Politicians, Sandy.

Weedwhacker said:I've never thought of sheep as needing muzzles

It's for show sheep, I think. Probably to keep them from overeating, but that's just a guess. Animals going into the show ring aren't treated the same as a regular animal. The feed store had four muzzles. One was a bit larger than the one I picked up for the orchid.

I love your purchases, but have to share my thoughts on sago palms. I don't know the growth habits of different varieties, all I know is that my house warming gift from my parents looked so cute next to the garage entrance. Years later I paid a good amount of money to have the 8' wide plant dug out when I couldn't keep chopping the one side off to get into the garage. They just don't look right when you cut off one side. Anyway....a learning on my part. I guess my advice would be thinkk ahead.

Great job on the orchid mount, Donald. It will be really happy there. Now, you just need to invest another $3 for a little box of orchid fert and you'll be all set. The leaves are looking a little bit pale to me already. The little box of fert will last you a couple of years IF you only have one orchid. Mix it 1/2 strength in summer and 1/4 strength in winter, and use it weakly/weekly in a spray bottle.

So by now that orchid has cost you at least $10 ? But don't forget you also got that nice ceramic pot with no holes for the original $1.

Thanks Lynne. Yes, they get large over time. Here they won't be cold hardy outside during the winter, so it will be a container plant. I've other container plants that are growing large. If I can't reduce them to a manageable size in the winter months, they will either have to be re-homed or just left out to freeze. My observation with others that have grown Sago Palms was that the plant grew relatively slowly. If I'm successful, maybe it will still be some time before it outgrows what I can handle. I'd have to agree that it wouldn't be a plant that would look its best with one side trimmed off.

Yes, Elaine, I do intend to pick up some orchid fert! I plan to do the weakly weekly bit if I don't get distracted. I am just waiting until I see if the plant is going to handle the move into new quarters before I invest any more dollars. I'm afraid the muzzle cost nearly twice the $10, but I'll be able to make use of the ceramic pot - after I drill a drain hole in it! With our current temps, it's probably going to need watering just about every day. That little set up isn't large enough to retain moisture very long and coir doesn't trap any in the container soil. It's no longer in danger of being waterlogged. That's if what roots were there that looked healthy manage to grow.

Donald, watch also for the "diva act" which Phals like to do when they are moved or re-potted or anything else changes. The leaves will start to look wrinkly and shriveled. Don't panic if it does this, just hold off watering maybe every second day, just maybe mist it a bit. It will recover. Don't expect any spectacular growth either. They're pretty slow growers. If you see it putting out new roots, that's a good indication that it's happy. It will probably stick them up into the air too, and that's ok, they don't need to be in the medium.

This wrinkly thing is the one trait of Phals that causes so many people to throw them in the trash, I'm convinced. Every one of mine that has pulled this stunt has recovered.

Thanks Elaine! It's all new to me. I've grown lots of plants through the years, but orchids are one I haven't tried. I hope it does put out some new roots. Most of what it came with were just gone. I'd be a lot happier to see some root growth than leaf growth.

Yes and if you can see the roots, they're getting lots of air, which is critical too. They will be fat and shiny, sort of silvery grey with pointy brown tips. Turn green when wet.

I always check out the garden area of Lowe's. I never know what "jewels" I might find. I was there this morning and saw that they had 10-12 Phal. reduced to $7.50. We never really get very good deals on "dying" orchids here. I saw that every single one of those plants was sitting in a solid plastic pot and the pots were filled to the brim with water. This breaks my heart. In two days all of them will probably be drowned and for all practical purposes, dead. They would do better just thrown on a wire shelf, sans pot, high and dry.

Since most of the roots were clearly gone, will those short solid ones take over? The top of the plant looks good, but the root system wasn't. It didn't look like it had any progressive sort of rot or anything like that, but there isn't much left healthy for roots. If they do recover, will they grow through the coir? I'm hoping they will. The only roots that looked healthy were those that were more or less exposed on the surface.

More likely they will grow over and around the coir, Donald. When I use that basket liner stuff, I pull it apart so it is a bit more porous and less dense to let the orchids grow through it. As long as your plant has some roots it will be fine.

Orchids are epiphytes, don't forget. Take in a lot of their moisture and nutrients through the leaves. But I'm sure it will rally and make some more roots this summer/fall.

That will work, Elaine. But they had - at one time - grown roots all down into that plastic pot. They just drowned there, I'm sure. So I thought maybe they would grow into the planting medium and then come out through the coconut fiber. The only plants I use with the fiber are gesneriads and they grow through it. Even out the bottom. To me they are sort of a special purpose container and I thought they might work for the orchid because they have perfect, instant drainage. I can't imagine trying to grow some plants in them.

This thread is really making me want to buy an orchid plant... (especially if I can find a really cheap, mistreated one... )

Don't look my way - not cheap - not mistreated.

Sandy, I agree it's a good idea not to spend a lot on your very first orchid. We just got back from Trader Joe's and they always have a nice selection of orchids in bloom for around $12. Still not usually potted properly though, and you'll find a lot of soggy moss and rotted roots in the pots. But it will bloom nicely for a while, then you can try to save it's life.

But the place to look for bargains are the clearance racks at Lowe's and (as Donald found) Wal-Mart nurseries. Our Home Depot here doesn't sell off their orchids cheap once they're finished blooming, evidently their grower takes them back!

I apparently need to go shopping more often... or beg Ken for some poor castoff plant!

I live on Social Security guys. Do you want to send me to the poor-house?

Ken, not if it means you can't pay for internet and being able to be here!