We bought a orchid from a supermarket about a week ago. Some new buds are
going very 'soft and tissue papery' and dropping off.

Is this not enough water, or too much or something else do you think?
Thanks for any advice.

On 16/7/07 21:01, in article ,
"johngood ............." wrote:

We bought a orchid from a supermarket about a week ago. Some new buds are
going very 'soft and tissue papery' and dropping off.

Is this not enough water, or too much or something else do you think?
Thanks for any advice.


How often do you water it? Do you let it drain and dry out in between
waterings? Do you water it from the bottom or from the top?

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
On 16/7/07 21:01, in article ,
"johngood ............." wrote:

We bought a orchid from a supermarket about a week ago. Some new buds are
going very 'soft and tissue papery' and dropping off.

Is this not enough water, or too much or something else do you think?
Thanks for any advice.


How often do you water it? Do you let it drain and dry out in between
waterings? Do you water it from the bottom or from the top?
Sacha

thanks for response. We water it once a week. and water it from the top
about three desert spoons.

it came in a ceramic pot that collects the water in the bottom below the
level of the plastic flower pot which sits inside the ceramic flower pot.
so i guess thats evaporating water up into the pot all the time.

On 17/7/07 10:12, in article ,
"johngood ............." wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
On 16/7/07 21:01, in article ,
"johngood ............." wrote:

We bought a orchid from a supermarket about a week ago. Some new buds are
going very 'soft and tissue papery' and dropping off.

Is this not enough water, or too much or something else do you think?
Thanks for any advice.


How often do you water it? Do you let it drain and dry out in between
waterings? Do you water it from the bottom or from the top?
Sacha

thanks for response. We water it once a week. and water it from the top
about three desert spoons.

it came in a ceramic pot that collects the water in the bottom below the
level of the plastic flower pot which sits inside the ceramic flower pot.
so i guess thats evaporating water up into the pot all the time.



An orchid grower at a show recently told me always to water from the bottom,
roughly once every ten days and never, ever to allow the plant to stand in
water. I think this might be your problem. Most plants don't like to have
their roots permanently wet but like to drain and start to dry out between
waterings. We went on holiday for 5 days and came back to find that some
'kind soul' had watered my two precious Anna Green orchids and left them
standing in water. Every single flower turned yellow, died and fell off,
even though I dried out the compost and re-potted them. The plants are now
in the propagating house where I'm hoping and praying they'll be happier and
drier and will flower again some time.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
On 17/7/07 10:12, in article ,
"johngood ............." wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
On 16/7/07 21:01, in article ,
"johngood ............." wrote:

We bought a orchid from a supermarket about a week ago. Some new buds
are
going very 'soft and tissue papery' and dropping off.

Is this not enough water, or too much or something else do you think?
Thanks for any advice.


How often do you water it? Do you let it drain and dry out in between
waterings? Do you water it from the bottom or from the top?
Sacha

thanks for response. We water it once a week. and water it from the
top
about three desert spoons.

it came in a ceramic pot that collects the water in the bottom below the
level of the plastic flower pot which sits inside the ceramic flower pot.
so i guess thats evaporating water up into the pot all the time.



An orchid grower at a show recently told me always to water from the
bottom,
roughly once every ten days and never, ever to allow the plant to stand in
water. I think this might be your problem. Most plants don't like to
have
their roots permanently wet but like to drain and start to dry out between
waterings. We went on holiday for 5 days and came back to find that some
'kind soul' had watered my two precious Anna Green orchids and left them
standing in water. Every single flower turned yellow, died and fell off,
even though I dried out the compost and re-potted them. The plants are
now
in the propagating house where I'm hoping and praying they'll be happier
and
drier and will flower again some time.
--
Sacha

Sacha thanks. i know plants dont like their feet permanently wet, and the
collected pool of water does not touch the pot above. how does one water
from the bottom? stand in a saucer i guess but for how long?

