My Phaleanopsis started to drop the flowers and leaves are getting yellow

[Azeri]

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

[Triffid]

Hello and Welcome to the OB
Reasonably new myself, but I'll try and help.
Though I would guess that someone better qualified will pipe in by tomorrow or so.

Wilting Flowers.
Loosing some flowers on getting your Phal home is not uncommon. Sometimes the journey just stresses the plant and the get what is called Bud Blast.
If they are all starting to go then, and aren't supposed to yet then it may be a sign of a bigger problem.

Watering
As for watering the guide I use is mainly the Roots themselves. When the Roots go Silvery White it is definitely time to water.
You can also use a wood/bamboo skewer and test the media. if the skewer when withdrawn is damp/wet then you can hold of on watering.
I have mine in Bark in Plastic Pots, which tend to need less watering, about once a week soaking (give or take depending on weather). If the Plant is in a more aerated Container/Display such as a slated wood container or mount, then watering may have to be done more often (even daily depending). Though never ever leave you Phal in standing water, as this can cause severe root rot!

Roots
Healthy roots tend to be green when wet and silver when dry (a "little" bit of browning can happen and can just be cosmetic). But... If the roots are also squishy between your finger and thumb then that's bad, they should be firm (don't squeeze too hard).
Bad roots should be cut away, making sure what ever you use to cut the roots is clean!

Potting Media
Moss - I don't use it, and it has never been in any of pots of the Orchids I have bought (Phals and Dend). I have read elsewhere that it can be a troublesome potting media.
I just use medium grade bark, seems to work fine for me, but it is worth soaking new Bark before re-potting the plant.

Yellowing Leaf
When it comes to the Leaf, if the said yellowing leaf is at the base of the plant (an Old leaf) like yours, I would not worry too much as it may be natural die back. However if the yellowing leaf was not at the base, but closer to the crown that may be cause for concern.

Light
I had to move my Phals around a bit at first to find the spot they like the best. You may have to invest in some lights if you can not use natural light, but to be honest it may be a case of trial and error and Phals in the wild like their dappled forest light.


DON'T PANIC! there are plenty of people round here that should be able to help.
I hope that makes some sense. If you haven't already, check out Member Articles (left of screen) from that link you should find the Phalaenopsis Care sheet.

If you can provide some Pictures that may help greatly with the diagnosis and solution side of things.
Now just got to wait for the more experienced folk to pipe in

[Azeri]

Hello there,

thanks for such an informative reply. very helful, any bit of information i find now is important.
I also did not just sit around - used my lunch break to go to the huge Mall we have near the office and checked in to flower shops. one sells Phals. I have received in a way contradicting and in another way same tips. I learnt today that in Dubai they would use moss mainly for orchids - not sure why, but maybe that works best in our very hot and drastically humid weather especially through summer-early autumn months. Winter is never cooler than 15-20.

I was also told to be careful with moving the plant around to much - it should stay in one place. and not to play with it too much either. well, I didn't till this morning as I needed to check on the state of roots. BUt I think I might use your advise first to try the best place - maybe our bedroom, there I can arrange for some indirect sun as opposed to the living room where it is darker all day if no light is on.

Roots: apparently they are mainly green and firm, but the ends are dry and empty. there are some air roots as well but they seem dry, the shop lady told me it is normal in fact, it matters mainly for the inside roots to be green - I shall be home in a couple of hours will check and take better pics.

and watering - I was told again to spray and every 3-4 days - maybe again due to climate. in another shop though I was told not to spray, but water every 4-5 days. the shop I bought it from told me to spray once a week. this is confusing.

Leaves are yellow from the bottom - I was told the falling of flowers and yellow leaves is normal otherwise - and it might be the case as I have no idea how long were the flowers on before I bought it. I shall check today.

Well, I treat plants with love and care and orchid is a baby of my plant family, so I am a bit woried - besides it is so pretty, would not want it to fade away.

thanks again

[Triffid]

No worries. Glad to be of some assistance.

It seems to be about location thing more often than not.
It may be moss is used where you are because it help with water retention. But with Moss I would guess that you would have to get your watering regime just right.

As for the advice about moving about, this was done over a matter of weeks and months, not days. The plants were left for "At Least" two weeks, in the various tested locations, sometimes longer. The trick was to move the plant when I saw signs that the plant was suffering (for want of a better term).
But as I am obsessed with plants and wildlife checking on them was and is never a chore.

Your external roots may be lacking humidity, Phals do like a reasonably Humidity. Check the Care sheets!
Some people use Gravel Trays to increase relative Humidity around the plant, others have more professional set ups.

Be careful when Spraying Water, not to get water in the Crown of the Plant, and if you do use a clean paint brush, twisted tissue or fine clothe to dab away the moisture in the Crown.

