Newbie needs help with Phalaenopsis care

[labyrinth1959]

Hello all, I am a newbie seeking advice on my phalaenopsis problem. I received it as a gift last December. It was in full bloom and very beautiful. After about two months it lost all its blossoms. During that time it was in a corner of a well lit room with lots of windows but no direct sun. I watered it sparingly about 2 ice cubes every two weeks. It was in a ceramic pot with no bottom vent. I decided to re-pot the plant into a slightly larger pot with a bottom vent hole.

When I took the plant out of its pot, the roots were tightly wrapped with sphagnum moss which was quite wet at the bottom of the ball. I found many of the roots were in bad shape so based on information that I found on line, I cut much of the soft rotten roots off. I re-potted the plant in Ferti-Lome orchid mix composed of peat chunks, coarse bark, hardwood charcoal, and red basalt rock.

Since then, I have been keeping the plant in an east window where it gets filtered direct sun only about 3 hours a day and bright light the rest of the day. Here is my problem.
Since re-potting, the plant has lost all of its original leaves, but sprouted out a new leaf each time an original leaf dried up. I was originally giving the plant two ice cubes every week, which is what two friends of mine are doing with their orchids and they are doing very well. Once a month, I give the plant one fourth cup of fertilizer in place of the ice cubes. There has been no new flower spike and the new leaves are somewhat smaller than the original ones were. I can’t decide if I am over watering, under watering, too much light, too little light or whatever. I really don’t want to loose this plant because it is really beautiful in full bloom. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Wynn Dee13]

Welcome to OB! You came to the right place to learn about your plant! First of all DON'T water with ice cubes! It isn't good for the plant. The cold isn't good for the roots. The companies that sell the ice cube orchids are using that as a gimmick. I hate seeing those plants in the stores! Anyway, two ice cubes is not enough water either. It was good that you repotted the plant. When you repotted it what size of pot did you use? You want to use a pot that just fits the roots. You do not want to over pot the plant because the meadium will stay too wet and you end up with root rot. When you water you want to use room temp water and water the plant thoroughly then let it drain well. Water when the meadium is dry or almost dry. This might be once a week or many times a week. It depends on your growing conditions. Your plant is probably loosing its leaves because it isn't getting enough water to support them. This is either from not enough roots to take up water or not enough water. But probably a combination of both especially if you are only giving the plant two ice cubes and since you had to cut off a lot of dead roots. If you melt two ice cubes that is barely any water. The plant won't bloom unless it is getting everything it needs to do so. I recommend you read the Phal Abuse Ends Here Thread. It has tons of info on Phals. It is long but very useful! Good luck and don't hesitate to ask more questions! Here is the thread I recommend you read:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ends-here.html

[RosieC]

Welcome to Orchid Board

I agree with Wynn, I think you are probably not giving enough water now it's been re-potted. The problem before was not the amount of water, but that it was not able to drain out the bottom. Hopefully your new pot has drainage holes, if not get it into one that does. Your new mix will also dry faster than moss so will need more water.

I find the easiest way to water is to stand the pot in water up to it's top for 5-10min then drain it thoroughly. Do this when the medium has dried at the bottom, as Wynn said this might be once a week, or once every three days or once every two weeks or... (and how often can change through the year as the weather changes).

You can also water by pouring a lot of water through the pot holding it over the sink. For phals I actually favour soaking them instead but both methods work fine.

It is easiest to judge watering with a clear plastic pot, then you can observe the roots and medium right down in the bottom of the pot and see when they dry out. Phal roots exposed to light are green, and get a silvery tint as they dry out. This can help to judge when to water, but don't just go on the top roots.

Finally I would advise adding fertiliser to the water 3 times out of 4. On the 4th time you want to pour a lot of water through even if that's not how you usually water, this flushes out the fertiliser salts so that they don't build up. It used to be advised to fertilise monthly with a strong solution, but newer advice is the 3 times out of 4 with a weaker solution and with the flush. As people often find phals need watering weekly (though not always) this method is often referred to 'weakly weekly'.

