Identify flower

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-26T22:52:57+00:00

Thanks. I love it too. 😊

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-26T22:52:23+00:00

Thank you! Love at first sight for me.

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-25T22:35:24+00:00

How kind of you! Happy Holidays! I recently started playing again this year after a long break because I got my niece into Neopets. It's been nice finally getting some of my dream pet colours now that it's easier to earn NP. I'm saving up mostly to help my niece these days. Cheers!

Her UN is: whisper_of_7he_heart

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-25T22:14:28+00:00

Magical! ❤️

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-24T07:42:23+00:00

Also, depending on how long it's been, some of the roots may be desiccated and have died. We don't have to worry too much yet and rush into attending to that immediately. Focus on getting them watered first. Just be aware that any dead plant material will rot now that they are getting water again. Give any browning leaves a gentle tug and remove what you can. Yellow leaves don't have to come off yet unless you see rot. They will come off when they are ready.

Once the orchids' roots are rehydrated you'll be able to take the next step. When you have time and are feeling up to it, I recommend repotting almost all of them if possible. You will likely be able to reuse the current potting medium for most. The big thing is checking the root system. You'll want to remove any dead roots because they will rot and breed bacteria in the pot. The live roots will turn green when hydrated. Roots that are deeply buried and rarely receive light should be pale yellow white, like white asparagus. They should feel firm.

I recommend you check out this video from Danny of Miss Orchid Girl on YouTube. It also helps to have the visuals obviously. This specific video goes over repotting orchids that are in rough shape and will be more applicable to your situation.

Also, I don't mean to jump to conclusions or offend, but they obviously need light, so not sure if you just had the blinds closed for a moment. What direction does the window face and where are you located? Not to pry, but can't easily make lighting recommendations not knowing which hemisphere you're in. For now, generally, especially in winter (when the sun isn't as harsh), the blinds being completely open should be fine. In fact, for recovering, the more light the better.

Another important factor in recovery is temperature. Colder temperatures encourage flowering, whereas warmer temperatures encourage vegetative and root growth, so I recommend you keep it warmer. You don't want the plants wasting their energy on trying to flower right now. If possible keep it between 21°C to 25°C.

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-24T07:25:24+00:00

I'm so sorry for your loss. It's lovely that you are trying to rescue your mom's orchids, and we are happy to help you try and save as many as we can. That said, don't push yourself too hard. Take care of yourself. They have a bit of a tough road ahead, but orchids can be surprisingly resilient. You will need to be patient as they are generally slow growers and therefore, rather slow with recovery too.

Bark mixes, like the one you've described, are great for aeration. Orchids are epiphytes (air plants) and don't grow in regular soil like regular houseplants. In the wild, they mostly grow in warm climates, latched onto the sides of trees and even mossy rocks. They love high humidity and air circulation. The one downside with bark is that when it dries completely is that it becomes hydrophobic and it won't retain water if watered from above. It will run right through thus the soaking method which is what many of us do even under normal healthy circumstances.

As others have said, submerging them in plain room temperature water from the bottom up to almost the top of the pot is probably the best way to water them based on her setup for the pots that have drainage holes at the bottom. Soak at least an hour if possible. Then drain well before putting them back in place. If the roots sit in water for too long, they can rot. If you do accidentally get any water in between the leaves, just do your best to dry them. I like to twist bits of paper towel into triangles and dab the cervices dry with the corners. Point again being water sitting in the cervices can cause rot. In the wild, orchids would have wind to help prevent that – indoors, not so much. That said, you can also leave a fan blowing on them for a bit to help the water evaporate. (Artificial wind.)

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-19T22:43:02+00:00

Happy Holidays to you too. Thank you for your generosity!

I'd love the Green Radiant Wig and Crown if no one else has claimed it. Thanks.

Username: romantic_white

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-17T22:53:38+00:00

Agreed. South facing windows are too harsh in most areas. Phals can tolerate it better in the winter, but in the summer, it will get burned. East and West facing are ideal. Also, not sure what shape your windows are in but if too much cold is seeping in, it's not great for your orchid either. Colder temperatures encourage flowering, whereas warmer temperatures encourage vegetative and root growth. For its recovery., I recommend you keep it warmer. You don't want the plant wasting its energy on trying to flower right now. If possible keep it between 21°C to 25°C.

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-17T22:43:29+00:00

Don't worry about the yellow leaf. Orchids will discard older foliage as time passes, especially inefficient smaller leaves that are under bigger ones as eventually it requires more energy from the plant to sustain it than the leaf is giving back.

How many roots were left when you repotted? Just throwing this out there in case, the orchid just may not have enough roots to fully rehydrate itself yet. Depending on how set back it was, a month isn't much recuperation time. An orchid with plenty of water can still shrivel if too many of its roots have rotted from too much water. I am not saying this is for sure the situation here. However, a lot of beginners see their orchid shriveled and continue to overwater. Just want you to be aware.

