Hello, i bought my Phal about 12 days ago and it was in perfect shape. I am a beginner, so the only question I asked was watering - I was advised to spray it and that last it was watered about 3 days before I purchased it. and that it should be sprayed once a week with little water. and I also asked how to monitor the light/sun/temperature. I was told room temperature it fine, little light will do. no direct sun light. For information, I leave in Dubai, U.A.E. and it is as hot as 35-40 C these days and started to get a bit humid. at home we shall have air conditioning (A/C) on and off throughout the day, I have kept the orchid in my living room, i do not have a proper place by window - it is too hot anyways. So we use electricity. A/C would be on and off and little to no sun light. all our windows are floor to ceiling height doors so it is full sun however the window glasses are all shaded. oday
So I did spary a bit on the moss on a day that would make 1 week from the last watering, not on the root, leaves or bloom. About 1 week in my house i noticed two of the flowers were ready to fall off (already did) yet one would bloom shortly. The leaves were fine. Today I have 2more flowers were ready to fall and one bottom leaf is yellow and little soft, and one above it is hard but yellow in the middle - the line along the length of the leaf mid part.
I have just found your forum and found some similar case to mine. the advise was to remove the orchid from the pot and check all the necessary bits and the result it so: roots are all clean, green but light brown/yellow at the tips, no rottening noticed, no bad smell, no insects. the yellow leaf is hard to remove so we kept it on for now. there are no holes in the ceramic pot, no inner pot either, since I have asked my maid (in Dubai we have to have maids) to remove the plant (I am at work now) I am guided by her words and the pic she sent to my cell.
on the pic I can see the green mostly roots, they are long and are tightly holding to the spongy compound (not sure if this is sphag), there was some soil (2-3 tablespoons) and the soil was just moist, no staning water. I poured in less than half a glass of bottled water this morning before I checked the site, in 12 days after I sprayed on the 5th day at home I realised it must have not been enough and was wrong watering method, so in 3 days I added less than half a glass again before I watered today. so it is like 3 waterings but less than 1 glass total. I watered the moss and soil from what I could reach under the moss and stones.
What do I do now? I have asked my maid to remove everything and keep it in kitchen we I have more light no direct A/C and let it dry a bit.
please let me know if I need to water it less or more, how frequently consideting the environment I have, and what do I do to the browny root ends of the plant. Do I remove the soil completely or that much is no harm?
looking forward for the urgent reply - it is an emergency case! Thanks
