Blooms falling off

[NadiaK]

I recently bought 3 phalaenopsis orchid plants which were in full bloom. They all did well for a while then they started dropping their blooms. One remained in flower for six weeks but the other two lost the flowers whithin 2 weeks.
I was encouraged when one plant grew 4 new shoots from the main stalk with 10 or more new buds but I noticed in the last few days that the buds are turning yellow and dropping off. I moved the plants from their original location because it was too warm and the light was too intense although not direct. They are now on a south facing window in a brightly lit room but no direct sun. They are growing in orchid bark in 4 inch transparent pots placed inside terracotta pots and the root tips look green and healthy. The average temperature in the room is 81F and the humidity is between 40 to 60%. The night temperature does not drop much probably no lower than 76F. I have the pots standing on pebbles with water underneath. I water them about once a week and I have now started misting the leaves and growing medium daily.
Would someone please tell me what I am doing wrong from everything I read the blooms are supposed to last for months

[brookn]

Hi Nadia,

Welcome to the forum. I am a newbie here, but I can help a little bit. I think the one that bloomed for 6 weeks just ran it's course and is done. The one that dropped after two weeks probably had bud blast from the change in location, and the one that sent out new buds I am not sure about. You can find great info by searching bud blast.

A good way to tell if your plants were getting a lot of light is to look at the leaves. Phals that get a lot of light will turn kind of red, it is not hard to tell if the leaves are burned. Burned leaves may turn yellow, or well, look burned. You can give them a lot of light to the point the leaves get a little red (mine kind of look maroon in places) and it will not hurt them, my plant is doing great. The key is the indirect light.

I believe that when the plant is in bud however, they should be moved to an area that has lower light. You can do a search on blooms or buds to get the info, I am pretty sure I learned this on the forum. Now keep in mind I am a newbie, and I may be wrong. I am sure that someone can help you better, but in the meantime, hopefully you can search for some of the info. It helps if you have a pic of the plants for the experts also.

[brookn]

Oh, I also meant to say that it probably is not a good idea to mist your phal. can lead to crown rot. I was misting mine and it made it really mad at me lol. If you have good humidity and a humidity tray, that should be enough. You also might want to search for skewer method of watering.

[mayres]

I'll second Brooks comment about not misting your phal on a daily basis - especially after early morning and without good air movement.
Yes, phal flowers can last a long long time. Some have noted plants blooming continuously for well over a year, but this is not usually the same flower - but maybe additional subspikes and/or even additional total spikes. I have personally however noted phals over at my mother's place that were the exact same flowers for 6-8 months. Part of this is genetic and part is having the plant in the conditions that it loves. 3-4 months is probably more common from my experience. Of course when you purchase a plant already in bloom you have no idea how long it has already been in bloom. I currently have a phal for example that has four blooms so far and about 20 buds yet to open. At the rate it is opening up it is likely to be well over a month before the flowers are all open. So sometimes a plant with wilting blooms may have already bloomed for a number of months by the time it is purchased. In this case it might be perfectly natural for them to last a few weeks and then fade - and hothing "bad" has happened. Your conditions sound good - they like it warm. No direct southern exposure sun is essential. If you have noted some of the other threads on this forum regarding bud blast - phals can be really finicky regarding being moved from place to place, places with humid stuffy conditions (no air movement), etc. that can cause them to drop buds at the blink of an eye. They tend to do much better in this regard if they have spiked and budded in your environment versus being brought from a greenhouse environment into your home - it takes time for them to adjust. Good luck and enjoy! mike

[NadiaK]

Thank you for the input I was misting the plants because there are surface roots that look green and healthy and I read that these need to be misted. Could the bud blast be due to lack of water and fertiliser I am reluctant to water more often and cause more harm. I have inserted a skewer and it seems to be almost dry after 2 days is it ok to water then.
I should add there is a ceiling fan going on in the room and windows are open so air circulation is good.
Thanks again
Nadia

[DDS2007]

hi nadia (love your name! )

when a phal is moved form the nuresry and brought home there's a sudden change in its growing conditions. that causes the plant to stress sometimes and drop off its flowers and blooms, commonly known as a bud blast.

please make sure ur not watering with cold water right out of the tap, make sure u water with room temp. water , cuz very cold water can cause the flowers to drop too

cheers and welcome to the forum

[firsttimer]

i am not sure hwo this works, but i just got mine PHAL in march, the blooms have all died and the tip of the stem was turning brown, from what i have read on this site, it said to cut it off where the first bloom was, would i do that on a stem that didn't turn brown? how close to the base am i supposed to cut????

[mayres]

It is optional where to cut spent stems - just above a node if you want to encourage subspikes with additional flowers (which may or may not happen), as close to the base as possible (my favorite choice for this time of year) if you want to build the plant back up for a potential new spike this late fall/early winter. mike

If the spike is turning brown, cut it down.

[fred]

firsttimer

welcome to the forum
I hope that you enjoy your stay here with all of us orchidgeeks

As the spike is turning brown you can cut the spike as close to the base as possible.

you can also click the link to the cultuer sheet from the AOS
http://www.aos.org/aos/orchids/page01.aspx

good luck