Please help - new phal has lost it's flowers, I don't know what to do next

[Erica P.]

Hello all! My name is Erica, I'm new here, new to orchids in general, and boy could I use some help. I purchased a Phalaenopsis orchid at an orchid show a little over a week ago, and within the first three days the flowers began to wither. They have now completely fallen off. The leaves are looking good, green, and strong, and the roots look fine - yellow/green and firm. I've read online that after the flowers drop you should cut back the spike but there seems to be two new spikes growing just below where the old flowers were (on two separate nodes). The part of the orchid where the flowers were seems to be drying out though, and I'm afraid it will dry out the new spikes as well. I'm really at a loss and don't know what to do. Also, the orchid is currently in a clear plastic pot with ventilation holes, and it came packed in sphagnum moss. Should I attempt to repot this plant? If anyone has some suggestions as to what my next steps should be, I would greatly appreciate it, I'm at a loss! Thank you in advance!

[Jungeoma]

Hello Erika and
This is a wonderful place to be and get help and information.
If the old spike is dying back some it won't go into the new growth. Watch the plant for a while and keep it in a clear pot. They are great for keeping an eye on the roots. When you water make sure you soak up any liquid that collects in the crown with a bit of paper towel, that is the reason Phals like to grow sideways, to drain the crowns in nature.

[Erica P.]

Hi Jungeoma! I'm very happy to have found this community. I will certainly keep my eye on it. I think I'm a little worried that I'm going to kill it. Thank you for your advice!

[WhiteRabbit]

If the leaves and roots look good, it sounds like it's a happy plant. Is the spike browning? It may brown on upper portions, but below remain green, and bloom from the lower nodes.

[Erica P.]

Hi Sonya! Thank you for your reply. The top of the plant where the flowers were is browning. The next node directly beneath this looks like its growing a small green leaf. I'm not sure if a new spike will come out of it, but the leaflooking thing has definitely grown a bit since I've had it. The node directly under that looks like it has a tiny spike growing from it. These nodes are in the middle of the spike. I believe there is at least one more under these before the leaves at the base of the plant. This is my first orchid, so I'm sorry if I'm not describing it correctly. I'm wondering if I should take this orchid out of the moss it's in and try a bark medium? I'm curious to see how the roots closer to the base of the plant look, as I can only really see the bottom portion of the root system through the moss. Would I negatively impact my orchid by doing this?

[WhiteRabbit]

When you say 'the top of the plant' - are you talking about the spike (the long slender growth with the flowers)? If you see leaves coming from nodes there, it's probably starting keikis (baby plants that will with time grow their own roots).

You can repot into bark - repotting may, or may not, cause buds or flowers to drop. Many Phals aren't bothered much getting repotted while in spike/bud/bloom, but there is always the possibility that flowers or buds will drop. But, the plant itself won't be bothered. If you do repot into bark, soak the bark well before hand. And remember that bark (especially fresh bark) will dry much more quickly than the sphag moss, so will need to be watered more frequently. (Soaking the bark before will help a bit, and you can also soak the pot when it needs water to help it retain moisture a bit better if you want to do that).

You may find reading the first few - several pages of this thread to be helpful The Phal abuse ends here.

[Erica P.]

I'm sorry, I meant to say the top of the spike, not the top of the plant. When I checked that leaf hat was growing on the spike today, I noticed it has begun to shrivel up, so that dryness seems to be traveling down the spike. I also decided to repot it, and I'm glad I did! Upon removing the moss I came across rotting roots. The green I was seeing was on the tips of the roots and they were black and mushy in the middle. So I ended up having to trim a lot of the green roots off of the orchid. Thankfully I still have a few roots left, even though they are yellow. There are also two small nubs growing out of the base of the plant, I'm hoping these are new roots so I don't feel so bad for having to cut so many off. Thank you for suggesting the phal thread, it's quite long, but there's some great information in there!

[Cntry]

Erica welcome to the board. Before long you will be growing many more orchids and loving every minute of it. It is fun and exciting to see them grow and bloom for us all. Wait till you get your first keiki which is the name of the baby orchid that sometimes grows on the stem of your Phaleanopsis. They are so cute. Happy growing and welcome again to the board.

[Erica P.]

Thank you Cntry! I would love to start a collection, I just want to make sure I can manage to keep my current orchid alive first! Keikis sound like a lot of fun, I hope I'm lucky enough to see an orchid grow one at some point