Roots

A few of the plants, pots in the larger rectangular planter for moisture

One of the blues

New branches with buds and mittens

Current blooms

One close up

Blooms

WOW!!!!

Beautiful~~

Lovely!

How Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!! I especially like the blue one!!!! How much sun do they need? My house faces the east so we get a lot of sun in the morning, but no so much in the afternoon. I was thinking of putting the orchid on my buffet that is next to the front window. Would that get enough sun, it would be from about 6 in the am till about noon of sunlight coming in the front window.

Where do you buy your orchids from???

Thank you Raven for all the pics!!!

I buy them no where in particular, from the flower dept at the grocery store, to the outdoors market, anywhere I see one I love but I don't pay over $20 generally.
I have a big Atrium in the middle of my house with windows all the way around and I have them sitting on the wide windowsills around the inside of the the living room. So they get heavy morning sunshine and less throughout the day. I have ceiling fans so there's air movement around them which is why I try to add moisture around them.

I have grown them outside in the Atrium too. Just have to shade them no direct sunlight they will get damaged. Plenty of water when outside but they love some outside time.

You just can't be afraid to play with them. If you set them in the sink and let the water run through it and soak once a week you should be good as long as it is a good chunky orchid medium not a soil.

The blue one is actually a white one that was grown using blue food colored water.. That big white one is the the one that was blue.

Beautiful Phalenopsis - do you also grow other types?

DH has given me several over the years and this is one of my favorites - it's a pansy orchid (Miltoniopsis)

They are all just beautiful. You have a wonderful talent.

oh that pansy orchid is beautiful. Yes I have grown other types and I have some of the others outside in the atrium but they are not in bloom right now. They are Cymbidium Orchids. I always think of prom and mothers day when I see them in bloom. I call them my corsage orchids lol.
This is a Cymbidium Orchid called Last Tango I am in love with it and want to own it! This one is NOT mine I sure wish it was!

Wow! Those are all so beautiful!

Ravencajun, I have an orchid that was in bloom when I bought it, but now, sitting in an east window, I am only growing leaves. Any suggestions on how to get flowers again?? Thanks for any help.

Yes, does it still have the flower stalk and if so is dry and brown like dead wood or is it still green and flexible? Never cut off a flower stalk unless it is very brown and crispy dry, if any life is in it then it will likely sprout new growth from it.
If you have a flower stalk at the very tip look for a mitten like the picture I posted it can be only one. If you see this good chance it will be putting on more flowers.
The best thing you can do is as I said set the pot in the sink and let room temperature water run through the plant for a while then leave it in the sink and let it drain well. It must have a pot with good drainage and the medium should be nice chunky medium that is loose so the roots can get air. They don't like tightly packed soil, the orchid medium is not soil it's more of a bark mix.
Do the water thing once a week, put the pot on a dish filled with gravel and water. You don't want it sitting in water though. It has to have humidity around it.
A window that gets some good sun several hours a day is fine.
Let me know how it goes.

If you have one that has the clear liner pot that's good because you can take it out and see the roots. Get the air roots wet during the watering. But don't leave any water in the well in the center of the leaves that can cause rot.

I took it out of the pot and it was sopping wet (I watered it yesterday). That pot didn't have very good drainage at all. So I got another pot and I have some chunky bark "soil", so I added that and repotted it. Here are some pictures. The stalk isn't pure brown, it has a little green to it. Can it grow new stalks?

Thanks for your help, Raven.

This post was edited by murraysmom on Tue, May 27, 14 at 23:46

You never want it soaking wet. That's why I leave it in the sink till it is well drained. If the roots stay wet they will turn black and mushy and the plant is in trouble. It sounds like you made good choices. It looks like the flower stalk was cut off that is not good the growing end is gone, but it is possible to send off side shoots from the current stalk like the picture I posted. That stalk is NOT dead don't do anything to it.
The stalk that was cut off near the bottom should not have been it was still alive. It will not put out anything. If you keep it healthy it can put out entirely new stalks.
What is the white stuff in the medium?
The pot you have it in now needs pebbles in the dish under it. If not the bottom of the roots could be sitting in the water in the dish, pebbles allow air movement.

The plant leaves look very good and it is growing new leaves which is a good sign.

I gave up on cymbidiums - I just couldn't get my plant to rebloom and it took up a lot of room so I gave it to DD. One of my favorites is my 'Twinkle' oncidium. It tends to bloom around Christmas and has a wonderful fragrance. Now that the plant is older it is covered with tiny flowers when it blooms.

Raven- do you fertilize yours regularly? I dilute the solution and after they've had their weekly soak I fertilize them - as long as they're not blooming.

Oh my gosh, you guys are so lucky to have such beautiful plants!! I just love them all. I'm hopeful mine will survive.

Raven, the white things in the barky soil are little rocks. I stepped on one this morning, so I know that's what they are. :)

I cut off the short stem because it was totally brown and brittle. That was quite awhile ago. I cut off the top of the other, longer one because it was totally brown on top.

I will add pebbles for the bottom and then leave it alone. The leaves seem really healthy, I was just hoping for more flowers.

Thank you so much for your help. I appreciate it. I'll let you know if anything positive happens. Thanks again.

Good I think you will have some happy orchids and they should definitely bloom again. Ok if the stem turns brown all the way down to the very bottom cut it down to about 2 inches. But if one is only brown at the top just leave it alone only cut if it is brown all the way down.

maire those are just beautiful! I have not tried those yet.
As to fertilizing the rule I go by is weekly weakly, that is a very weak diluted bit to the weekly watering. However since I am bad about forgetting that does not happen LOL. It is more like weakly when I remember!

I am by no means an orchid specialist lol I just have had trial and error growing for a long time and now I know what works well and what does not. I would love to try more exotics but I won't pay some of the exotic prices they want for them.
My Cymbidium is outside in the Atrium, it loves it outside. But we have had some major rain storms the past few days and it is really getting a lot of water right now. I was just looking at it though the window and I can see it needs some relief from the rain.
My back yard looks like a lake right now I am thinking of getting a canoe lol.

Please keep the tips and directions coming. I am going to print out this whole thread once it slips off of page one. Then I will buy my first orchid...for $20.00 or less I may have to go up to $22.99 my grocery store has some beautiful blue ones....but no higher

Gorgeous plants! The Cymbidiums have always been my favorite. I know that if I were ever to decide to get involved with these stunning plants, my first will be a Cymbidium.

Gorgeous plants! The Cymbidiums have always been my favorite. I know that if I were ever to decide to get involved with these stunning plants, my first will be a Cymbidium.

I don't know the price, Laura but Lowes usually has some nice ones. I have never been brave enough to try to grow one the the ones on this thread are beautiful.

WOW!! WOW!! Beautiful!!

The little nub between the leaves - could it be a new flower stalk or is it just a root?

Hard to tell but it could be you will know soon. If so start clipping it to a support stick as soon as it gets tall enough.

Will do. Thanks a lot for all your help! I'm keeping my fingers crossed. :)

I grow a FEW orchids as well...this is one of my favorites..

That is a really beautiful orchid. I love the colors. Thanks for sharing.

That is just gorgeous. I love the colors!!