Do not disturb it. The leaf color tell me that it gets enough light. When watering, bring it to the sink and let the water run through every 4 or 5 days. Do not get water in the crown. Every day or 2 you could get a spray bottle and spray the roots with water. The roots should turn slightly green from the water of the sprayer. Then add patience...Spray fertilizer weekly.

Thank you Mr. Monkey! Should I spray the leaves and roots with the dilute fertilizer, and then just make sure there is no standing water in the crown?

Spray just the roots with water and fertilize every 2 weeks poured in the pot and sprayed on the roots. Do not spray the leaves. It won't hurt them but orchids are poor foliar feeders. It is about the roots you see and do not see. I think you have a plastic pot in a ceramic pot. The water must drain completely. when watering can the water drain out? If not, it will kill the plant over time.

The plant is in a plastic pot with holes in the bottom. This sits in a pink ceramic pot and there is about an inch gap between the bottom of the plastic pot and the pink one. I remove the plastic pot and run sink water through it. When it stops dripping I return it to the pink ceramic pot. Any bit of remaining water can drip to the bottom, so yes it will drain completely.

Thanks again for your help!

Make sure you water the air roots every few days, I believe that's what they meant when it was mentioned above to spray the roots. They're keeping your plant alive. They probably grew because the plant didn't like the media it was in previously and it was an attempt to stay alive. Good luck and you'll probably do great with it.

The roots will get a shade of green if they are working after you spray ...

Yes, I watched for that while spraying them and they are a sort of light green color when sprayed thoroughly. I think the little guy is gonna make it!

Is it recommended that orchids be turned in the window every once in awhile so they don't lean towards the light too much?

Turning an orchid for even sun around the plant is something I would not do. Orchids have been around for 10's of millions of years. They are very evolved. They have developed behavior that adds to their survival. In nature they lean almost 90 degrees sometimes. That keeps water out of the crown. Find a spot it likes and live it there. Once it is in bloom move it to a place that pleases you. After the bloom put it back in its growing spot...

Maybe a little difference between us indoor growers and the outdoor growers but... For my orchids that over-winter in front of windows (mostly catts and dends), I don't necessarily move mine but I do turn mine 1/2 turn occasionally. I do it for aesthetic reasons, I like them to grow fairly straight as water in the crown is easily avoidable for me. I also do it when they are summering outdoors, that is when I detect undesirable leaning.

Bob

Your plants will still like you if you provide them things they want. But the won't like you as much if they are required to do aesthetic gymnastics...You still get nice flowers...

OK well then I'll just leave it be. I'm wondering about the dormancy I've heard about with orchids. I know maybe I should google this, but can anyone give me a quick review of how that works? Do orchids lose their flowers and then go dormant for a period of time? Does the growth of air roots like mine suggest that it is coming out of dormancy and might begin to grow additional leaves?

They usually flower once a year, but I've had some phalaenopsis that bloom over 9 months out of the year and some that bloom a couple times a year. It all depends on the species. Once the blooms die, I just cut the stem down by the leaf. If they grow new leaves, you know it's doing ok. All my phals grow air roots. In the wild all their roots are exposed and wrap around rocks, tree limbs, etc. They don't grow inside any media in the wild except for a few types but phals grow with roots exposed and the plant hanging downward. I think they probably got the name air roots because they popped out of our media and grow in the air. They are just as important to the plant as any other root. I think you saved your plant in time and with care it will do just fine.

So do they technically have a dormant period, like after flowering, or do they just grow very slowly?

Phals have a schedule but do not go dormant.

Well, Daniel. I did not expect to see you on this forum. It might not
surprise you to know I've had a few orchids since 1972. My high count was 30 pots of fragrant cattleyas for the first 10 years. Cattleyas are the only ones with a fragrance that I know of.

I've never sterilized
anything and never fertilized them. Those first ones I kept outdoors except when blooming. If they are
outside when the flower is open and an insect crawls in, it pollinates
the flower and it goes to seed. I would still have those except I left them in the care of a friend who killed them all inside of 3 months. Now I have 3 phals in various windows around the house. As yours matures it might begin to
bloom twice a year...or not. Mine need to be repotted, too.

Hi David! First off, what is wrong with you people? Can't you have just one orchid? lol. I'm interested in how things grow, always have been, and this particular plant has some sentimental value, so I wanted to get it back to good health if possible.

Nice to see you here, too!

Phals don't have a dormant period, they are just very slow growers. They require a temp drop of about 20 degrees to initiate a flower spike, which is why they tend to bloom in winter. Some can bloom many times per year and others don't.

Can't you have just one orchid?

Ummm, no???? SO WHAT'S IT TO YOU? I am NOT addicted to orchids!

Now that you've got one and you kept it alive longer than a few weeks, all your friends and family will be giving them to you as gifts. The secret, if there is one, is that they don't like wet feet. Once the roots are wet (green looking), let them dry out.

Here's more from the Chicago Botanical Garden. Orchid roots are much more complex than they look. That video explains it somewhat, but the very outside of the root structure has a paperlike quality. When it gets wet it goes from semi opaque to transparent. That's how you know it doesn't need more water.

So it has been an entire 3 solid months since I repotted the orchid pictured above. I decided to learn how to care for it and bring it back to health, if possible, with the help of you guys and gals.

Each week I give it a good watering and look for signs of life...nothing. The thing might as well be made of plastic. But, I keep going.

I go to the supermarket where they have a table with about 10 phal's, each with multiple spikes full of flowers, and each with probably ten huge leaves. Priced at $19.99! I have this fleeting image of me dumping my puny plastic imitation of an orchid in the trash and replacing it with one of the store bought beauties.

Then I come to my senses and realize that even Charlie Brown's Christmas tree was beautiful once cared for. So I trudge on week after week, watering, spraying, inspecting, wondering why I'm waiting for a plastic plant to actually grow.

Two weeks ago, I happened to notice something big, I mean reeaaally big! I could just glimpse what looked like a new root looking sideways through the media. That has to be a good sign, right?

And today, the big payoff! My two air roots have started growing again, with the tips breaking out like a snake molting, but the real news is that the little plastic orchid is actually starting to grow a new leaf! Hooray!

Well, the new leaf is more of a sliver of the beginning of what looks like a leaf, but I know it is a leaf. I'm figuring 5 or 6 weeks tops and my little orchid will be as impressive in its own way as those fancy uptown supermarket orchids. (Of course by impressive, I mean there might be 3 whole leaves and one more root by then).

Life is good!

Just thought I'd update my progress. My plant finally got on the horse and popped out a third leaf. As Rodney Dangerfield would say, "Whoopie!" It took a couple of months for the leaf to grow, and for the last several months absolutely nothing has happened. Oh, I did get a couple more air roots while that leaf was growing.

I haven't fertilized at all and haven't been misting the roots between weekly watering. Don't know it those two things will help. I'm filling the pot with water and letting it soak for an hour or so before draining completely. Seems to be OK with this. I'm hoping I get a flower spike soon, but maybe we need to grow more leaves before attempting a flower? Baby steps. Maybe we'll get another leaf in 2018... :o)