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LindsayArthurRTR
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Posts: 527
Joined: Wed May 26, 2010 10:41 pm
Location: South Carolina, Upstate

My First Orchid

I don't normally have indoor plants because I have 2 obnoxious kitties that like to nibble on them and then find the most wonderful places to expel their nibbles...fabulous, I know...They will be my last :roll: :wink:

BUT...

I was in HD yesterday getting some stuff for a project. I ALWAYS park in the plant greenhouse section so that I can "browse" :roll: while I'm on my way in to get whatever I need. Anyway...They had a brand new shipment of Orchids that came in, no one had relly picked throught them. I have been wanting one for some time now. I saw one that I couldn't resist. I snatched it up in a moment of impulse. I have never seen this coloration before. It was stunning there, and even more so in my kitchen window against the black walnut of my cabinets. These pictures really don't do it justice, I am a terrible picture taker :?

I don't have a clue how to take care of it, either. Other than misting in the morning. I kinda need to keep it in the size pot it's in now. I guess I could search the forum, but...

Aaaaaaaaanyway, here's the pics of my beauty. It's in a cat safe area too :()
[img]https://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac153/LindsayArthurRTR/gardenandhousestuff020.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac153/LindsayArthurRTR/gardenandhousestuff021.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac153/LindsayArthurRTR/gardenandhousestuff022.jpg[/img]

I just LOVE it!!! :() Now if y'all can just help me keep it alive ;)
cynthia_h
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Posts: 7500
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 7:02 pm
Location: El Cerrito, CA

That's a very dramatically colored phalaenopsis (sometimes also called a "moth orchid," but I don't know why :oops:).

So now you have a key word to do a Search of the Forum with! I know there are members who have successfully maintained Phalaenopsis orchids and shared their knowledge. I just don't happen to be one of them! :? So the best I can do is recommend the Search....

What a good find!

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
shadowsmom
Senior Member
Posts: 212
Joined: Fri Apr 30, 2010 3:40 pm
Location: NJ

I am a phalaenopsis addict. I started about 20 years ago with a purchase from Home Depot, now I travel to orchid shows. Yours is a beautiful color!

Really they are the easiest of orchids to get to rebloom. I keep mine facing South but not in the direct sun, water once a week in the sink and I spray them down. I do use an orchid fertilizer, very diluted, every other week. I don't mist during the winter when the heat is on, I just put them on saucers with glass rocks and keep a little water in the saucer.

When the flowers fall off don't cut the shoot off immediately. Keep an eye on it and you may be rewarded with another set of blooms.
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lorax
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Posts: 1316
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:48 pm
Location: Ecuador, USDA Zone 13, at 10,000' of altitude

Cynthia, the common name comes from the shape of the flower. Turn one upside-down and it definitely resembles a moth.

Lindsay - SCORE! That's one of the more unusual colour-combos in big-box Phals. As Shadowsmom points out, they're very easy care and quite good rebloomers. But watch out! Orchids can easily turn into an addiction (speaking from experience here - at one point I had more than 500 native species in my orchidarium. Then I moved and I had to donate them all to my local botanical garden.) They're also one of the few things I've grown that my cat refuses to eat, and she's a veggimaniac supremo.
LindsayArthurRTR
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Posts: 527
Joined: Wed May 26, 2010 10:41 pm
Location: South Carolina, Upstate

They had a yellow one there too! Never seen a yellow one either. I can definitely see this becoming an addiction!!! But I have very limited cat safe areas.


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