Is my orchid dying?

[Lisabeth_02]

We bought an orchid, I'm sorry I can't tell you what it is. Its beautiful, that's what it is. But it unfortunately wouldn't be the first orchid I have successfully killed. I water it with 3 ice cubes, or the same about of liquid water. But I do this randomly as I think of it, so it more than often goes without. The flowers on one of the stalks dried up and fell off, and then the stalk started turning brown. I figured this was normal and maybe I need to cut the dead stalk off? But then one of the leaves, the smallest, that was once a dark green leaf, was turning yellow from the bottom up and when I touched it to examine it, and it fell off. Now I am in a bit of a panic. I'm thinking it needs to be replanted, but I'm not sure. Maybe its starving and needs fertilized, I have no idea.

[NikkiM]

Hi! I am fairly new to orchids myself, but there is a lot of info out there you can find. I search up the specific care of the orchid.
The next thing is never water with ice cubes. I found this out the hard way. Orchids should be watered with room temp water or luke warm. You have to think of its environment where it grows wild. I have watched lots of videos on youtube and they help with the extra questions you may have. Check out missorchidgirl on youtube. her videos are great for info.

good luck!

[Dollythehun]

Lisabeth. Look at the Phalanopsis forum section on The left for a thread called "The Phal abuse stops here." I'm assuming that is the kind you have as it's the most common. Lots of info there. It sounds like you are underwatering but, a picture would be helpful. Ditch the ice and give it a good soak, post a pic. If you can, and someone will be coming soon with more specific help.

[Arizona Jeanie]

Hello Lisabeth, and welcome to the Orchid Board. Orchids are quite different from other houseplants, and it gets very interesting to try to figure out how best to get them to grow and flower. I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice here--the first being DON'T water with ice cubes! What kills most orchids is root rot, generally caused by a mismatch between the planting medium and the amount and timing of watering. I'd recommend trying to find out the type of orchid you have--most likely a Phalaenopsis=moth orchid, but it could be something else. You need to repot into the type of potting medium (not soil), and pot, that is best for your kind of orchid, and make sure it's getting the right amount of light. (For Phals, that's indirect and not a lot.) These are the places to start, then keep learning and asking questions. I started with one accidentally surviving Phal, and learned some basics from repotme.com before finding this forum. Now I have a small windowsill collection and enjoy nurturing and caring for them. If/when you can post pictures it is a huge help, lots of experts here to advise you. PS, don't worry about fertilizing until you get the repotting, watering, and light done right.

[dounoharm]

lisabeth....all good info above, be sure to read the section on not adding ice....besides all that good stuff, you can cut your flower stalks down to about 2-3 inches from the plant....also, you mentioned that a leaf has fallen. from your description, it sounds like that is a leaf from the top 'crown' of the plant? if so, you probably have crown rot....you can read on that...and your plant is dead if that has happened. the cause can be letting water sit in the top of the plant, or that you have improper drainage. when they sell those plants, they come in a decorative pot WITH NO DRAINAGE! bad bad bad! the plant is actually in a plastic cup inside the decorator pot, and when you water, it builds up in the pot and DROWNS your orchid....

do not despair! all of us here have killed many orchids, that's how you learn to grow them, lol....so, go out and get another one, and try to do better...if that one does well in about a year, GO OUT AND BUY DOZENS!! and enjoy the orchids!

---------- Post added at 01:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:15 PM ----------

oh, I forgot.....when you get one of those type plants in a decorator pot, take the plant out once a week and let water run thru the pot for a minute or so, then let it stand and drain before putting it back. ...I save wine corks and put a few of those in the bottom of the decorator pot so that the orchid never sits in water! good luck!

[Lisabeth_02]

Here are the photos of my orchid. It came with a poinsettia and another leafy green one. They are in about an 8"x10" pot, but all of them are in smaller pots under the top layer of bark chips. They do feel like there is dirt inside the pot and the bark chips are just to cover and make it pretty.
You can see the edge on one of the flower petals is drying up. I can't see any root ball sticking out.

[Dollythehun]

Where are you thinking a leaf yellowed and died? From the bottom? That flower spike that is brown is a natural progression of the bloom cycle. It is spent and you can cut it off an inch or so from the bottom as it will not rebloom. The flower in the first picture has either some physical damage, or is also ageing. Pluck that orchid pot out of there!

If this were mine, I would cover my counter with newspaper (or whatever) and tip it gently out of the pot. The roots should not be dark brown and mushy. I am assuming that you have no supplies yet so, go to Lowes and get a bag of orchid bark. Do you have a pot? Maybe a 4" pot. When you get that home, take some out and put it in a colander or sieve and rinse it good. Then put it in a ziploc bag with water overnight. the next day, carefully tip the plant out, cut off the brown, dead roots with sterilized scissors and putting some (drained) mix in the bottom of the pot, nestle the orchid in and gently poke some mix around the roots until it is at the right height. You do not want the crown too low, or too high. It should be even with the mix. then, water it well. Let the water run gently on it and through the bark until it is rinsed and well soaked. Then lift it...try to remember how heavy it was and when it starts to get light again, water. OR, from the link I told you to look at, use a skewer. It should go into an north or east window (unless the sun is hot). If you can stand there and read, it is okay, if the light is too bright or dim, move it. It will take some trial and error.

That plant looks good. Hang around us and you will have lots that look good. Now, don't be surprised if someone her gives you a little different advice. We all grow differently according to our conditions.

[jkofferdahl]

I'm glad you were able to post pictures because they make things a lot easier. Your plant, a Phalaenopsis, appears to have been potted in soil? Huh? As Carol suggested above, it shoud be repotted using orchid bark. I'd use large chunk bark. Phals like a lot of air movement around the roots which they just aren't going to get potted as yours is.

Also, be careful to not get soil or water in the plant's crown. You have soil in it now. This could potentially lead to crown rot.

Finally, the plant appears to be fine right now. Phals naturally lose leaves - most both grow 1 or 2 a year and also lose 1 or 2 a year - and flower spikes can go. My guess is that yours will need some root recovery, but properly potted it should do quite well.

[bil]

What sort of retailer pots orchids in soil?

My 2 cents.

1. Get it out and wash off the soil.
2. repot it in a reasonably sized pot (Don't jam the roots into a tiny pot.)
3. Use decent chunks of bark. about one to two inch size. Sieve it to get out all dust and small chips.
4. Plant it at the side of the pot with the orchid leaning towards the centre.
Pot it in dry bark and leave two days before watering.
5 Support it, I use three rocks around a wobbly orchid until the roots have grown.
Water it three times a week summer , once a week in winter, but adjust that if your environs are very drying.
Water with room temp water, don't worry about wetting the crown as phals don't seem to care. Crown rot is usually brought on by chilling or overheating, possibly also damage.
The nice thing about coarse bark is that you can't overwater.

[Arizona Jeanie]

Hello Lisabeth, and thanks for posting the pictures, that's a big help. First of all--congratulations! You have a very nice Phalaenopsis orchid, with a lovely flower. It's normal for the flowers to eventually fade and die, it's also normal to lose a lower leaf from time to time. If you keep the plant healthy, it can re-bloom for you, probably in about a year. The first thing to do is to pull it out of that community pot and get it it's own place. The roots need light and air--the advice from Dolly and bil about re-potting into bark should work quite well. You may be able to re-use the individual pot it's in. Mine seem to do well in clear plastic pots that have slots for good drainage and air circulation. People have different opinions on what is best, but that will get you started. Please keep us posted!