Help: Phal bud wilted, others drooping

[violet212]

Hi,

I'm pretty new to growing orchids and am unsure what's wrong with mine. Two weeks ago, I noticed my orchid stopped blooming and the buds seemed like they were turning green, drooping and lighter to the touch. The other bloomed flowers also feel lighter and I'm thinking they're dry... I thought it may be because I use a heater in my office so I took it to another area last week where it gets sun, too. My hunch is that it's the temperature and maybe I'm underwatering it. I've been watering it once a week. Today, I noticed one of the buds got really shriveled and am wondering what I should do -snip it off, let it drop? And whether I can still do something to help the plant bloom. Should I water it more often? Give it fertilizer? I'm not sure whether the base of the leaves is rotting, too so I took a picture. I have other pictures from last Friday, too... Hoping someone can help? Would really appreciate it. Thank you

Thank you

[dounoharm]

once a week should be often enough, but are you giving it enough water when you do? even tho you water only weekly, you need to really soak the plant when you do water...loads of water running thru for several minutes to ensure the media gets soaked!

[violet212]

Thanks dounoharm! I water it in the sink - basically hold the pot under the running water for about five minutes...

[dounoharm]

well then, I think it is most likely time to write off the blooms and buds, and cut the spike....then repot the plant in new media....whats in the pot looks pretty old, so some new bark chips would be appreciated....those pots they sell them in are cute, but really not designed to keep a plant in indefinitely...I like clay, and a shallow azalea pot if you can find it...put the plant in about the same size pot as its in, you might need to go up a size as they are easier to find...a 5" pot would be great! trim away any rotten or yucky roots, and dig out the old media with a chopstick or something like that....soak the media overnite before potting, and make sure the plant is secure in the pot and doesn't shake around loosely....you will probably get new blooms next year...good luck!

[james mickelso]

The roots look ok. The leaves look ok. The blooms look ok except for a couple. The media is fairly open and that might explain your dilemma. It may need more water depending on how warm and dry it is in your environment. I see no rotted roots. The leaves are still perky. Maybe a little more light but not direct light. When the flower stems get shriveled that is when they are being aborted. Most look ok. And it also depends on how old the flowering is. It may just be the end of it. But I would water more. Tap water can be very high in chlorine or dissolved solids. High pH. I would buy some bottled water and use that since it is just one plant.

[RosieC]

Sometimes it can be because of a change in environment, but if it started before you moved it that is less likely.

Rather than watering on a fixed schedule, keep an eye on when the roots in the pot turn silvery. When they do it's time to water again. That might be every couple of days, it might be once a week, it might be more than once a week.

I usually find roughly once a week is right, but I have a new NoID in my office that seems to dry quicker and need slightly more than once a week.