to hopefully recover, and when you want to try again start by putting it out for an hour or two in the morning then bringing it back in. If it’s looking happy after a few days add some more time. Then maybe add evening time outside as well. Its water needs will probably fluctuate while you’re transitioning it.
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Oct 14, 2022 23:46
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gently caress it- it’s your house and you have to live with the yard for however many decades, get to the chainsaw and make it into what you want now instead of in 5 years after disappointing harvests.
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Nov 7, 2022 01:40
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My brother had young figs that got frozen to the ground and they just came back from the roots the next spring. He lost a year of growth, but they came back pretty fast since they already had a good root system.
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May 22, 2023 20:10
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Plastic planters are fine as long as you use them as an outer pot and keep the actual soil in a smaller inner pot with drainage holes. A pro-tip from my mom is to use 2x3 thick Lego blocks to raise the inner pot up off the bottom of your pretty pot. It lets air circulate and any excess water drip out and evaporate. You can buy purpose made feet for the same thing, but why do that when you can steal your children's toys?
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Jul 31, 2023 18:10
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 00:52 |
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If it's in sphagnum moss, change that out for bark mix or water culture if you're feeling frisky. Rinse the roots off really well and be generous about pruning off anything rotting. I almost never water my dumpster phals right after after repotting, I wait a few days for them to dry out then soak them and drain well. Flowering is induced by cold - I keep mine by the window and we had a really cold snap in October so they're already putting out spikes. Some people stick them in the garage or other partially conditioned space over a weekend to trigger flowers. Make sure you feed it appropriately if you're going to induce flowers and it's been having to regrow a lot- we had a cold snap in May this year that unexpectedly triggered flowers and I didn't feed one enough. It did replace old leaves like normal, but they were both small and kind of sad looking.
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Nov 22, 2023 18:31
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