I've had my Phalaenopsis orchid for just over a year and have not yet repotted it (still in the sphagnum medium I bought it in). I was considering repotting it from sphagnum to a sphagnum and fir bark mix, but was advised to hold off because it was in spike with little buds on it (approx. two weeks ago). However, I'm facing a strange issue with it now, and am not sure what to do. Up till about two days ago, the growth progress of the spike with buds looked great. Now, if you look at my photos (which I've attached with this question, but I've also provided a link at the bottom of my post where the photo can be viewed in full size where the issues I have can be seen), you'll see that the original spike (from which the budded offshoot grew, and another one began a node above it but remained dormant) is dying at the top, it's already killed the dormant spike. Will this effect the flowering process??? Also as you can see, the third bud looks like it's lost its green cover MUCH too early, but the tip (where the new bud should emerge) still looks healthy... Can you give me an idea as to what may have caused this? I also noticed the last leaf was a little flimsy, so I detached it from the plant (the rest of the leaves look fairly healthy, but still not as firm as they used to be). How should I go about keeping my Orchid alive and healthy??? Oh, some details that may help are that I have the orchid sitting on a little humidity tray, I live in Toronto Canada, my phal is at a west-facing window (we've been getting a lot more sun the past two days, can it be because it's too close to the window?), and I've been fertilizing with 19-31-17 orchid fertilizer (every other watering), I have NOT yet repotted the plant and got it just over a year ago... Also, would it be a good time to move the plant to a shady area to help induce a keiki (once the buds/blooms drop)? I REALLY want to save it and appreciate all input, thank you so much for all your time.
http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/p...dstemdying.jpg
Phalaenopsis spike drying while new offshoot in bud
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