My three new Phals from Orchids by Hausermann arrived on Friday afternoon — and I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of them is already in bloom! Check ’em out:
L to R: Phal. amboinensis, P. mannii x self, P. Cranberry Queen ‘Regal’
The P. manii blooms are teeny tiny; see how they compare to a quarter?
Mini blooms on the Phal. manii
It’s hard to convey the absolute adorableness of these itsy-bitsy blooms in photos, but below is more detailed shot of a P. manii bloom. And by the way, these blooms do have a very subtle fragrance; to me they have a vague aroma of cinnamon.
Phal manii bloom
And look, the P. amboinensis has a little spike starting to poke out from the stem! The little nub on the left is the spike. Spikes can be hard to identify, but remember that the spikes are flatter at the tip than roots when they begin to appear.
New P. amboinensis spike growth
So far, seems like another successful purchase from Hausermann’s. Each of my new orchids has nice long silvery roots and a couple of them have new leaves starting to grow out of the top of the crown. Oh yeah, and one of the best things about my new orchid plants? I only spent $40.50 on them, including shipping! Seriously, orchids CAN be affordable; you just need to know where to look. 🙂
I’ve done it again: I ordered more orchids from Orchids by Hausermann. Awhile back I ordered five orchids from them, each on sale, and I was pleased with my order. So I just placed an order for three more orchids (each of which, by the way, is super affordable). Photos below are from the Hausermann’s website and are images of what each of the plant’s blooms should look like. I picked these three because they have pretty unique-looking blooms; they don’t look like your standard Phals. And the second two shown are supposed to be fragrant, which is fairly uncommon in Phals.
Phal. amboinensis ($8!)
Phal. Cranberry Queen ‘Regal’ ($10!)
Phal. mannii x self ($10!)
Because the weather is much warmer than it was when I placed my first order from Hausermann’s, this order should arrive much faster. None of them will be in bloom, or even, in spike, but regardless I’m totally excited!!
Selecting an orchid to buy can be quite a decision. For those who simply want the instant gratification of something lovely to display in their home, the “Oooh, pretty, I’ll take it!” method works just fine. But if you’re buying an orchid with the long term in mind, there are a few things you’ll want to look for before you head to the checkout counter. Bear in mind that these tips are mainly for Phalaenopsis orchids, but the general principles will work for many other orchid varieties as well.
As always, I’ve included photo examples for your viewing pleasure.
Something is poking out of the base of your orchid plant. Is it a new root, or—even more exciting—a flower spike? It can be hard to tell the difference, especially for orchid beginners. In a Phalaenopsis orchid, both roots and spikes are usually green when they begin to emerge, which makes it that much harder to distinguish the two.
I’ve found that with orchids, the easiest way to learn is with our eyes. So, I write bearing visual aids.
The long silvery thing in this first photo is a healthy, dry root. And the small green nub you see to the right of the long silvery root is a new root beginning to poke out from the plant stem. New Phalaenopsis roots usually appear with a green tip, and as they grow longer they will become silvery near the base of the plant. If you click the photo to view the larger version, you will see there are actually two new roots coming in – the green one on the right that I already mentioned, and a second one just above the longer silver root.
New phalaenopsis orchid root
This next photo shows a brand new flower spike growing out of the base of another one of my Phalaenopsis orchids. It’s a slightly brighter green and a tad flattened, with what looks almost like a tiny mitten at the tip. It’s this mitten shape that, for me, is what most easily distinguishes a root from a spike.
New phalaenopsis orchid spike
In the third photo you can see both a new root (silver, on the left) and a new spike (green mitten, on the right).
New phalaenopsis orchid root and spike
Cool, huh? I’m always excited to see ANY new growth on my orchids – whether it be a new root, spike, or leaf – because new growth is a sign of a happy and healthy plant. Of course I’m keeping my fingers crossed for more spikes, because that means MORE FLOWERS! but I’ll take new roots too. Growing orchids at home sure is a good way to strengthen your patience muscle.
Updated to add: I receive many questions from readers about orchids that have leaves and roots growing off of the spike. These are called keikis (baby orchids), and they can be viable plants on their own once their roots grow long enough. I have written a separate post about keikis and what to do with them. Read all about keikis here.
P.S. For another great source of information about how to successfully grow orchids, I recommend signing up for a [Affiliate Link] free Orchids Made Easy newsletter from Ryan “The Orchid Guy.” He brings tons of tips and advice straight to your inbox, every day!
So you just brought home your first orchid – or possibly even more intimidating, you were given an orchid as a gift. Now what??
Many people throw out their orchid once the blooms fall off because they think it’s dying. Not so! What you should remember is that an orchid is a plant that, if cared for properly, can bloom again and again, year after year. How do you keep your Phalaenopsis orchid (aka moth orchid) happy and healthy so that it will bloom again in the future? Here are a few key tips that will help you maintain your orchid’s health:
Last week I made a few changes to the orchid setup in my apartment. I did some reading up on Phalaenopsis orchids and determined that mine might be getting too much light in my very bright southern-facing windows. A couple of them have a red tinge around the edge of the leaves, which is a sign of too much light. And as I recently posted, a couple of my Phals are in pretty bad shape.
I decided to do a little rearranging and see whether the altered light source helps at all. According to some orchid experts, eastern exposure is acceptable for Phals. I don’t have a straight up eastern-facing window, but the northern-facing window at the front of my apartment is actually a bay window that gets some pretty good light from the east in the morning. So I moved four of my Phals to my desk in the front room:
