more trouble with new phal

[DDS2007]

hi all
i'm having more trouble with my new phal . for some reson the flowers seem wrinkled and as if they'll drop in a couple of days. the tiny green stem at the tip of the flower spike has turned yellow and died off , too.

i have not seen this on any of my other phals , though i keep them all in the same humidity tray. is this normal aging and dying of the flower spike or is it something terribly wrong with my phal??

thank u for ur advice
Farah

[mayres]

Phals can be VERY frustrating when bringing them into your home in bloom. They are not all the same either. With identical conditions one will wane and another appears to be just fine. Some folks will not even attempt to purchase a phal in bloom becuase of the very frustration you are experiencing. My office environment is like that. ANY phal I bring in bloom will loose its flowers in a week or two. The ones that spike and bloom while in my office will bloom and bloom for three months. Go figure. Same indentical conditions. One thing I have learned to do (not necessarily do you need to do this - but I do) is always check phal root systems ASAP after purchase - even when in bloom. I have found that even from good reputable growers the roots are often in decline and my first goal is to assure and plant decline is not from something that happened BEFORE I acquired the plant. Good luck with your new plant. Enjoy - mike

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

If this is a yellow or greenish Phal, especially if a little smaller than most Phal flowers, it may have some very warm growing parents in the ancestry and will be affected more by dry and drafty air. Seems one person I new had to let the flowers open in a plastic baggy to keep the buds from falling, which was tough on her as this was the first orchid she had ever rebloomed and she only wound up with one or 2 flowers.

[DDS2007]

i checked the root system before i purchased it and it was looking great , it still looks great and i have been watering it with the same schedual as my other Phals.
it's a purple Phal , much like Anton's newly acquired Phal! i'm a bit frustrated and i have no idea why the green tip of the flower spike (the stem) died off?

any suggestions to save the blooms??

[mayres]

I have found warm stuffy conditions really hard on blooms and buds. Good air movement will help (all your orchids for that matter). If you have not already done so, you might consider a small fan set on low in the area. Can't remember your other posts - humidity will help some too - plants setting on trays of rocks will get you 5-10% extra humidity in the immediate vicinity - not much but I figure it can't hurt. As noted previously, some phals just don't like the change from where they were raised/spiked and you can be doing everything right and still not get them to react in a positive way with a bloomed or partially bloomed out spike. Good luck - mike