You can calculate a good concentration for your fertiliser from the N number on it (all should have this information). It's usually quoted as three numbers representing N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorous & potasium) and will look something like 5-10-5 or some other combination of numbers. It's advised to have a balanced fertiliser if possible, although many of them aren't.

Anyway the first number for Nitrogen is the significant one for working out concentration and you can use the website link below to use that to work out the advised concentration for weakly weekly watering.
Fertilizer Mixing Calculators

Also I do advise looking at the link Wynn gave, there is a lot of stuff there, but it's worth reading through.

[labyrinth1959]

Thanks so much for the quick replies.

The new pot has a drainage hole. It is just marginally larger than the pot the plant originally came in. It is conical in shape, 5 inches in diameter at the top and 4 inches at the bottom.

I have two more questions:
Does it damage the plant if it is in an area where there is a draft from an open window or a floor vent?

Does it set the plant back if it is re-potted?

Comment: I have thought all along that I may not be giving the plant enough water, but it seemed like every time I watered it with more than usual, another leaf started turning yellow. That is what has confused me so much.

[Wynn Dee13]

Can we see a picture of the plant? Pot and all? That would help a lot. A draft can bother the plant if it is too cold or too hot. It also can make the flowers drop prematurely. But a soft breeze is good for the plant too. I keep a fan going all the time in the room where I keep my orchids.

Repotting can set the plant back. Most orchid species don't like their roots bothered so you want to try and not disturb the roots very often. Only when you really need to. It takes a while for the plant to establish itself again after repotting. Phal hybrids usually do better than others but I wouldn't repot unless the meadium needs to be changed, the plant fell over and needs a repot, if the plant is dying, etc.

As for your last comment about the watering and the leaf drop, under watering and over watering have a lot of the same symptoms. It can be confusing if you don't know what to look for. They both can cause leaf yellowing and leaf drop. But since you were only giving your plant two ice cubes a week I don't know how you would over water your plant.

[labyrinth1959]

I'll load pictures once I figure out how to do that on this forum...may take some time.

[labyrinth1959]

I will attempt to post two pictures if I can figure out how to do that. Here are the pictures.

[Bud]

WOW! two ice cubes a week(yikes!)...I suggest you water it soaking wet under a faucet of a sink for 5 min per week with the media mix that you said you are using now...but I dont know your grow zone...the temperature, humidity and air flow inside the room you grow the plant...
1/4 cup of fertilizer??!! what kind? what is the concentration of the liquid? or is it powder? that can be scary...some of the guys here dont even bother with fertilizer

[Wynn Dee13]

It looks like your plant is over potted. Especially if you had to remove a lot of roots. I don't recommend planting an orchid directly in a decrotive pot like yours. It is okay to use it as a pot to set the orchid pot into but it will restrict air flow to the roots. I planted my first orchid in a pot like yours and it died really fast. I have never used one since. I also had it way over potted. Here are a few good orchid supply stores.
Tindara's Orchid Supplies
Repotme.com
Kelly's Korner Orchid Supplies
I really like the clear slotted orchid pots for Phals. You want to plant your orchid in a pot that just fits the roots snugly. Anything bigger can cause root rot. That is usually the rule for monopodial growth orchids like Phalaenopsis since they grow up. With sympodial orchids which grow accross the pot you want to pick a pot that fits the roots plus a couple years worth of new growths. I also think that pot is too deep. I recommend repotting it in a clear plastic pot with lots of drainage holes. Clear pots are nice because they allow you to see what the roots are doing and it can help you know when to water. Phal roots also photosynthesize so clear pots are beneficial to the plant. Your plant doesn't look that bad right now but it will do a lot better in a different pot.

[RosieC]

I agree with Wynn, it looks over potted for the size of the plant, it would have to have a massive root system for that size pot and you said you cut a lot of roots away so I doubt you have that. I also would not usually plant directly into a decorative pot even if it has a hole in the bottom, but would use a smaller plastic pot which can be placed in the decorative pot with a gap around it.