On 17/7/07 10:24, in article ,
"johngood ............." wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
snip An orchid grower at a show recently told me always to water from
the
bottom,
roughly once every ten days and never, ever to allow the plant to stand in
water. I think this might be your problem. Most plants don't like to
have
their roots permanently wet but like to drain and start to dry out between
waterings. We went on holiday for 5 days and came back to find that some
'kind soul' had watered my two precious Anna Green orchids and left them
standing in water. Every single flower turned yellow, died and fell off,
even though I dried out the compost and re-potted them. The plants are
now
in the propagating house where I'm hoping and praying they'll be happier
and
drier and will flower again some time.
--
Sacha

Sacha thanks. i know plants dont like their feet permanently wet, and the
collected pool of water does not touch the pot above. how does one water
from the bottom? stand in a saucer i guess but for how long?


Before reading your post above, I was looking up on watering orchids. The
sites I found say water from above! Naturally, why should things be simple,
after all ?! However, they emphasise watering rarely and allowing total
drainage before putting them back in their ceramic containers. One site
remarks that if water is allowed to collect in the bottom of the container,
its evaporation will keep the compost too wet. They also say that it's
important not to let water collects on the leaves and run down to the stems
because then they rot. That is why 'my' grower told me to water from the
bottom and he was right, IME. Previous orchids I've had which I've watered
from the top have always gradually died back as the stems turned brown! I
left my Anna Green standing in water for about 40 minutes, then I stood them
over the drain hole of the sink to allow completely free drainage. Up until
we went on holiday they were doing beautifully! If I can find or remember
the name of the nursery I bought them from I'll contact them. There's also
an orchid grower near here so I'll pop in there one of these days.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
On 17/7/07 10:24, in article ,
"johngood ............." wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
snip An orchid grower at a show recently told me always to water from
the
bottom,
roughly once every ten days and never, ever to allow the plant to stand
in
water. I think this might be your problem. Most plants don't like to
have
their roots permanently wet but like to drain and start to dry out
between
waterings. We went on holiday for 5 days and came back to find that
some
'kind soul' had watered my two precious Anna Green orchids and left them
standing in water. Every single flower turned yellow, died and fell
off,
even though I dried out the compost and re-potted them. The plants are
now
in the propagating house where I'm hoping and praying they'll be happier
and
drier and will flower again some time.
--
Sacha

Sacha thanks. i know plants dont like their feet permanently wet, and
the
collected pool of water does not touch the pot above. how does one water
from the bottom? stand in a saucer i guess but for how long?


Before reading your post above, I was looking up on watering orchids. The
sites I found say water from above! Naturally, why should things be
simple,
after all ?! However, they emphasise watering rarely and allowing total
drainage before putting them back in their ceramic containers. One site
remarks that if water is allowed to collect in the bottom of the
container,
its evaporation will keep the compost too wet. They also say that it's
important not to let water collects on the leaves and run down to the
stems
because then they rot. That is why 'my' grower told me to water from the
bottom and he was right, IME. Previous orchids I've had which I've
watered
from the top have always gradually died back as the stems turned brown! I
left my Anna Green standing in water for about 40 minutes, then I stood
them
over the drain hole of the sink to allow completely free drainage. Up
until
we went on holiday they were doing beautifully! If I can find or remember
the name of the nursery I bought them from I'll contact them. There's
also
an orchid grower near here so I'll pop in there one of these days.
Sacha

Sacha many thanks. so what i'll do is the first and third week of the
month soak the pots. should i use a feed like phostogen, if so how much
should i use?
also what about the white roots coming out of the bottom of the pots?
repotting or tucking them in or cutting off? thanks for any further
help.

On 19/7/07 13:28, in article , "johngood
.............." wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
Up
until
we went on holiday they were doing beautifully! If I can find or remember
the name of the nursery I bought them from I'll contact them. There's
also
an orchid grower near here so I'll pop in there one of these days.
Sacha

Sacha many thanks. so what i'll do is the first and third week of the
month soak the pots. should i use a feed like phostogen, if so how much
should i use?
also what about the white roots coming out of the bottom of the pots?
repotting or tucking them in or cutting off? thanks for any further
help.


I'm no expert John, so I'd advise you to look at this page to see if it
covers your needs. There are quite a few others about if you Google,
including one from the RHS:
http://www.easyorchids.co.uk/site/index.php
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0101/orchids.asp

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'