Petals are not as hard as it should be.

[Sonia1215]

Hi everyone, this is my first orchid. It was a present from my husband and i am determined to keep it alive. Second plant we have had in our house. First was a bamboo plant and sadly it didn't make it :'(

Today i noticed that one of the flowers petals are softer than the other flowers petals. It's not as nicely opened and strong as the other ones. I water my orchid every Monday. I put a lot of water all over the foliage and then i dry the leaves (like i read somewhere so it doesn't get fungus). I don't put any water in the actual flower though, i don't know if i should be doing that. I bought vitamins but i am waiting for this coming Monday to begin using it. I have attached a picture so you see what i mean better.

I would really appreciate any suggestions. Thanks so much in advance. Have a wonderful day

[Call_Me_Bob]

how long have you had it? it seems like the bloom is fading. this is probably perfectly normal, unless you bought it came into bloom very recently.

on another note, when you water, i would stay away from purposely getting th eleaves wet. they wont benefit from it and it will just increase the chances for crown rot.

[Sonia1215]

Hi Bob! Well tomorrow is gonna be 3 weeks.

[Call_Me_Bob]

hi sonia i would say its normal then. because you probably bought it in bloom. the blooms are just fading, thats all.

whats it potted in? where did you get it?

[Sonia1215]

Well that's great news. Thank you so much.
It came in a pot but it's in this transparent plastic thing, don't know what it is called. I read that they're not planted in earth. I need to read some more about them. Specially when it get too big to be in the "transparent plastic thing" i need to find out to do about that before it actually happens.

[Call_Me_Bob]

its called a pot. you were correct. i meant what media was used to pot it. most likely bark or moss. can you tell?

[Sonia1215]

It's moss

[silken]

As Bob said, it is likely the oldest bloom and just finished now. Also as mentioned, if you get water in the centre where the leaves meet (the crown) you could cause crown rot. It's not too easy to properly dry that out and it shouldn't get wet.

You may want to check the roots and possibly remove some of the moss fairly soon. Many Phals come packed in moss and in the very centre is a tight ball of moss that remains very wet even after the rest dries. This is a recipe for root rot and death of the Phal. I usually slide the plant from the pot and pull away the moss till I can see what's going on at the centre. 100% of my Phals have had this wet tight ball of moss that must be removed. then you can replace the other moss in amongst the roots leaving some loose airy spaces. The roots need to breathe and in the wild would be attached to a tree where they get lots of air and breezes. Many people re-pot their plants after the blooms are done and use bark or a mix of moss and bark. You can do this, but at the very least, fairly soon you should check out the root and moss situation. Phals bloom for quite long and often if you wait that long, the roots are already rotting. Also it should never sit in water, so make sure the outer pot is not collecting water. Let it almost dry out before each watering. Enjoy your orchid it looks lovely!

[Sonia1215]

Thanks Silken. I am gonna check right now.

[Call_Me_Bob]

yeah you might want to think about repotting