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Most people buy their first orchid plant on impulse.  They were shopping at a department store and fell in love with the exotic blooms and were enchanted with the idea of having an orchid plant.  Many orchids are mass produced and marketed to the general public at affordable prices, it is a logical starting place for many people.   I started the same way, but now after several years have learned some valuable lessons regarding some of the orchids for sale in the larger chain stores.

 

Some of the orchids are incorrectly identified or not identified at all.  I have seen growing instructions for phaleanopsis in pots of oncidium or dendrobrium hybrids and tags identifying the orchids as a 4 or 6" decorative orchid.  All too often an amateur does not recognize the type of orchid they are actually buying.  The blooms are still lovely but it complicates the survival for more than that season.  Different orchids have contradictory care requirements.

 

Another problem I have seen and experienced is the potting medium that the orchid is in when shipped to the store.  Usually the orchids are grown in a bark mix.  Before shipping the orchids are potted into a larger pot with sphagnum moss packed around and over the mix that was originally in a 2 or 3" pot.  This accomplishes a number of things. 
1. It gets the plant into a bigger pot and becomes more expensive
2. It keeps the bark mix from spilling during handling and shipping
3. It is more aesthetically pleasing to prospective purchasers in the store. 
4. It will keep the plant from drying out during transit and display. 

 

Unfortunately for the long haul it does not help the plant and can actually harm it. The sphagnum moss may be packed tightly enough to distress the leaves (force the leaves into an unnatural growing position) or cover the crown.  Both can injure the plant.  The moss may restrict the amount of air around the roots and not allow the roots to breathe.  It may stay wet and cause the roots to rot or cause crown rot in phaleanopsis.  It may stop a dendrobrium from growing new canes from the base of the plant and force it to grow from an old cane.