Phalenopsis - Help needed :(
 

Hello everyone, this is my first post in the forum and (unfortunately) I'm seeking for advice! I've been reading for a while all the resources around but I am really unsure how to make sense of my situation. I had orchids in the past but not where I currently live...

The situation is that I have 3 moth orchids, received from the shop 2 days ago. They are still blooming, with 3/4 buds each but the flowers are starting to wilt fast. The roots and the leaves look completely fine.

I do not know what can be the reason for such a fast wilting of the flowers, bearing in mind that there are still buds:
- I don't think it's lack of humidity as I also have a humidifier and humidity values tend to be high (>60). I live in Jakarta but avoid using aircon in the living room also to maintain these humidity levels constant...
- In just 2 days since receiving the orchids, I didn't do any watering as the roots are green, leaves are up, nothing indicates they need water...
- In terms of light, they are facing a south window with a sheer curtain, but light levels might be high due to it being a full wall window (see pictures). This is my only hypotheses on why they are potentially wilting fast but all I read is that's okay to have them near a window with a sheer curtain...

I'm attaching some pictures, in case you can give me some advice.

Could they have been exposed to high heat / sun during transport? I’ve had that lead to flower wilting in mine before.

Moss can also be a bit of a tricky substrate: sometimes it’ll feel slightly damp and the roots will still look greenish, but the plant needs water. If they might be on the dry side, it’s be worth providing some water to see if they perk back up.

If neither of the above is the case, if your home represents a big change in environmental conditions relative to what the plant is used to, that can lead to flower drop too.

First, Welcome!

Also, if they were in bloom in the shop, there is no way to know how long they had been blooming.

Anyway, to care for them so that you get flowers in the future, I think it is safe to assume that they would benefit from repotting. The visible roots may look OK, but the ones in the pot may not be so good. This is a good time to take them out of the pot, clean off the old sphagnum moss (gently... if a little remains that is fine) , and repot into a medium that works well for you - if you "forget to water" sphagnum may be fine... it stays wet longer than bark. Bark is probably better in your humid climate, to permit the roots to stay moist but not wet, and to get air (which is vital for healthy orchids)

Thanks a lot for the welcome and for the replies! I really appreciate all the support.

I think it's not related to the transport to my place, as it took less than 30 minutes and they came very properly packaged. I still wonder, could this be too much light? I notice that only the flowers that are pointing to the windows seem to be affected (and even the petals that face more directly the window are the ones more affected).

Also, there are still remaining buds in the plants, so I guess this flower wilting is preliminary.

Thanks again for all the info. In the meantime, I have put them in a location where they get less light and will post another picture tomorrow.

Phalaenopsis don't need a lot of light, but I suspect that heat more than light might be the issue. In bloom, they really don't like abrupt changes in temperature, or drafts. The sharp changes of conditions that cause the flowers to fade prematurely can also cause buds to wither (bud blast)

everything looks really healthy an those plants.
Some phals don't like drying out and even just one day of dryness (your roots look on the dry side) can cause flowers to drop.

If you repot it now the flowers will most certainly drop. So not a bad move as such but just be aware what will happen if you do.

If the spagnum looks in good shape which it does from the pics then I would repot as soon as the flowers have finished flowering.

Avoid high temps, direct sun, even through a net curtain could potentially be too much. Flowers that are wilting won't spring back to life but with a more shady position the next flowers should flower for a good month still.

The only thing I would add is your comment on the "leaves are up." It won't work with a Phaleonopsis to see wilting leaves being a sign of needing water, as it works with many other plants. By the time the leaves appeared to have drooping leaves, it would be severely dehydrated.

Welcome to Orchid Board, and I see you have a Monstera adansonii. I've been looking for a replacement for quite some time, but they seem to be ridiculously expensive these days so I haven't purchased one. Nice plant.

Could it possibly be that the wilting flowers are a sign that this orchid actually needs water? That is - the flowers are high up on the stalk, and if not enough water, then the flowers would be the first to show signs of needing water?

It is important to add appropriate/suitable amounts of water, and to control the amount of water in and on and around the roots so that the roots don't run out of oxygen, which can happen if regular roots remain overly-wet for relatively long periods of time. So when we do get around to watering - a suitable amount should be applied for your growing conditions --- there's usually a range in amounts in the region of 'not too much' and 'not too little'.

There will definitely be uncertainty about the reason for the wilting flowers ----- it could be due to one thing, or could even be due to a combination of things.

Here - focus on temperature, humidity, and amount of water for the plant. Assuming the temperature and humidity are ok, just check watering.

Hello, thanks again for the very detailed replies! Seems that so far there are no more flowers (or petals) wilting, but I think the new buds are starting to dry out.

I'm very tempted to water the orchid, but I think I should restrain myself from it because I can feel the media is moist when I put my finger a couple of inches inside. Roots are very green also. Hence, I received the orchids 4 days ago and did not do any watering thus far (again, Im really tempted but I guess that if soil is moist, should wait a bit more).

