Please help - dying phal

[flipper617]

I have 4 phalaenopsis orchids - all of which finished blooming and were doing well -- I thought. I water sparingly as I have read what a problem this could be. One of my plants started to turn pinkish colored on the very tip of the stem. It continually turned pink and dried out completely down to the bottom. The leaves are still intact and green as are the roots. The one plant that was doing the best with 2 stems is now starting to turn pink on the end of both stems. The roots look great as do the leaves. The one thing that I have done differently in the past couple of weeks is that I started to use an orchid fertilizer when I watered it - the last two times. They are planted in a bark mix that seemed to work well for me for a while. Please help. I am pretty sure 2 or 3 of my orchids are too far gone with the stem dried up, but please help to save my last orchid that has been doing the best until now.

[kmarch]

flipper617,

Nothing to worry, it sounds like your Phals are fine. What do the stems of other flowers do when they finish flowering? They die back. Orchids are no different. It sounds like the spent flower stems of your phals are dying back normally. I doubt it has anythign to do with the fertilizer. The plants themselves are probably fine.

It sounds, from what you've told us, that you're taking care not to overwater (a common mistake with phals) so that's good but I'd still recommend you get a good culture sheet like the one found on this site or at AOS | Home.

[flipper617]

Thanks for the fast reply. That is great to hear that my plants are ok. Do I cut the dried up stem back? Will a new stem start to grow - and if so, how long does it usually take? I am very new at this and need all of the help that I can get. Why does a new shoot grow out of the main stem and appear as if it is going to bloom eventually if the entire stem dries up and dies eventually? I guess I am just still very confused about this process.

[kmarch]

Once the spent inflorescence is dried up you cold cut it off near its base. Different phals have different blooming cycles and you did not specifically say what kind of phal you have, but most phals flower once a year. They start to spike (grow a new flower stem) in autumn and flower in late winter. Give those culture sheets a read.

[brookn]

Hi, here's a method that may of us find useful for watering:

http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/new...f-orchids.html

[mehitabel]

Watering "sparingly" might be too little water. Phal flowers do tend to shrivel up prematurely if the plant is kept too dry.

I never have a problem fertilizing a phal in spike. However, I never fertilize a dry plant, and use a 1/4 concentration of whatever the label says to use.

While you're right that overwatering causes roots to rot, too little water doesn't work too well for phals, either. Phals want to be moist, not wet. Overwatering = watering too *often*. When you water, you want to pour lots of water thru the pot. This flushes out any accumulated salts which can poison the roots. Then you wait til the medium is mostly but not completely dry before watering again.

You might want to start using the skewer method for watering your phals. Lifting the pot is also a good method-- a pot that needs water feels definitely light when you pick it up.

Peter Lin at Big Leaf Orchids has a set of culture notes for growing and blooming phals written precisely for a new indoor phal grower. A few minutes spent reading them will repay you handsomely in growth and blooms on your plant, and in increased confidence.

Go to bigleaforchids.com, and click the "information" tab at the top of the page.

The Canadian Orchid Congress also has really good culture notes for phals.

Good luck. Phals repay you many times over in beautiful, long lasting blooms for learning to grow them well.