Phalaenopsis Orchid (in sphagnum moss) leaves turning yellow and flowers dying.

[Rachelle-lapensee]

About a month and a half ago my boyfriend brought me home my first Phalaenopsis Orchid as a gift (he told me he got it from a grocery store in town). I have never cared for an orchid before and know nothing about what they need to thrive. So I went on the internet and did some research. When I first got it I put it directly under a florescent grow light until I noticed the leaves started to get lighter in color with the bottom leaves turning yellow and mushy and two of the flowers wilted. I removed the mushy yellow leaves and wilted flowers and took it out from under the grow light. Right now I have my orchid beside a west facing window in our basement apartment. It is the only window down here that has good light. I do have the option of moving it to a south or north facing window. since then it has had one more leave turn yellow and mushy witch I just removed.

Since I have had my orchid I have only watered it once but I also spray the roots that hang out of the pot

Right now it is in sphagnum moss, ad I intend on transplanting it into the pot that it is placed in right now with orchid mix.

-What is your opinion on my orchids health
-Is the window that it's in good?
-Is there anything I can do to help my orchid thrive?
-Is the lightening of the leaves normal?

Thank-you
Rachelle

[Zoi2]

Hello and welcome to the OB.
It sounds like your roots are rotting. Moss has a tendency to stay too wet and the roots need to have air. I would suggest you take the plant out of the moss and check the roots. Cut off any squishy dead roots and repot in a good orchid bark mix.
Phals do not like bright direct light. They will do fine in an East or West window as long as no direct sunlight hits them.
If you could post a picture of your plant, it will be easier to answer your questions.
Joann

[Rachelle-lapensee]

I attached some pictures I just took of my orchid and just started soaking the bark mix.

Is there anything els that I can do to help it after the transplant??? (E.g: once it's transplanted feed it some orchid food.)

I also read somewhere that if you remove it from the medium it's in and are unsure what roots are rotted you can let it soak in water for 10 min and then remove the root that are not plump. Is this A wise choice, or should I just cut what I know to be rotted and then place it in it's new medium??

Is it wise to transplant it into a glazed pot with the bark mix???

[Zoi2]

Your plant looks very nice and healthy. All the roots I see look nice and alive. When you take the plant out of the moss, clip any dead roots and repot (the ones you know are dead). The pot size should be just large enough to get the root mass in. The pot also needs drainage holes, phals do not like sitting in water. An easy way to know when to water is use a clear plastic pot, when the roots are green do not water. Roots are silvery white it's time to water. Do you currently use fertilizer?
Joann

[Rachelle-lapensee]

At the moment I do not use any fertilizer, nor do I have any on hand, but I was planning on getting some for when all the flowers have died... If I were to start using it how often, how much and when in the grow cycle should I use it ???

[Rachelle-lapensee]

I am starting transplant now and will take a picture when I have all the moss off.

[Rachelle-lapensee]

Here is some pictures of the root that I left and the root I cut off once I removed It from the moss. The moss was packed in tightly( no wonder the roots started to rot). Hopefully I have removed all the rotten roots. there are some yellow roots that I left because they were still firm.
I hope I did this correctly...

[RosieC]

Good luck, you have a good lot of healthy root there so hopefully it will do OK.

Just a word of warning and I don't mean to by glum... but I have only ever bought 4 orchids in those polythene pots packed tight with moss (just like in your earlier pic) and all 4 died despite my best efforts and all within a couple of months (I usually have no problem with Phals and have loads of healthy ones both before then and since).

On 2 of them I repotted as soon as I got them home (into bark) on 1 of them I pulled out some of the moss so it had more room to breath and the last I repotted in fresh moss... all of them lost their roots and then died. The one I repotted in fresh moss lasted longest but even that died.

I now never buy them in those polythene pots. I still buy NoID's sometimes in the supermarket but only when they are in bark, I avoid the polythene pots however much I like the flowers.

I think the problem is that the roots are not adapted to the drier conditions of bark, or even moss drier and airier than they are used to. It comes down (I think) to what Ray talks about which is that roots grow to their conditions and sometimes don't do well when those are changed. The problem you have is that the roots aren't doing well in their current conditions either.

Again I'm not meaning to depress you, and I encourage you to do all you can for this guy, because maybe I've just had bad luck, or maybe the ones sold this way in Europe are already in worse condition than those sold this way in Canada. I just want to warn you that if you do find this guy fails don't blame yourself!

One thought I have though... how about using Lecca and S/H growing. This method keeps the roots a lot wetter and so roots used to very hight moisture would possible adapt better to it. because I'm only just experimenting with S/H myself.

[Call_Me_Bob]

Originally Posted by RosieC

Good luck, you have a good lot of healthy root there so hopefully it will do OK.

Just a word of warning and I don't mean to by glum... but I have only ever bought 4 orchids in those polythene pots packed tight with moss (just like in your earlier pic) and all 4 died despite my best efforts and all within a couple of months (I usually have no problem with Phals and have loads of healthy ones both before then and since).

On 2 of them I repotted as soon as I got them home (into bark) on 1 of them I pulled out some of the moss so it had more room to breath and the last I repotted in fresh moss... all of them lost their roots and then died. The one I repotted in fresh moss lasted longest but even that died.

I now never buy them in those polythene pots. I still buy NoID's sometimes in the supermarket but only when they are in bark, I avoid the polythene pots however much I like the flowers.

I think the problem is that the roots are not adapted to the drier conditions of bark, or even moss drier and airier than they are used to. It comes down (I think) to what Ray talks about which is that roots grow to their conditions and sometimes don't do well when those are changed. The problem you have is that the roots aren't doing well in their current conditions either.

Again I'm not meaning to depress you, and I encourage you to do all you can for this guy, because maybe I've just had bad luck, or maybe the ones sold this way in Europe are already in worse condition than those sold this way in Canada. I just want to warn you that if you do find this guy fails don't blame yourself!

One thought I have though... how about using Lecca and S/H growing. This method keeps the roots a lot wetter and so roots used to very hight moisture would possible adapt better to it. because I'm only just experimenting with S/H myself.

what are polythene pots? those clear plastic ones?

[Rachelle-lapensee]

Should I try spraying the bark for the first few days just to keep the moisture relatively the same until it gets used to the bark??