Phal Stuartiana being stubborn... need advice.
 

On Valentine's Day, my husband took me to a local orchid greenhouse and purchased me a beautiful Phal Stuartiana. It had 2 spikes, one completely developed and all buds about to open, and one smaller one with a few still developing. There were a total of 68 buds total!

It was extremely healthy and I was totally psyched to ad this to my very successful collection....

From the time I got it home, it has not done well at all. The leaves became droopy, the buds didn't progress very well...

I called the greenhouse and they said that this species is very finicky and that they don't know what could be wrong. It was planted in moss, so they told me to repot it with bark. They said that the trip home (it was in the 30s outside) could have upset it.

Anyway, I repoted and it is getting worse and worse. The leaves are droopy/wrinkly. The flowers are starting to wilt, but then again it could be time... considering it has been 6 weeks since I purchased...

The roots looked very good when I repotted with very good quality medium fir bark mix.

I have it by an east facing window with a lot of morning light. I water it roughly once a week, and the medium has a chance to dry out between waterings. The humidity is somewhat low at about 40%. I have about 16 other phals in the same room/spot and they are all healthy and flowering, so I don't know what I could possibly be doing wrong.

I know I removed it from a great enviroment at the greenhouse I purchased it from, and now it is rejecting my less than perfect conditions.... but it doesn't seem to be getting better, and I'm afraid it might die on me.... I have never killed an orchid... and I'd like to keep my track record that way!

NOTE: I purchased another phal on that same day and it is thriving and exuding health!

Do you have any advice for me? Does anyone here know anything about these finicky species?

I do think that the species ones are more fussy about their conditions. I bought my Phal stuartiana last summer in full bloom. The blooms didn't last, but I think it may have been because of the trip home. In my case, it was a very hot and dry summer day with the sun blazing - and I had a 15 minute walk home from the train station.

I did notice that this one is a little different from hybrid phals. The leaves are flatter and thinner, and the roots are flat as well whereas hybrid phals have rounded roots. My guess is this one prefers more moisture that other phals? I find that the older leaves in the bottom of the plant have a hard time staying hydrated but the top ones are fine. I also grow in bark but I just recently purchased some coconut husks. Hopefully it will do better in that.

Having said that, my phal stuartiana actually rebloomed around December. It wasn't as spectacular as the last blooms, but it bloomed nevertheless. I'd be interested to see what others will say in this thread.

It may just be stressed from traveling in those temperatures :hmm

I wouldn't let the medium totally dry out between waterings. Mine is mounted, with sphag, and the root area gets heavily misted every day (sometimes I skip a day ;) )

I purchased one last summer and it is my only phal that lets me know when it's ready to be watered. All the leaves wilt down and it just looks miserable. It definitely seems like it likes a lot of moisure.

Thank you for responding so soon!

I repoted it in paph/phag mix because I saw in a website that this type of phal needs to be moist all the time. I mixed in some small coconut husks chunks and some medium fir bark as well. It stays more moist than my other phals.
But I'll try watering it more often than the rest.

Thank you.

P. stuartiana is a wonderful plant, and in my experience it's not any more finicky than other Phals. But with the exception that they do seem to like a wee bit more watering.

I would agree with Sue that the travel home could have been less than ideal for the plant, and the effect could still be making itself known. 30 degrees is COLD, COLD, COLD for a Phal. Were the plant mine I wouldn't worry about the buds this year. I would possibly even cut the spikes so that the plant could focus on recovery and re-establishing itself in the new pot. I know that sounds harsh, but having the plant around next year means blooms next year.

I just bought one of these today. It was a small plant and it was totally dried out at the store. It had just got missed by the person watering them I guess. All the other chids were watered.
Hopefully it'll pop right back up for me and be a great plant. I can't wait for the buds to open!

its just stress... maybe give it a good 15 min soak with vitB or any rooting hormone... it works for me... plain water is okay...

I just repotted it and holy cow what a root ball it had under there! I had to cut a few of the really long and way dried out ones off, but everything looked great! I soaked it down very well. Some of the dry roots started to plump up a bit. So I think it will be just great.
Thanks for the advice. :)