new orchid flowers dying

[brandih]

hello everyone i am a brand new orchid grower but have always loved them like many people i have gotten them in the past and when the flower and stem died i thought that was it. It was extremely depressing!! I have learned my lesson though and have gotten 2 new phalaenopsis orchids for mothers day one is very small with purple flowers the other is large with yellow and purple spotted flowers. The day after i got them the flowers started wilting. I have been reading article after article trying to figure out what to do. However it seems every article says something different and one says to do one thing and then the next one says no dont do that at all. So here i am hoping desperately for some help. I live in southeast ohio where the weather is super humid and hot. I have tried putting the flowers in south and west facing windows for light. I tried putting them outside when the weather was mild in temp. I have made sure to not over water or under water.All of the roots are a green color with a silvery tint and have green tips. They do seem like there a lot of roots for the size of pots,but i am not sure if i can repot them during blooming. I just dont understand what to do with them. The smaller orchid is from my son its his first mothers day gift to me and the larger is from my husband so both mean a lot to me please any help you can give this newbie would be greatly appreciated.

[Dollythehun]

First, take a deep breath. The flowers may just naturally be done. In and out is not generally a good practice. South and west windows are generally too hot. If that's necessary, put a sheer curtain over the window, and/or run a small fan on them to keep them cooler. If they are in moss, water when the moss is feeling "crispy." Someone else will weigh in soon.

[Roberta]

You have no way of knowing how long those flowers have been open... very possible that it was just their time (well cared-for plants can live for years, and bloom again and again, but any given batch of flowers is ephemeral) Also, any change of conditions (temperature, humidity,drafts, etc) can cause flowers to fade prematurely or buds to just drop. So nothing you can do will revive flowers (and likely nothing that you did caused their wilting) What you want to do going forward is to make keep those plants healthy - they will reward you with new flowers.

If the flower spikes (stems) are green, once the flowers drop you can cut the stem below where the last flower was, and sometimes the plant will produce a branch with more flowers so that you don't have to wait (usually the better part of a year) for a whole new spike.

You can repot a Phalaenopsis when it is in bloom, and if you are careful to not knock them around, they typically won't even notice. If the medium is not too bad, won'c hurt to wait until it's done. The roots sound like they are in excellent condition. When you do repot, choose a pot that is only slightly larger than the root mass. (Over-potting leads to the center staying too wet, with not enough air) Personally, I like to use relatively large bark for Phals because they like "humidity" more than "wet", and lots of air around the roots. They'll need watering more often if you do that. If you can't water more than once a week or so, then sphaghum may be better for you - the goal is moist air around the roots, with a chance to dry somewhat between waterings. However you accomplish that will depend on your conditions,, but that's the goal and there are multiple ways to accomplish that.

I think that they may be getting too much light in the south or west windows, unless you have a sheer curtain in front of them. They are relatively low-light plants. If it is very hot, you will want to shade them so that leaves don't burn. Air movement helps here. Phalaenopis are native to the Philippines at low elevations, so they can tolerate heat pretty well (and love humidity) but there, they get shade and breezes, growing on the side of trees. Again, multiple ways of accomplishing the correct conditions if you keep the goal in mind.

[brandih]

thank you so much for your help as i said in my original post there is so much info out there that contradicts itself its hard to know which way to go. I will get them out of the south window however im wondering if east or north facing would be better? Also is it better for me to let the flowers drop off or should i trim them? Also forgot to put in my original post that the small orchid is in moss while the large is in bark. When it is time to repot them should i keep them in the same or go with one or the other?Thank you all again for all your help my orchids and I both are greatful!!

[Dollythehun]

If you have a choice, either east or north is good. If you have a hot blast of east sun, you may want to put up a sheer curtain. Sunburn happens fast. You can either snip or let the flowers fall naturally, I do both. As to re-potting, are you an over or underwaterer? The medium you use is up to you. I use moss but have done well with medium bark. Just be sure to buy a good quality mix. Stay away from Miracle Gro as it is silty and can smother your roots. Always rinse you bark first. Hope this helps.

[Roberta]

Either east or north should be fine. The more hours of light they get the better... and that will change with the seasons. In fact, that's one little trick that I discovered with Phals... they don't want intense light, but they do like long duration. In fact, when I was growing them with east light coming in a window, they grew well but didn't rebloom. I added a very inexpensive fluorescent light (LEDs weren't available then, they work fine) on a timer 12 hours a day to supplement the natural light, and got about 80% reblooming.

Let the flowers drop naturally... personally, I am in no hurry to cut anything... one of the ways in which orchids are very efficient is that they "recycle" the nutrients of old spikes, etc so if you can stand to look at the bare green spike, it actually benefits the plant to leave it until it turns brown and dry.

The choice between sphagnum and bark is yours. Sphagnum is tricky - it tends to stay very wet for a long time, and when it dries to the crispy stage is difficult to re-wet. Bark needs to be watered more often. Having said that, newly-purchased plants usually need repotting because they tend to bloom when they are potbound - nobody pays the grower to repot, so they are likely to have been in that pot for several years. Personally, I prefer bark because it stays open and well-drained. Phals need a wet-dry cycle, and for me it's easier to manage that with bark. (Commercial growers tend to like sphag because they don't have to water as often and it is easier to ship) Either way, when you go to remove the old sphagnum, wet it well and then gently disentangle it from the good roots (the ones in the center are probably not so good) With bark, shake it off, you can remove what comes off easily. But it's much better to leave a bit of old medium than to damage roots getting it all off.

[Optimist]

Yeah, I also thought maybe the flowers were just on the way out. Just cut off the spike or wait till the flowers drop, then take care of the plant till next year. Some start developing spikes in Jan-Feb. The flowers stick around Feb-March-April-May or so. You are lucky to get a plant that goes longer than that. I have one with very small green flowers that does not look like it is ending its bloom time yet. I guess I won the lottery.

[brandih]

thank you all for taking the time to help me out i am going to place my orchids in a north facing for now. And i will leave it alone and stop trying to mess with it lol!! After all blooms are gone im going to repot them both and im sure i will be back on here bugging you all for good potting advice!! I will let you know how they are doing. Thanks again