Phalaenopsis spike drying while new offshoot in bud

[pharaoness]

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

[Judi]

Welcome to OB! Sounds like you need to repot right away. Some folks have luck with sphag, but many of us don't; in any case sphag compacts and needs to be changed much sooner than bark. And, you have no idea how long the phal was in the sphag before you bought it. You really need to look at the roots, remove dead ones and repot. I have frequently repotted newly purchased phals in bark as soon as I get them home without ill effects. I would rather save the plant than the flower. I would cut off all the dead (brown) parts of the spikes. The bud problems may be caused by bad roots or if it is too close to the window, that could be a problem; drafts are also bad. If you decide to use bark just remember to soak it overnight and it will probably require watering more frequently than sphag. If the roots are bad, you may consider cutting all the spikes so the phal can consentrate on growing roots. Good luck!

[pharaoness]

Thank you welcoming me here, seems like a great board with friendly people willing to help! And thank you for your insightful response, I guess I'll have to go ahead and repot it then. Do you think that if I'm extra careful, maybe my Orchid won't drop it's buds?? Also just an update to my orchid's state, it looks a lot better (I didn't repot it yet, just didn't water it), the spike is healthy again and the drying of it was reversed (???)! Unfortunately, the dormant spike above did not survive... But do you think my offshoot will continue budding and eventually blossom? Should I repot it anyway? And would you know why that happened to the spike??? Could it be the weather? We were steadily in the negatives (about -3 to -5 Celsius, or 26 to 23 Farenheit) for a long time, but suddenly, 3 days ago we started getting abnormally high temps of 9C or 48F, and this afternoon it's going to get to 13C/55F! It normally only gets to 2C/35F in early March, and it was a sudden change. Could that have been the reason? thanks!

[Judi]

It is possible that the weather had something to do with the phal's buds. Bud blast can easily happen with temperature change, cold weather, heating ducts blowing on them, etc. As for the "dormant" spike, are you referring to a spike that already flowered? It is not unusual for a spike or the tip of the spike to brown and die after flowering--especially if the plant is not in good condition, so it's really important to check the roots. Dead roots should be removed, and use a little household cinnamon powder just on the part of the phal where you cut off the dead roots. If you're really concerned about repotting, you can try repotting in moss for now and then switching to a bark mix after flowering. I think I read that moss should be replaced every 3 months, so your phal's moss is way overdue for a change. I think it is possible for the buds to survive if you are careful; but if you decide to repot in moss be sure you don't overwater and don't let the moss compact.

[pharaoness]

Judy, sorry for using incorrect wording. When I said "dormant spike", what I should have called it is the dormant offshoot. It's a second offshoot that began growing two nodes above the offshoot that is budding, and growing off the side of the original spike. that one has completely dried up with no hope of revival. I hope that helps .