Recently, I bought a potted orchid in a 6" pot. I put the recommended amount of miracle grow in and water it with about a third cup of water a day. I set it in the shade on the porch for medium light and bring it in at night, so that the bugs don't eat on it. Am i doing things okay? Do you have any suggestions. It has two stems and about 9 blooms, it's beautiful and I don't want to kill it. Do you have to repot them as they grow? If you can help at all please respond to ds****@yahoo.com Thank you Devon Lexington, KY

Don If you have two spikes, it sounds as if you are doing things OK I have some phalaenopsis information produced by one of our successful gorwers. http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~tomnz/phal.htm The american Orchid Society also has a culture sheet http://www.theaos.org/orchids/az/vgphal1.html which may also assist. If you require more information, do a general search as there is aquite a lot of information on the net. An example is http://www.phalaenopsis.net/culture.htm You do have to repot, for two reasons. One is as the plant grows larger. The second is that the potting mix deteriorates and needs replacement every 2 to 3 years. i preseume the plant is in large pieces of bark and you need to replace these once they start to break down. You need to do this when the plant starts new growth i.e. the roots show elongating green tips. I hope this assists Enjoy your orchid With kind regards Phil

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