Leaves turning yellow and withering and buds are orange
 

Hi i Just got my first orchid. For a few weeks one of the leaves was turning yellow and wrinkly and the other leaf is becoming wrinkly now and my buds are starting to turn orange/yellow. The temperature fluctuates a bit as the I have a heater on to keep the room warm and turn it off when I'm going somewhere. It's not very humid in here. I give it one ice cube a week. With things like this one most forums you probably need pictures so I'll attach some.
Also one last question in one of the pictures you see that part of the branch may have been broken before I got it will it regrow?

Also sorry about the picture quality they were taken on my iPad, which is bulky and hard to hold, or I could use my iPhone 4 which while easier to hold the camera quality is even worse

---------- Post added at 12:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:25 PM ----------

Sorry I'm pretty sure I put this in the wrong section, if the administration wants to move it that's fine.

First. Ditch the ice cube idea. Take your plant to get sink and water it until the water runs out the bottom holes of the pot. Repeat. Lift the pot, note the weight. When it feels light again drench with water again. Move it to a cooler spot or turn the heat down. You lowering the humidity when you raise the heat. Your plant looks horribly dehydrated. That will cause the symptoms you see. Next, go to the Phalanopsis forum, at the top you will find a sticky note called "The Phal Abuse Stops Here." Read it, please.

Read the thread that Dolly recommended. Follow her advice, no more ice cubes.

After that, you need to repot. I recommend bark, in a well-drained pot. You can get "orchid bark" for about $5 per 8-quart bag in big-box home improvement stores, such as Lowes or Home Depot. Do not use anything that even remotely looks like potting soil. Don't worry at all about things like fertilizer, etc. right now (one of the least important parts of growing orchids).

The key to growing orchids is balancing water and air to the roots, providing the right amount of light, and tempering a grower's enthusiasm with a little benign neglect.

Trust me on this; 36 years growing orchids.

Does anyone else think this looks like it's potted in Shultz Potting Mix? In addition to what's been said above, this should also be in a much smaller pot with good drainage.

Yeah, the mix looks horrible. Rinse your new bark before you pot. It washes off the silt.

Ditto on the advice regarding awful potting media, watering with an ice cube, etc.

The flowers on the spike have what's called "bud blast," which is when conditions change too rapidly for the buds (not enough water, temperature fluctions, etc).

If the top part of the "branch" (a spike) was already like that, I hope it was purchased off the sale rack. That was the original main spike where the budding and flowering started. No, it won't regrow. The "branch" that's lower down the spike is a secondary to the original spike. Once a spike is completely finished blooming, it slowly dries up. The next spike will come from between the base of the leaves on the plant itself.

Lots of good info on the sticky thread mentioned "The Phal Abuse Stops Here." It's at the top of the forum called "Beginners." It will explain a LOT about what to do and avoid. Go ahead and repot now in better medium.

Did you get a bare-root plant and pot it up yourself?

Phalaenopsis normally grow as epiphytes. This means they attach to trees with their roots, and they don't grow in the ground. As a result the roots need a lot of air, and many people use potting medium with large chunks and good air circulation. Standard house plant potting soil will choke their roots.

Your plant hasn't been getting enough water. The leaves and flowers are drying up and falling off as a result of this.

Phals are easy plants to grow once you learn how. Your plant will survive and grow well if you read and understand the thread Dollythehun referenced. It will not bloom before next year, because they tend to bloom once a year.

How often should I water it and with how much water I changed the pot and mix on Saturday but the last bus just turn orange today

you pictures gave me great pain! the poor plant is being suffocated by the fine planting mix! I guess you have seen the above comments on potting media....

the branching spike with buds is the first thing to die...which they are doing....best to just whack it off for the possible reviving of the plant itself....

once you clean it up by rremoving the bloom spike and all that DIRT, repot it with chunks of BIG HARD bark, and put in as small a pot as it will go....

then you water, I suggest once every 5-10 days, depending on its location, light, and humidity....orchids grow on TREES, not in dirt....and they like to dry out COMPLETELY before re-watering..

so, go buy a new one that's got blooms to enjoy, and keep puttering with this one...pretty soon you will be a COLLECTOR, lol

I will post pictures of it now I had the heater on due to the cold of the storm I watered it again and took an essential oil diffuser and put plain water in it to increase humidity in general. One of my friends has two large frequently blooming Orchids they bloom regularly she had a problem with the buds but that was because one of the plants close by had a fungus she uprooted that plant and threw it out and then it started blooming regularly after wiping it with chemicals. The brand I got was called just add ice Orchids and it said to just give it an ice cube a week. She has the same brand except she gives three a week because her's are larger.

Once I get this one under control I'll probably buy another one just so I don't kill it.

When you're a beginner, the idea is to water a Phal, then let it get dry before you water again. There is another sticky thread in the Beginners forum about using wooden cooking skewers to check whether the inside of the pot is still damp.

Many people become attuned to their plants and learn how to water just before they go dry. It takes a while growing orchids for most people to learn this.

It is hard to tell from your new photo, but it looks like you left all that dirt that was packed right around the roots in the first pictures and just put bark around that? If this is true, you should take your orchid back out of the pot, rinse ALL of the fine matter off your roots and pot it again in just bark. That fine matter is what will suffocate your orchid. If you post another picture of the medium up close we can confirm, and show you exactly the material I am referring to.

As for "Just add ice" orchids - this is a marketing gimmick, not some brand of orchids specially breed to tolerate this kind of watering. The company itself expects your orchid to die from watering the ice cubes (they say themselves their plants will last "up to 2 years" - with proper watering, these plants should last a lot longer!). Don't water with ice just because the company told you to. 1 ice cube is not enough water for the plant, and they do not like freezing water on their roots. When your plant is nearly dry to dry, water thoroughly with room temperature water - generally letting water run through the pot for a few minutes is recommended.

i agree with lacie.....the old 'dirt' looks like it is still there.....you HAVE to wash all that off! it looks like it was in a small pot, and that was a good size pot, but you just popped it into a large pot and surrounded it with bark...NO GOOD!

orchids are predominately TROPICAL EPIPHYTES....they do NOT GROW IN THE GROUND! they do not need or want dirt! the roots grow into the bark on the SIDES OF TREES....you must get rid of that dirt....

as tropical 'tree' plants, they are not used to cold frozen ice! the 'just add ice' company markets that ploy simply to sell more plants! orchids can live practically forever, I have had many for OVER 35 YEARS before I sold them! the ice will shock them, and they eventually shrivel up and die.

the pot you put your plant in is way too BIG! it needs a 4 INCH pot and much growth before putting it in a 6" pot....I like the clay tho, I grow most of mine in clay or net pots.

so, take it out again....trim away the tall 'stick' that had buds...it is wasted! just whack it with scissors about 3-4" from the plant. rinse it good, and let it dry, then put it in a 4" pot WITH DRAINAGE, then place large bark chips around the plant, shake the pot, and repeat till the pot is full and bark is under the plant.

you can trim broken or rotted roots off with scissors dunked in alcohol....
to water, use good water (bottled or RO) and run the water thru the pot for a count of 3-4 seconds...make sure the water drains....and put the plant on a saucer or pan of small gravels....NEVER LET YOUR ORCHID SIT IN WATER!

there are loads of good posts here to tell you how to do all these things....good luck!