My Little Phal, Wilting

[directorstef]

A little unsure what to do about this little guy. I bought him about a month ago and everything has been fine. But a few days ago it started wilting, and I cut 2 blooms off already (there were 4 total). Now the last 2 look like they're on their way out. Is this normal for May? I have no idea how long they've been in bloom for. The spike is still green up until the first bloom (the one on the left in the pic) and from there to the rest of the spike it has turned a palish yellow. Should I cut the spike or just cut the blooms off?

[RosieC]

This could well be normal, depending on when it opened.

Comercial growers can pretty much control when their Phals bloom and can get them to bloom for a chosen shipping date. This means that time of year has no influence on when the flowers faid.

If it was in full bloom when you got it a month ago it is probably normal.

I would advise checking the roots of the Phal and repotting at this point. If the flowers have dropped earlier than they should have done the most likely cause is the roots. If the roots look fine then it is probably just naturally the end of the like of the flowers.

It's good to repot phals soon after you buy them anyway, so now the flowers have dropped is a good time.

[directorstef]

I was instructed by another member on this board to repot it after I bought it because it was in sphag moss so I did that. It doesn't have a lot of roots and one was dead so I cut it off. But other than that, the roots look fine and so do the leaves. So at this point, should I cut the spike? Or just trim the blooms off?

[RosieC]

Ah, now that's the age old question... to cut the spike or not.

I cut the spike right back to close to the leaves, as close as I can without damaging the leaves... but there are lots of opinions on this... (actually I don't always cut the spike, just usually do).

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...cut-stems.html

I think the best advice comes from Ray, so here's a link to it on his website.
Spike Cutting

[directorstef]

Thanks for your help, Rosie!