is my phal healthy?

[haylbarr]

I got my phal in may and it seemed to be doing well. I watered it when it got dry with rain water and did avid research since this is my first orchid.

now, all the flowers wilted and died. I cut the stem near the bottom close to the leaves like everyone said was fine.

i had six leaves on my phal, but two have gone yellow and fallen off. they were the smaller ones near the bottom. Also, some of my roots don't appear to be very healthy. They aren't firm and some are squishy. I have a long wait between waterings, about a week and a half. The moss on the top is dry but i stick my finger in and it feels a little damp still, so i wait to water.

I'll attach pictures and i really hope someone can help me!

I live in wisconsin and keep my plant in a south facing room away from the windows (there is no good way to put it nearer). Our air conditioning is on a lot since it's a humid summer here.

one more thing: i'm thinking about repotting, but i'm nervous to do it. should i?

[erock]

Looks like it needs to be repotted. the medium looks too compact. I've bought 5 orchids this spring and the moss was really compact. They weren't doing really well so I repotted them all with top quality medium and they are all growing great. The roots need air and if the moss is too compact, no air gets in, it never dries out, and you develop root loss.

[Zoi2]

Hello and welcome to the OB.
You really should take the plant out of the pot and inspect the roots. I imagine you will find a bit of root rot. Just clip the dead squishy roots off and repot in a pot just large enough for the root mass in the potting medium of your choice and your plant should be fine.
Joann

[RosieC]

I agree, it looks like it needs repotting. The moss is very compact and looks like it needs changing.

[Eyebabe]

Definitely needs a repotting; and repot into a smaller pot as well.
Take the plant out of the pot and place in a bowl of room temperature water to loosen up the moss/potting material. After 10-15 minutes, you should be able to easily pick away the moss from the roots.
Inspect the roots and cut off any brown (mushy) rotted ones...hopefully you have a few good ones left.
You can repot in bark but lately, I have seen many instances of success with New Zealand AAA sphag moss which dries from the bottom up
It seems your issue has come not only from the media being too tight around the rootball but also from the top drying first.
If you only prefer to water every 10 days or so, the sphag moss is probably going to work for you; just use the better kind. You also need to repot about every year if using any type of sphag moss as I have read it degrades more quickly than a bark mix.

[haylbarr]

ok... i'll repot. can you give me the best kind of medium that i could find in a local flower shop?

[erock]

check out repotme.com.... the best orchid mix in the world!!!

[frostedeyes]

poor air circulation and not lacks water!so bone dry!