Why my phalaenopsis leafs turn soft all the time?

[roya25]

Hello every one,
This is my first post here and I'm really happy to join you. I am 29 years old and living in Sweden. I have developed a feeling for the orchids but unfortunately I have not been so successful, though I read a lot about them. I appreciate if you could help me with my orchids. Every time I buy phalaenopsis and bring them home the buds and flowers start to die and fall off and after a while the leafs become soft and withered.
I shower the roots and drain it every four weeks and put them behind the windows (not direct sunlight). Inside room temperature is between 21-23 C.
Please give me some advice because my husband has started to call me the orchid killer and I really would like to prove him wrong.
Thanks

[isurus79]

If you are watering only 1x per month, then that is your problem. You have a Phalaenopsis, which really prefer more moist conditions than you are giving it. Try watering once per week instead of once per month. In the picture, your roots and media look pretty good too, so you probably don't have to repot yet. Also, it looks like have your plant potted in large grade bark, which tends to dry out pretty quickly, especially in the dry conditions of a centrally heated home.

Just be sure to water your plant in the morning or at least make sure there is no water in the crown of the leaves at night. Good luck and welcome to OB!!

[roya25]

Thank you very much for your quick reply.
will do my best

[silken]

welcome to OB. I agree, 4 weeks is much too long between watering. I too would recommend trying every week for starters and see how that does. If it is staying too wet between watering, back off to 10 days. I suspect it will be thirsty in a week.

[james mickelso]

A very easy way to guage when to water your orchid is to lift it up when it is wet from watering, feel how heavy it is and then after a couple days feel how light it is. If you water the orchid very well it is going to be heavy when you lift it. Once it has dried it will become noticeably lighter. Too often new orchid growers overwater their plants and they start to die from suffocation. But it looks the same as being to dry. So water the orchid very well and then lift it after say 4 days. You'll easily notice when it has dried enough to water it again. Also in Sweden the sunlight is not strong enough to grow orchids except in nearly full sunlight. Just move it back from a west or south facing window about 1 meter. That should give it enough light to grow. As the sun gets higher in the sky in spring move it back further. Or just diffuse the light with a very sheer curtain. Good luck. I'm sure that with the help of all us experienced growers here on Orchidboard your orchid will grow well.

[Vanda lover]

To start with, I would submerge the pot up to it's top in room temperature water to give it a good soaking. Leave it there for 20 minutes or so.
I agree that it is dehydrated.

[Orchids4ever]

Welcome to OB

[cbuchman]

Welcome to the oB. All the abave is great advice. just one additional bit to add. Be sure that there is not water in the crown (where all the leaves come together). If you get some water int eh crown when watering, just use a paper towel of tissue to gently wick it away. I sometimes just blow on it hard to remove the water too.

Good Luck!

[cythaenopsis]

That's sort of the tricky thing with phals, isn't it? They need moist conditions and yet it's also easy to over-water them and find yourself with root rot.

I'm finding that it's advantageous to use clear plastic pots, so you can see what's going on inside.

[Vanda lover]

The clear plastic pots with phals really is good. When you can see the roots and they are green, they don't need water. If they are grey, they are thirsty.