Orchids

[HmmmmmmInteresting]

Please help me. I don't know how to care for orchids that you buy from supermarkets in little plastic pots. I love them so much as they are so beautiful but I don't know what I need to do to keep them alive. My current one looks like the picture attached. I have previously repotted them into compost but they still don't live. What should I do with this one?

It's stem is yellow now

They can last a few months without water - they can look awful.
Are any of the leaves still green? Does any part of any of the roots still look silvery/green? Just give it a good soaking in rainwater, drain it and put it on a North or/NW or W facing window - they don;t like hot or bright and sunny locations - our utility room works well - the boiler is in there and we hang up clothes to dry in there so maybe there is an extra source of moisture at times - treat it like a coma patient and just pray and hope for the best - repeat the watering/draining every week-2 weeks. They can take 6 months to come round - just check for signs of new roots or stems. HTH

If you want to repot them, buy orchid potting mix.

Also stand them on something like a few stones (between the plastic pot and the ceramic pot) so when you water them it just runs through and they aren’t standing in water.

They don’t need much water at all, I give mine a splash every couple of weeks and I’ve had it 10 years.

@HmmmmmmInteresting

I honestly think this one is beyond redemption, but we will see 🙈

I think where I have gone wrong is where I have placed them and not realising they need the roots to photosynthesise. I knew about not over-watering. I didn't know they grew on the barks of trees. This is game-changing information

This one was two very wrinkled leaves and three roots that were an inch long last year. My friend was going to throw it out. I'm just waiting for a flower stem before I give it back (I can see one about to poke out).

@HmmmmmmInteresting

Ok, so *@larkstarsaid* never give up on an orchid but I have one that was in a room that I never go into and I'm ashamed to admit I forgot about. Believe me when I say that the other orchids have always been tended to and this is not usual. Seems hard to believe when I am here saying my orchids usually die. Tbh, this one was already dying and from my previous experience I thought it was a gonna. I moved it into a back room when I put my house up for sale then forgot about it ☹️😭 What I want to know is does this one have any chance or is it dead?

I had one die back completely / lose almost all of its leaves and then grow back from a new stem (the old stem is still there, just all dried up). It has since flowered again.

Water / feed it and give it a bit more care and it may well live. As I said in my initial post I abandoned mine through lockdown #1 in London and only rescued them three months later and they all still live!

Do not apologise to us, dear orchid beginner - I killed a fair few when I started off, learning comes with trial and error , but I've now been growing them for many years and have them all over the house. The sticking out roots are air roots and in the wild will collect moisture from the air and help secure the plant to a tree or rock - in the case of your phaelanopsis, a jungle tree in the tropics.
Yours looks a bit underwatered, but a finger in the compost will tell you if it's wet (don't water), damp - leave a couple of days, or dry - water.
I tried orchid compost, but didn't like it at all so I make up my own from coir block like this (just add a little water to remoisten - there should be instructions) and orchid bark like this; about 2/3 coir to 1/3 bark with a couple of handfuls of perlite . Shop around for the best price - ebay often has orchid specialists selling sundries at a very good price and I get my clear pots from there. Burnham nurseries has a great re-potting on youtube.
I feed with babybio/miraclegro orchid about every two weeks when in flower or active growth (new air roots will be growing or flower spikes where the end looks like a tiny clenched fist) and about once a month when not.
When you do get a new flower spike, be very carefull as they break super easily (aaargh! I still make this mistake!).
Good luck!

My tip is also not to move it from its position/orientation once it is happy. I used to move them to off different places once they were flowering to enjoy the flowers more. They were not happy. Water but replace in same spot, literally facing in same direction. They also need much more light than you might think, but too much direct sun burns their leaves.

i followed miss orchid on you tube for beginner potting and watering.
i've had excellent results with repotting a pot with holes and special course mulch.
i water heavily, let it rest for 30 minutes then tip out the excess water.

I’ve just been given an orchid, so very glad to see this thread. It’s in a transparent plastic pot which is inside a separate opaque pot - should I take the plastic pot out to give the roots as much light as possible?

m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxo6tXzj__mZzIrS7nCGjI6NEwWCwvuya

Follow Miss Orchid Girl she's great at advice and helped me with all my orchids

@Theworldsgonemad

m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxo6tXzj__mZzIrS7nCGjI6NEwWCwvuya

Follow Miss Orchid Girl she's great at advice and helped me with all my orchids

Excellent, thanks!