It can feel like a balancing act when you are starting out.
But Never Fear! They're tougher than they seem!
Like I said before some one with better Know How will pipe in sooner or later

[RosieC]

Welcome to Orchid Board.

Triffid has given some really good advice there. I think from your description that your plant will dry a lot quicker then a lot of us find in other parts of the world. Moss may well be a good medium over there as it tends to work best in hotter drier climates.

Moss needs changing more often than bark though and you may want to consider getting some fresh moss to pot it back in to.

If the roots are firm then they are good roots, if they are hollow then they are dead and can be removed.

You really need to have a pot with at least one hole in the bottom. The best way to water it is to run lots of water through the pot, get the moss (or bark) really wet, then let it drain until no more drips out the bottom (hence the need for the hole).

Do this whenever the moss is dry, but you need to check it is dry in the middle and for this a wooden skewer is recomended as Triff has mentioned.

[Azeri]

Hello, Rosie,

thank you very much for the advise. And yes, Triffid was very helpful.
When I finally made it home and had a look at the roots myself and the contents of the pot I realised things were not as rosy but not as bad either. Firstly, some of the roots were a bit rotten but only a few, and a few were dry/empty - I cut them all gently, moss was quite soaked with water (I watered it last morning), so we kept the roots a bit lose in the pot with holes till this morning to let it dry a bit. Moss is what the plant is holding onto with the roots, I cannot see how to remove and change it without damaging the whole thing, it is quite attached. I also found pieces of wood that were stuck around the moss to hold the plant firm in the pot, I guess, and they were very wet - so we kept them out to dry. The air roots are quite green, not rotten, going a bit silver. But given the fact the roots were a bit rotten (though no bad smell - looks like I discovered it at quite early stage before it were too late) and to me some of the roots look like silvery, how do I water it now without getting the roots rottening further?

What I did is basically the following: cut the dead and rottening roots, had the contents of the pot dry completely except for the moss that plant holds onto (that part of moss is still moist, no water drips were in the pot when plant was removed, so obviuosly not as badly watered, but maybe the whole thing was still quite moist and I did not know it).

Next I kept it lose till this morning. I cannot find a clear glass pot with holes anywhere, I put it in a plastic pot with holes and then placed that in a bigger pot but this way I can only observe the air roots. however now the plant has air circulating and this should help to prevent rottening, am I right?

I shall place wooden skewer to check if its needs watering.

Now that the moss is still moist I believe I would not need to water it yet.

the crown of the plant is fine, the top leaves are fine - the bottom leaves - one is ready to go any time but I shall wait till its easily off, one other one is to be completely yellow soon, so let's see. the flowers are fine - of initial 9 2 fell of, then one new one bloomed, and two more fell, so now I have 6 fine flowers. the steam is fine and it is growing further with a new part emerging.

I could not load pics today - needed software, so tomorrow I shall place pics to demonstate the state.

my only concern is how to water it without having it rot again. today before I placed if firm in the pot I looked at all the roots again - now they are fine - do I poweder the cut ends with organic cinnamon powder?

thank you Rosie

[Azeri]

Thanks, Triffid, I shall watch for the best place for my plant.
and you might be right. The inner roots were just starting to get rotten, some dry, others are fine, long and green, moss moist, however the air roots look just a bit grayish, but still green. they are very firm and seem very healthy.

so, should I then place a plate under the main pot (which has no holes) so that water when evaporating would creat humidity around the plant?

thanks for the tip with skewer - will insert it in the moss up till mid and keep checking on it

tomorrow I shall hopefully be able to place the pics - then maybe we get a better idea.
I shall carry on looking for transparent pot with a hole.

cheers,

[Triffid]

Originally Posted by Azeri

so, should I then place a plate under the main pot (which has no holes) so that water when evaporating would creat humidity around the plant?

Humidity trays usually consist of a water tight tray which is then filled with gravel and topped with water so the liquid fills the cracks. Depending on set up some people stand the base of the Plant Pot, clear of the water level by using an up turned pot or similar.

Personally I got a bit creative, went to charity shops and found some nice sturdy glass bowls and filled with cheap glass nuggets.
Looks Pretty, I can clearly work out when the water level needs topping up and can easily see when the tray needs a clean. But that's what's worked for me.

Here's a nice link, was try to find a good picture to reference and came across this rather nice little Blog.
About a third of the way down though is a nice visual example of a Gravel Tray.

Quilting in the Valleys: Basic Orchid Tutorial

There are also the options of a Humidifier, Group Planting, and Terrariums... I'm sure there's more.

As for Moss... I leave that some one else. Not my specialty obviously
No need to thank me, thank the OB. From this site you can learn a lot.