wal-mart orchid quickly dying, water with ice cubes?

[Undergrounder]

there are tonnes of 'myths' out there, some of which are true, some of which aren't. But ultimately no matter what you've always been told, unless you try it, you can't really say one way or the other.

I've never heard anyone say "ice cubes killed my orchid", but i've heard plenty say "i water with ice cubes and i have no problems". So i'm willing to keep an open mind on ice cubes. It makes sense for watering control in sphagnum moss, but maybe not for bark.

[Melanie]

Thank you very much everyone for your replies. So I guess I just wait for the remaining two flowers to fall off? After that, when is my orchid likely to produce buds again and how do I help facilitate this process? I guess I have some research to do, but if anyone has any insight they'd like to share I would much appreciate it.

[let_it_grow]

I posted in another thread about the ice cube thing, basically it makes no sense to me. Phals often have exposed roots and putting an ice cube on the roots will shock them. In addition to that i dont think 3 cubes is enough water for your chid. The intention of the cubes are to slowly melt and provide a slow steady amount of moisture but in reality they will melt within an hour or so. I wouldnt water my phal with cold water let alone ice cubes. Just my opinion

[nenella]

Melanie just keep on watering it...You have a very healthy looking plant !
You may have missed this but the 'other' Melanie wrote :-
"It doesn't look like its kicking the bucket to me, and I've plenty since getting into this hobby. It does look like bud blast/drop, so long as the spike is green leave it alone. It might produce more flowers. If it dies back, cut it back to just above a node and it might branch, giving you more flowers. Just don't drain the plant, when it starts to look "tired" cut the spike.
Regards,
Melanie (not the OP)"

Good Luck!

[Royal]

I agree - nice looking plant, just past it's prime blooming. Cut the spike just below where the lowest flower was and cross your fingers for a second flush of blooms. If it doesn't happen just keep it happy all summer and it'll spike next winter.

I just came from Sprawl-Mart. They have 30 or 40 nice looking Phals that already dropped all their flowers for half-price. I would have bought several but I couldn't find a single one with a label!

[JackiBlu]

I'm not an expert by any sense of the word, but the only thing I've heard ice cube are suited for are cut Roses as they begin to droop. Ice water with cubes will make them perk up for their last hurrah. And it works coz I've done it.

[Orchidaddict]

Bahh Humbug on the ice-cubes to water that Phal. Pull the orchid out of the pot it came in, cause inside that pot is the right kind of pot. I bought two of the Walmart orchids, both look healthy and will give pleasure to the owner. I pulled them out of the exterior pot and will treat them like you are supposed to. No ice-cubes. Plus air to the roots.

[entropy82]

i just picked up 23 phal noids from my local wally world after talking to the lawn/garden supervisor. they had tremendous bud blast, slight to no root rot, actually quite vigorous root systems. they were located near outside doors (go figure). most are very mature, well established hybrids that i am keeping in their bark for now while we wait for some more buds potentially now that they are in a proper enviro. i switched a few to s/h with P.A. for the heck of it. i actually go down to wall-e-world every day and pick out the healthy ones that they are going to toss b/c of no flowers. yet, 60% the rhizome, roots, and leaves are in decent/good, sometimes excellent condition. long short of it. go to wally world and negotiate on those "dead" flowers. just add ice, right....

[entropy82]

whoops, forgot to mention a minor detail. they cost me $2 a piece for mature plants, while on display they were $15.

[CMHoog]

I know the advice given on the Phal does not sound well on first sight, but I can assure you that this has been tested, and no bad influence on the Phals had been noticed.
And, the ice cube thing is not really for quality purposes but to make plant care more easy.