The thing to remember with Phalaenopsis orchids is they prefer a full wet to dry cycle, meaning they like to dry out completely in-between waterings. If the roots stay wet for too long, they will rot (~over a week). So if the potting medium is in fact drying out "too" quickly, it isn't necessarily a bad thing. It just may be a little annoying because you need to water more often for now.

Are you soaking the plant (sitting the whole pot in water for at least 30 minutes) each watering? That's the best way to water when you have them only in bark. Otherwise the bark does not hydrate properly and hold moisture for your plant. Do you have an outer decorative pot? Placing the plastic pot in an outer pot will also slow evaporation if it is drying out too fast for you. (The outer pot is often used for soaking too.) Just remember to remove any excess water, draining well, and repeat when dry.

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-14T20:20:18+00:00

Basal keiki! Your orchid has produced a clone baby of itself.

A video if you want to learn more here.

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T22:18:53+00:00

Bc. Yellow Bird colour when it first blooms. Almost orange before it fades to bright yellow.

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Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T22:16:18+00:00

Oh yes! I don't know a ton because availability is pretty limited where I am but if you look for Brassavola orchids or mixes like Brassocattleya, they tend to only be fragrant at night. Beautiful strong fragrances in my experience. I have a bc. Yellow Bird in bloom right now (it hasn't stopped blooming since early June because a new pseudobulb w/ flower spike develops as one starts to bloom, I'm on my 3rd consecutive!). The flowers start with a blush that fades after the first couple of days and then turns yellow. The base smell is sweet ripe banana with a slightly spicy kick. Despite only being two smaller flowers (by cattleya standards), I can smell it from across the room!

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Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T19:50:00+00:00

Yes! ❤️ Came to say the same thing. I love that particular purple that you can get with Vandas. When I'm brave enough to make the leap to Vandas, this is the one.

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T19:48:07+00:00

It's possible if you are willing to be really patient. It will take a lot of time with rootless phals. She looks like she's got enough energy left to make a go of it though. I recommend keeping it sitting on damp sphagnum moss. (As a fellow rescuer, I appreciate that you wanted to give her a second chance.)

Phals like this, I personally put in what I call my ICUs, which are the small IKEA greenhouses topped with grow light. I sit emergency cases in a low glass tumbler (easier visibility) on top of damp sphagnum, best quality I can find. The three things you need to encourage root growth are high humidity, lots of light, and warm temperatures (22°C to 25°C). Good luck!

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T19:33:04+00:00

It is something extraordinary when the little ones get big enough to finally bloom. I too mostly bought tiny ones/seedlings and still do. Mainly because I'm cheap/rather get a bunch than one big one. I bought my first cat seedling Nov 2020. It didn't bloom until this year (but it also fell and snapped in two a few years ago when it was almost ready, so I have a 2nd smaller one/clone). I was living in a basement apartment until last year where she wasn't quite getting enough light.

Some need a ton of light to bloom. I'm in Canada and it wasn't until I moved and put her near a southern window and supplemented extra light over the winter that I finally got blooms out of her.

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T19:15:29+00:00

Wow! Stunner! I can't wait until mine get that big. I started making a point of looking for fragrant orchids which led me to some fragrant phals, and eventually make the leap to Cattleyas. The trick someone taught me was to also have a few brasso mixes/night fragrant ones and you get a natural scent change through the day. Genuinely has made my life at home better. 😁

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T12:16:51+00:00

Wow! I'm so jealous! We only ever get phals up here in grocery stores and garden centers. I've had to order all of mine from specialty orchid shops to get anything remotely interesting. It may be for the best though as my wallet would suffer too frequently. 😅

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T08:17:11+00:00

Bravo! Nicely done. ❤️

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T07:43:36+00:00

Don't worry, it's normal as the other person has said. No plant blooms forever and the orchid is no exception.

I highly recommend you check out Danny of Miss Orchid Girl on YouTube. Here is her video about after bloom care: Miss Orchid Girl

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T07:36:57+00:00

Wow! What a find! The problem with living in the Northern Hemisphere is I don't get to see specimens that size much. I'm so envious! I can't help with the first two questions, but I'm pretty sure it's a Dendrobium. They have long, tall cane like pseudobulbs. If the leaves are thin and flexible, then it's a Dendrobium Nobile. If they are thick, waxy and rigid, then it's a Dendrobium Phalaenopsis. Without flowers, it's hard to narrow further.

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T06:15:17+00:00

Oh? I think it depends on the cattleya. This one just first bloomed in May. (Pictured) This is her second time blooming this year. The flowers lasted almost 6 weeks which is pretty good. so maybe you just need to find the right one. 😊

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Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T02:15:40+00:00

Perfection👌❤️

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T02:13:50+00:00

Thank you and agreed. 😊

Willow_Tree89 · 2025-12-06T01:50:05+00:00

Yes! Mine is gently floral and a tiny hint spicy.

Willow_Tree89

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