New Orchid Troubleshooting
 

Hi! I was recently gifted an orchid. I had been following the instructions that came with the orchid by watering the plant with a couple tablespoons of water or a couple ice cubes every 5-7 days. I also had it in a bright area of our house.

I noticed that the blooms started falling off and the spikes were turning yellow. I read up on it and thought it was the natural cycle. I pruned the spike and tried using cinnamon as a fungicide. I noticed today that more of the stalk looks yellow and like it is dying, however, so now I am wondering if it is because of a bend in the stalk rather than the natural life cycle of the plant. Can anyone advice on what I need to do for the plant?

The mass market producers & sellers (stores) of Phalaenopsis orchids, want the consumers to keep buying new plants. Thus, the 'care instructions' they provide with the plants are intended to kill the plants slowly.

The proper care is:

• Bright, but diffuse, light (no direct sunlight between 10:30 AM and 4 PM).
• Water profusely (soak the plant) when you water. Let it nearly dry out (can be 8-10 days in winter, and as little as 3-4 days in summer), then water it profusely again.
• After every 3 or 4 waterings, give it a weak dose of fertilizer after watering.

On most white Phalaenopsis, once the flowers are done, the spike will fade away (= yellowing you are seeing). If you cut the spike at a level where it is still green, there is a small chance (5%), that it will produce a side branch with more flowers.

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Have a look at a sticky thread here. From the left yellow menu choose Forums then Beginners. Look near the top for The Phal abuse stops here.

Interesting that there is such a small chance of it producing a side branch. More of the stem seems to be yellowing. Do you think it could be because of the bend and do you think the bend is too far down to where trimming it there is pointless and I should instead let the plant go?

Thank you for the welcome!! Ohhh, thanks for the direction. There is a lot of content to browse in that sticky thread. I’ll start working my way through it 😊

Nothing wrong with the plant that I can see. The flower spike is done, that's normal. Now, just continue with good care for the plant, so that it produces a new spike and more flowers - typically, these bloom about once a year, so be patient! An orchid plant, if well-cared for, can continue to thrive and produce new flowers again and again, for years.

Caution, orchids are addicting! Once you get a bloom spike that is due to your good care, you may be hooked... pretty much everybody here is hopelessly in love with them so we all are enablers... But it's a healthy addiction! :biggrin:

Welcome to the OB! Your Phalaenopsis looks perfectly healthy. It's even growing a new leaf. The yellowing and dying back of the spike is normal. It's hard to tell from the pics, but that bend you are referring to looks like it just grew that way and hasn't caused any harm. A Phalaenopsis like yours will typically spike and bloom once a year, so in the meantime, definitely read up on proper care. The optimal amount of water is partly dependent on what material it's potted in, but a couple tablespoons of water once a week is probably nowhere near enough. Ice cubes are a no-no. If it's never been repotted, now is a good time to do so. Feel free to post back with any more questions.

From 50+ years of growing orchids, I find that:

White Phalaenopsis very rarely produce branches on the spike.
Pink Phalaenopsis do it more readily (20-40%?).
Yellow Phalaenopsis do it quite frequently (60%+).