As promised, I'm sending a few pictures more. 1st two pictures are from the same orchid. 2nd picture the 2nd orchid that has more buds that seem to be drying. The 3rd orchid (last 2 pictures) seems to have healthier buds.

Regarding the Monstera, I live in Jakarta (Indonesia). Here, in general plants are quite cheap:
- Monstera Adansonii is ~2/5 USD
- Monstera Delicisiosa is ~3/7 USD
- Each Phal orchid is ~3/6 USD blooming

nach ----- with green roots, and looking at those photos, the plant does appear to have adequate moisture.

Also - what's the drainage like? ie. for that orchid pot, does it have decent size and number of holes at the bottom of the pot?

Aside from what we can see (on the outer side of the pot) ....... also need to be wary about the state of roots toward the centre of the pot. That is - beware of roots or moss being too wet and soggy at the centre of the pot.

Your flowers stabilising and not wilting further is a good sign. Just monitor the situation. Your orchid is probably ok.

Thanks a lot again.

Actually, just reading in other posts, I decided to make a bunch of additional holes in each of the plastic cups. I have the feeling that the initial single bottom hole may not be enough to clear the moisture or to allow enough Oxygen to circulate. Also, I realized when making the holes that the moss is super tightly packed, so I think that the holes may give some relieve and it's a non-risk move.

Nach ...... good call with punching more holes into the bottom of the cup. Also, the method of firmly packed sphagnum provides some (cliche term) 'wicking' effect of water around the pot. As long as the moss is not near any water saturate level, then the moss can quite effectively support small orchids and big orchids. The key is in the grower knowing just how much water to add (and when to add) - and maybe even also - when to refresh/renew the media.

Yes, that's bud blast. Much easier to see with the up-close pictures. Happens often with Phals when it encounters a change in its immediate surroundings. All the buds you see that are a reddish color with a yellowing stem are likely not going to open. That tightly packed sphagnum moss is mostly used by commercial growers.

You're right not to water. Wait until the roots you see start to get a grayish silver color, then water. In your humid environment it might not be often. When I'm given an orchid potted like that, I might only be watering it every 10 to 14 days.

Do I see two more little Phals in that last picture? This would be a good time to repot them and get your practice in. What sort of medium do you have available there for repotting orchids, and did you already have ideas about how you're going to grow them? Like in bark, etc.

Monstera adansonni here... a small cutting, around $10 to $15. A decent sized plant with several leads around $45-$60. Ridiculous, because they grow so quickly.

I have a few Phalaenopsis in moss like yours, when the roots get that close to silver, I water mine. Even if the moss is still moist the plant needs water. The extra ventilation holes in the pot are a good move, I do that with mine too.

Hello guys, thanks for all the advice! Quick update:
- Indeed, it was bud blast. Both orchids lost all the "baby buds" but the ones that were grown up kept healthy so far, and I got 2 flowers blooming
- Overall, the condition of the flowers that were wilting did not deteriorate, only the petals that wilted before
- Regarding the 2 "juvenile" orchids, the shop send them as a gratitude. I think is a good idea to repot them and I order different media in order to do so.

Now, what worries me is that one of the 2 small orchids has developed some yellow spots in one leaf, and it feels quite sticky to the touch. Im worried it's some kind of pest but I'm uncertain what to do.

Thanks again!

Give that leaf a spray of isopropyl alcohol ----- and gently wipe away the sticky whatever-it-is with a soft tissue. Then dispose of the tissue. Don't let it touch other parts of the plant.

If you have a growing area with gentle air-movement, then that can be beneficial for the orchid.

Just to add to SouthPark's suggestion (alcohol will go after pests) take a look at the underside of the leaf - scale will often do its actual attack on the underside of the leaf (it is visible as a white or yellow spot), that pulls chlorophyll from the top too. If you don't see evidence of a bug on the underside, it could be old damage - if a leaf gets bug-damaged, the bug can be killed, but the damage to the leaf doesn't go away, but won't harm anything.

Light, windows (and additional complexity).
 

Guys, thanks again for all the advice! The orchids look stable, dropped some buds, open others. The baby ones seems to be okay as well, cleaned up the wound and realized that it's not new, it was already there in the pictures I took when I received it.

I checked with the orchid nursery and I guess that I found the potential reason of the bud blast. They had much more light before than what they have in their new home. And here the complexity (and additional advice seeked) comes :).

So, I live in Jakarta. This is pretty much on top of the Equator, and that has implications. Days last 12 hours pretty much the whole year as you all know. Now, the sun, the sun here is different. 5 months a year it comes from the north, 4 months a year it comes from the south and the remaining 3 pretty much with little angle (from the roof).

What this implies is that my apartment with south-facing windows is as of now getting what I consider is insufficient light. I measured it using a camera and its basically ~200 FC tops.

Now, in December, that will highly likely become up to 5000-10000 FCs, gradually.

My question is, in this super complex and changing environment :biggrin:, how do you think orchids can thrive? Is this okay for Phals to be healthy and manage to bloom? What about Den Phals?