Question
My orchid
Hi,
I just bought an Orchid, but it`s the 1st time I will try to grow it.
It`s a pink Phalaenopsis with 11-12 flowers and a bud almost flowering. Full, thick, healthy looking leaves.
I was wondering if I should repot it and in what and how big? Now it`s in a transparent plastic pot and it`s planted on bark. There are some roots which are outside the pot already. And the bark seems quite humid.
I was also wondering about the right temperature. The winter is already coming here with temperatures of -10, -15 ouside and 15-20 in the room where it is now, with rather dry air. Would this situation be a problem?
Thank you in advance for your help!
AnswerFirst, congratulations Viktoriya on your first orchid. Temperatures of 15 to 20 degrees C. are on the lower end of suitable temperatures for phalaenopsis. They do best at temperatures of 15 to 27 degrees C.. You will need to decide on lighting as well. An east window is fine if you have enough daylight. Otherwise I recommend florescent or plant lights of at least 80 watts for no less than 13 hours per day, increasing them by 1 hour in daylength for ech month after December. Then reverse the process by decreasing by an hourstarting in July so a timer hooked into the circuit would save effort. For humidity, create a pebble tray a set the pot on top of the pebbles filling the tray with water so it is just below the bottom of the pot.
Following flowering, you may want to repot the plant in a standard orchid potting mix such as the kind it is planted in now. Commercial fir bark based orchid potting mixes are usually dry so wet the potting mix thoroughly before use. After unpotting you orchid, check the roots and remove any that are mushy before repotting. The clear plastic pots are great both because you can observe the root growth and because roots are photosynthetic and use the light coming through the walls of the pot.
