help me with some advise please

[gabiborza]

I am new at this, I have 2 phalaenopsis plants, one of wich I bought one month ago,lost all its buds after a week and now it is loosing its opened flowers too. I bought another one yesterday and it is already starting to loose one of its buds. I keep the flowers in my room, western window, 22-24 degrees Celsius, I water them properly. What could be the cause of this? I live in Romania and all of the Phalaenopsis here are imported, usually from Denmark.

[kasper6767]

Why dont you post some pictures so we can see exactly whats going on. What potting material are they in?

[Tropicgirl]

Hi there and welcome to the OB! I will try to help you and I'm sure the others will be along in no time! Sometimes just the change in environment can make phals drop flowers and buds. What type of medium is it in? How often do you water? With phals you have to be careful with water in two places. The roots will rot if they are in moss and it stays wet all the time. And be careful not to let water stand in the crown, I take a napkin and dab the crown after watering to prevent rot. How do the plants themselves look? Pictures of the plants and leaves could help to determine your plants health.

[SFC]

I agree that pics would be helpful, however sometimes bud blast can happen when an orchid is moved to a new location while in bud.

They may also be getting a little too much sun in your west window, are they shaded from too much direct sunlight?

I would agree that you should also check the medium they are in, if it is sphag I would repot pronto to bark chips

hope this helps a little

Sarah

[gabiborza]

Thanks for your answers. I hope these pictures will help you more. I water my plants usually every week, but I check daily to see if the pot is dry. And also I keep them 7 feet from the window, so they are not in direct sunlight, but enough light by my opinion. I don't know in what kind of medium they are planted, but I took a picture so you can see, I think it's some kind of bark.

[johnblagg]

dropping flowers and buds like you are describing is often from a temperature shock from moving to a new location ....if it is spring where you are and was warm the day you brought them home then probably they were simply allowed to get to dry at the store or if they came from a oustdoor location into a airconditiond room could do it also.

[kasper6767]

Ok after looking at the pics the plants look perfectly healthy, I think Tropicgirl and SFC are correct with the bud blast. They just got a little stressed from being moved where they were growing to your house and the current conditions there. Maybe replanting them to a slightly bigger pot after they flower I think you should consider. Other than that take care of them and they will be spectacular next year when they flower again.

[SFC]

I agree with Kasper6767 your orchid looks really healthy however I am going to disagree on repotting to a bigger pot; you don't want to have your Phal overpotted because the medium wont dry out quickly enough in the middle, which could lead to root rot.

The bark it is in still looks like it is in really good condition I would personally hold off on repotting until the bark has broken down more.

[trdyl]

Yes, when repotting Phalaenopsis do not over pot. Only put them into a pot that is barely large enough for the roots to fit into or maybe slightly larger.

[Tropicgirl]

Phals are one of the few orchids that can reflower on the old spike. If you leave it on maybe you'll be rewarded with a fresh spray of flowers! The plant certainly looks healthy enough to do that.