I was meaning to write this post days ago, but as all of you are aware, there are challenges of trying to figure out everything that you have to learn in order to write and keep up with having your own blog. So days later, I’m finally making myself stop, and take the time to share this post. I am the owner of 5 Phalaenopsis orchids, 4 of them which I got for a really good price because the store they were at were not properly caring for them, so they were in very bad shape. I had learned somewhere while researching their care, that some places would be willing to give you a discount on these types of plants after a while due to them not being in tip-top shape. These were not any different, sometimes the people who look after the gardening department are not able to give the best care to all the plants, and then the plants suffer. After convincing the guy that the plants should be sold to me for even less than 50% off, I was able to get all 4 for less than half of what I had paid for my first phalaenopsis! I paid only $3.00 each! I do admit, I was shocked at how easy it was to get all 4 plants for only $12.00. At first sight, you could tell they were a little in distress, due to the leaves being leathery and dehydrated looking, but a true phalaenopsis owner knows that it’s not until you are able to get home and inspect the media in which the plant’s roots are living in that really will disclose how bad off the plant is.
Most of the time, stores will put Phalaenopsis orchids in a certain type of living situation that is bad for the plant itself, and it is only intended to be in this media until the customer buys it and gets it home. If not removed from the current situation, the roots can end up being damaged and the plants may end up dying. Once I was able to investigate the roots, or lack of, I was able to determine that it was definitely going to be a challenge to save these orchids. But it was a challenge that I was up to. First, I took all of the orchids out of the potting and media that they were currently housed in, noticing that there were even some types of sponges and other things that I knew did not have any reason for being there. After throwing out the old, it was time to replace it with the new.
Because of my research of learning how Phalaenopsis orchids thrive, I knew that I needed a certain type of media that contained bark. Phalaenopsis orchids are epiphytes, which means that they grow on and need another plant for support, but not for its nutrients or food. Epiphytes get their nutrients from the air and rain in order to live, and they also do not grow in soil, but yet on tree trunks in a forest. Most people do not realize this, and they put them in soil, due to no airflow, and lack of the nutrients needed to live, death is almost imminent. Another interesting thing I found out is that within the bark mixture, phals also like charcoal and coarse perlite. All of these ingredients mixed together help to receive exactly what is needed for these types of plants to thrive; the bark provides maximum airflow, charcoal cleans naturally, and the perlite helps to drain fast to stop crown rot and root rot, which comes from sitting in water. 
Phalaenopsis have both aerial as well as their regular roots. Aerial roots, as you might have assumed by their name, are airborne roots that grow above the plant media and aid in absorbing carbon dioxide and moisture that they need in order to live. They normally have a grayish tint to them, while the regular roots, if healthy, will be a bright darker green. When I took a look at my newly purchased phals, this was also a concern of mine. These phals were smushed into small containers, within the wrong media, and the roots were there, but almost all were dead and needed to be trimmed off. I knew that this could be a very bad sign for these precious plants, and so I trimmed them off and now, I am just waiting to see what happens next! I’ve learned with Phalaenopsis, the one thing that you must have is patience.
The Not So Crafty Crafter 
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