My Ignorance of my Phalaenopsis orchid

[Glenford]

I would like to know how to care for a Phalaenopsis orchid that my wife got for Mother's Day. When got it there were 2x about 18" spikes with 8 & 10 white flowers on them. Watered them with 3 ice cubes every Sunday. Flowers dropped off after a month or so. The media is wood chips. One spike died back about 6 inches & the brown portion is still attached. It had 3 leaves when it arrived and it now has 7. Leaves appear to be healthy...nice and green. It's in a clear glass bowl about 8" high & about 8" in diameter. Lots of questions: Do I cut the spikes off? Do I change the bowl? Is the watering technique ok? Will it bloom again? What should I do next?

[rbarata]

First of all welcome to the board!

We always ask for photos because they give us clues about things that may or may not be ok.

But from your post, the first and most important thing to do is: stop watering with ice cubes. That's a fast way to kill your plant.

[fishmom]

Hello, Glenford, and welcome!


At the head of this section of the forum, there is a long thread devoted to phalaenopsis care. I suggest you do some reading there, take a good look at your plant, and then ask any additional questions you have. And yes, include photos. The Phal abuse ends here.

[Mountaineer370]

Glenford, welcome to the board! Please check out the long thread linked by fishmom above, "The Phal Abuse Stops Here." You will learn a lot.

The main thing, as already mentioned, is that watering with ice cubes is not ideal -- far from it. Your orchid has survived okay so far, but if you want to keep it around and give it an opportunity to rebloom for you many times, there are better ways to water. Either soaking or drenching are the ways most of us do it.

Also, if the glass container your orchid is in has no drainage holes whatsoever, that is a problem, especially when you start to use water instead of ice cubes. You don't ever want the media (potting material) to be wet with no air flow, no way to dry out after watering. Some of us use plastic pots, some prefer clay or ceramic or maybe something else, but all orchid pots must have good drainage and air flow.

As far as the old flower spikes, you can go ahead and carefully cut them off if they have turned totally brown. If they are still green, the plant may still be using some of the nutrients to be gotten from it, or it may even rebloom from the same spike.

There's more to it, but this board is a good place to get started. I would also encourage you to check out the American Orchid Society's website:

The American Orchid Society

Look under "All About Orchids," then go to the "Culture Sheets," and then click on the ones for Phalaenopsis. If you need any help navigating their site, just ask, and I'll give you more specific links.

[rbarata]

At the head of this section of the forum, there is a long thread devoted to phalaenopsis care.

I always forget to mention that.