Orchid losing leaves

[PurplePali]

Hello, I’m new to the forum and new to orchids. I’m ashamed to admit, but I have always been bad with plants. My SO gave me a beautiful orchid for Valentine’s Day, and it had been thriving really well! All of its buds opened and bloomed into a beautiful stack of burgundy colored flowers. The flowers lasted a few months before they started to dry and drop off.

Just recently however, the leaves have begun to yellow and fall off as well. I read online that this may or may not be normal depending on what kind of orchid you have....

I am not sure what kind of orchid I have, but I THINK it’s a Dendrobium type.... (???)

It is potted in an orchid pot with drainage holes, in orchid potting mix, and it receives orchid fertilizer every now and then (according to the instructions). It’s placed near a window, but not in direct sunlight. I live in a tropical area that is pretty humid... I did have a problem when I went to thoroughly water it until the water seeped from the holes... it seemed like the pot never dried out and the soil started to get moldy. I repotted the orchid because I was afraid of the fungus/bacteria. Plus, it was attracting bugs. The roots still looked healthy at that time, so luckily, I don’t think it had rot.

If I’m correct in thinking Dendrobium Orchids lose all leaves when they go dormant (?), so I’m hoping mine is still ok. After the flowers fell off, the spike started to yellow at the end, so I cut it back to the last flower node. It has been staying green now, but I’m not sure if that was right for me to do...

I noticed that the plant has three other smaller/thinner stems that seemed to have been trimmed/cut back. The steam it had grew and budded off of is significantly taller and thicker.

So yeah, I’m not sure what to do now.... Is this normal/is it still alive? Is care for a dormant orchid different than when in bloom - watering, fertilizer, etc...? Am I supposed to cut it all the way down or just leave it as is? Will it grow/re-bloom again? Any suggestions on how to control humidity and mold?

Any help and advice would be very much appreciated! Thank you in advance!

[Bulbopedilum]

Could you take a picture or at least describe the plant more so we can be sure?

Some dendros do indeed go dormant but some dont.

What leaves are falling? All, or just the bottom ones? If it's just the bottom leaves then it is normal and not going dormant.

[fishmom]

PurplePali, your pictures are not showing.

[IngieBee]

You also need to know that the flower industry will trick the orchids to think it's a certain time of year so they can sell them during holidays, etc.. so it might be just that they think it's winter or something, and take time to adjust to your location. However, you really should post a picture, because to the layman's eyes, I speak from experience, they can all look like the same thing. Either they're monopodial or Symbodial then it all blurs LOL

[PurplePali]

Originally Posted by Bulbopedilum

Could you take a picture or at least describe the plant more so we can be sure?

Some dendros do indeed go dormant but some dont.

What leaves are falling? All, or just the bottom ones? If it's just the bottom leaves then it is normal and not going dormant.

I have no idea why the pictures didn't post. I will try to upload them again.

It's ALL the leaves. It started with the bottom ones, but then slowly worked up to the top leaves.

The stem/spike stil looks and feels pretty good though.

---------- Post added at 12:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:57 AM ----------

Originally Posted by IngieBee

You also need to know that the flower industry will trick the orchids to think it's a certain time of year so they can sell them during holidays, etc.. so it might be just that they think it's winter or something, and take time to adjust to your location. However, you really should post a picture, because to the layman's eyes, I speak from experience, they can all look like the same thing. Either they're monopodial or Symbodial then it all blurs LOL

That is true. I'm honestly not sure where my SO bought this plant and how long it could have been sitting around for. Even though we live in a tropical area, the end of February is still winter... so maybe it's cycle is screwed up.

Again, I am BAD with plants.... I somehow killed a cactus, so I'm not very optimistic with this situation, but I'd like to try to save it, if possible. I really love this plant!

(idk why the pics didn't post. I will try to re-upload them)

---------- Post added at 12:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:01 PM ----------

This forum is not letting me upload my pictures....

I've been trying to post them off of Facebook. Any reason why the links shouldn't be accepted?

[aliceinwl]

I think you have to have a minimum of 5 posts in order to upload pics. Maybe reply to a couple of threads real quick and then try to post them. Alternatively, you can sign up for a free account at a site like Flickr and share from there. I don’t think Facebook will let you share photos like this.

[PurplePali]

Following up with my post....

First of all, I apologize to those trying to help me for the extremely late follow up. I am still having trouble posting pictures for some reason, but I'll try to get that figured out soon.

UPDATE/NEW QUESTION:
My orchid appears to still be alive. It started sprouting two pairs of aerial roots and what I assume are new leaf shoots (one for each root cluster). They're growing off the main stalk.

The main stalk now seems to be be browning and the last real leaf is yellowing, but the roots and new sprouts appear very healthy (roots are white, leaf shoots look lush green).

What am I supposed to do now??

Am I supposed to somehow remove these new root clusters/sprouts and plant them, or do I leave them as they are?

I'm sorry to be so naive, but I'm not quite sure how orchids re-grow... haha.

---------- Post added at 02:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:30 PM ----------

I tried to create a google photos account to share the pictures. Not sure if this link will work:

Orchid Help - Google Photos

The pic with the cat was before it was actually potted... There's a few of the flowers (so if anyone can tell me exactly what kind of orchid it is, I'd appreciate it.). There's a pic showing multiple old stalks/stems, so I'm not sure what was going on there.... and there should be the current pics of the new root clusters, which I'm not sure what to do with.

[Bulbopedilum]

You can leave them for now.
From the picture the cane looks good, but if it does shrivel you can separate the shoots by cutting the cane.

[Ray]

Your plant is a dendrobium hybrid, likely with D. bigibbum in its background.

The plants growing on the old stalk are "keikies" (Hawaiian for "babies), likely growing because the old plant was poorly cared for and in bad shape. They look big enough to snap off and pot up individually.

[Dollythehun]

Ray is, as usual, correct. However, don't beat yourself up. Detach the keikis, they should pop off, and pot them up. The mother may yet come back. I have several of these, some look horribly naked but, flower every year. In my opinion, these don't age gracefully