Is my Phal straining herself to death? :(

[Shikitita]

Hi,

I wasn't sure if this was the right place to write my post or not, so if it needs to be moved somewhere else, plesae do.

Basically I've had a Phal I bought nearly 6 weeks ago together with another one. I decided to repot them straight away, as the plastic pots they were in had the roots touching the base straight away, and nothing to elevate them from the gravel they have inside the glass/ceramic pots. (It's too dry where I live and they don't have enough humidity.)

Both of them were blooming at the time, but for some reason one's dealt with the repotting perfectly whereas the other one has gone weaker and weaker...

Now she still has 5 buds left of which she's trying to open 4 at the same time, but it's taking her ages lately and they don't open completely till around 7 days after they started. Her leaves have wilted (I'm not overwatering her, I swear) and are now "deflated", some of the flowers (the eldest ones) have lost their strength and the top petals are now bent; and she still has two small stems trying to grow plus one trying to come out (all in the pictures).

I am not sure if it's being too much work for her and all the energy she's putting in the flowers, which doesn't seem to be enough, affects the leaves by being wilted and weak.

Is there anything I can do? I don't wanna cut the spikes with the flowers so she can focus on the leaves (not sure if that'd help), but at the same time it worries me that she's straining herself so much she ends up dying.

Any advice will be very welcome.


P.S.: The pictures are a progression from when I bought her, the pink one inside the black pot in the first picture, until today (excuse my bf in one of them).

[quiltergal]

You don't say how the roots were when you repotted. If there were only a few good ones then they probably cannot keep up with 2 spikes as well as leaves. If the roots were good then my guess would be you may be under watering. Fresh bark does not hold as much moisture as old bark. Without more details it will be hard to advise you what to do.

[MattWoelfsen]

Based on the picture showing just leaves with the roots, I'd say you need to water it, getting the roots nice and green.

[Shikitita]

Sorry, quiltergal.

The roots were fine and still are (green at the moment since she was watered yesterday). Noticed, tho, they looked still silver and healthy but less "juicy" than before, which made me guess, as well, that I probably was underwatering her.

I already made the mistake, however, of overwatering my first two orchids since living where I am now, and didn't want to do the same with her. Mind you, after watering all of them yesterday (last time was two weeks ago) with also a bit of food, the buds opened a bit quicker than they did on Thursday when they started to show signs of opening.

I guess I'll have to keep an extra eye on her. Just hope she gets better in the following weeks. It's going better now that I know more or less how to take care of them in this flat (West window and too dry does not help, I know ), and don't wanna mess up again.

Managed to make one of my two overwatered orchids grow a leaf that stopped growing after Xmas and even grow another one at the same time inside it. Therefore, if I can make my orchids grow healthy and happy in this place, I'm gonna do my best... (Either that or I move out!)

MattWoelfsen, it's so dry in this place and the living room especially that it's being really hard for me to keep their aerial roots nice and healthy. That's why the gravel inside their pots to keep them humid.

Thanks, both!!!

[quiltergal]

If the roots were good then it's been under watered. I would give her a nice long soak in the sink for about 30 minutes. The leaves may even perk up a bit.