Pregant phalenopsisl with vertical crack in spike

[jay greenthumb]

I have a healthy phalenopsis that made a flower spike I pollinated it and now the seed pods are about as thick as my index finger ing with two healthy seedpods after all that it started a new flowerspike but it go to tall then started to produce little bubbles of clear sap, then the spike turned a few shades lighter in color and has cracks in it, is evrythimg okay?

One more question I leave my pham in a dish of water for the weekends bad idea?

[camille1585]

Do you have a picture of the cracked/oozing spike? That would help a lot!
Why do you want to leave your phal in a dish of water for the weekends? Generally, leaving an orchid (or any plant for that matter) standing in water is not a good idea. You are inviting root rot to settle in.

[jay greenthumb]

Ooooh I have always been afraid of it drying out

[camille1585]

If the phal is potted, it can easily go at least a week without water. A two week vacation in a cool room is fine for them too. My sister was taking care of a phal I left behind in the fall while I was away at school. She didn't water it for 3 weeks. The leaves were all wrinkled and limp, but I gave it a good soak and now, 3 days later, it has perky, almost wrinkle free leaves.

If your phal is in a clear pot, just monitor the root color to know when to water. Silvery/white roots mean it's time to water. Green roots, as well as beads of moisture in the pot mean the plant has enough moisture for the time being. I know that your conditions are probably different than mine, but for info, my go 8 days or so at this time of year before the roots become completely silver again.

[RosieC]

I agree with Camille, a potted Phal will easily last over a weekend without watering and should be able to last longer.

I also agree with Camille's watering tip. If possible pot your Phals in clear pots and when you see the roots turn silvery that's when you should water them... but if they go a couple of days longer (over a weekend) then it won't hurt them.

This time of year mine are going about 14 days between watering (in the summer it's more like 7 days) but I think the roots are turning silvery at arround 10 -11 days... it just fits with my routine better to let that stretch to 14 days.

A phal will cope better with too little water than with too much in my experience.