orchid care questions

These were regifted to me. I don't know the type. I never saw the bloom.
They have the care instructions about watering with ice cubes which I read is a bad idea.
So- What is a good idea? I want them to bloom sometime. Will they bloom any time soon or next year?
If they are unlikely to bloom I'm not going to keep them.

Should I put them on a window sill? Or will they fry or freeze- I'm in zone 5. If so what window- facing East?
Fertilize once a month? water once a month, once a week?

Treat them like my other houseplants? I'm successful with a ficus, AV, string of hearts, string of pearls, green-orange plant, ZZ plant, giant bird of paradise, oxalis, aeonium- treat them like any of these?

I'm also taking a pic of the roots. Are these healthy? I'd like to put them in the same pot- so how small a pot can I go to?

here is the root system. There were a few rotten roots but I have removed them. Over all good I guess....

Well I'm no orchid expert, I know a tiny amount. Hopefully someone comes along with more knowledge. IMO those roots look pretty healthy. I'm thinking they are Phalaenopsis. All I do with mine is water them in the sink once a week. I run water through for a minute or so depending on how dry they are.

Here's a link for some info. that may help. :)

http://houseplants.about.com/od/orchids/p/Phalaenopsis.htm

BTW I am jealous you have a ZZ! I want one but haven't been able to find one that isn't reeeeally expensive yet. Still looking though.

I agree I think they look like phalaenopsis orchids. They bloom about once a year (maybe more) for 6 months if you are lucky (they might bloom for less or more, I'm just speaking from my experience). I had one which bloomed for 6 months, it lost its last flower on Boxing day 2008 and by June 2009 it had flower buds on it again (although I did lose a few flowers as I'm still new to orchids and learning); my other orchid (my first) lost all it's blooms really quickly after I got it, I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, I though I may as well try to repot it as it's not doing well now, when I repotted it I realised the middle of the pot was FULL of sawdust so it was constantly wet, the sawdust was just out of sight and out of finger reach. It's grown 3 new leaves and has flowers on it now.

Make sure that the orchids are in orchid mix (bark), I read that in winter you shouldn't fertilize them or if you do, do it once every few month. In winter I water my orchids about once every 3 weeks (if you keep them in clear pots you can see the bark being 'wet'). In summer I try to water every week to a week and a half. I put them in a big bowl and pour water through them and then let them sit in a big bowl or water for 10mins (normally I forget so it's longer). I also fertilize every other water or every 3rd water during summer.

There is an orchid forum on DG, but you have to be a member to access it. Not sure if you are.

They're phals, I won't try to help because I am a phal killer! I can grow all the others but I kill phals. Probably my watering practices and or soil mix. They bore me anyway.

They bore you? Maybe because you've had some rotten luck with them. Well, as least you have a thumb for the others :) That leaves you a darn good orchid range to play in!

What I mean by bore me is that they're not much to look at out of bloom to me. At least I can grow the others!

Well, that one's hard to argue with LOL! "Oooo! Another green leaf is starting! Will take a few months to GROW but it's action!" :)

Tommyr2006, do all the other orchids look pretty when they are out of bloom? I fancy another type.

To me the others have more interesting foliage. I like Oncidiums the best.

True, I have a cybidium ebuneum that has grassy looking foliage & a Angraecum magdalenae that I picked up not too long ago that is also nice looking. I do like the leaves of the Phalaenopsis but I can understand why someone may not be as interested in them. :)

I see what you mean, there is just more "greenery" left after the flower. I really like the Angraecum magdalenae ones. Our garden centres barely sell any varieties and it costs a fortune to get them imported. I'll keep my eyes open next time I am at a garden centre for some.

I picked mine up on ebay from Nia's Orchids, here's a link if you're interested

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Nias-Orchids__W0QQ_armrsZ1

She was having a sale so I picked it up for a good price & she combines shipping should you fall for something else :) Of course there are plenty of other orchid sellers on ebay. That's the first time I've purchased one online though.
They don't sell much variety up here and what they have is usually fairly expensive. I did manage to find an Oncidium on the Lowe's clearance rack for $2 with a pot :) The psuedobulbs are still plump so I'm hoping. It's called Pink Bees, do you know if that variety is scented by chance?

Such a shame, the person on from the link only ships to USA, I'm in the UK. I was looking last night but the two garden centres only had phals. There is another one I'll look in tomorrow to see what they have.

Definitely phals, and they look like they're in pretty good shape. They should do OK on a windowsill, but don't expose them to direct sun. Phals like to grow on tree trunks on mid-elevation tropical forests. This means filtered light, a pronounced dry season, immaculate drainage, and a cold period. Check out this article for more:

http://houseplants.about.com/od/orchids/p/Phalaenopsis.htm

Sorry dipsydoodle, should have looked at that. :( Hope you can find some deals at other places. She probably doesn't ship outside of the U.S. due to clearing the plants. You could try contacting her to see if that's it, or if not, if she would make an exception.

Thats ok icanfindroom. I think to ship them they need a certificate which can cost a bit of money, it'll just work out too expensive. Thank you anyway though :)