my first Phalaenopsis and buds falling off

[lizmo]

Hi All,

Last Sunday I got my first orchid, a phalaenopsis, and i have very little idea how to take care of it. I've been looking online at phalaenopsis care websites, but I get conflicting information.

When I bought it, my orchid had about 4 flowers, 7 or 8 large buds and several tiny ones. Three flowers have opened since sunday, but the smaller buds are turing bright pink and falling off!

It is in fairly bright sun, but not direct sunlight. I have already learned not to over water it, but I can't tell if it needs more water or if I have already started to overwater it. On Sunday I submerged the pot for a minute or so and then let it drian completely like the directions said. It's been 85-95 degrees here all week and so I gave it a bit of water yesterday and today when I noticed the buds drying up.

Also, most of the roots sticking out of the pot are stringy and dried up, but the ones on the surface of the medium (bark) look healthy.

How do I tell when I need to water it? Should I be misting the roots (one website said yes, another said it to avoid because doing so would cause a fungal infection)? And, why are my buds falling off? Some advice would be greately appreciated. Thanks!

-Liz

[Aniko]

Hi, Liz!I'm a beginner too, but from my experience, I think that your orchids are suffering a bit from the trauma caused by transport& consecutively changed environment, and will be fine.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Search using the word 'skewer' for how to tell when your plant needs water using a bamboo barbeque skewer. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[lizmo]

Thanks Aniko, that really reassuring (because another small bud fell off tonight), but that does make sense because overall it looks very healthy with 9 open flowers and three more big buds!

Cynthia, I found one of your posts that mentioned the skewer method and I'm going to start doing this, at least until I get an idea of how often it needs to be watered. Thanks a lot!

[Aniko]

When I brought them home, both of my orchids lost 1-2 buds, then everything was OK... Don't worry!

[jerrymeola]

you will lose buds this time of year because you can not duplicate the greenhouse conditions of the grower and this is a forced plant.

Phals normally bloom after a cool period in the winter or early spring. The one you bought was heated in the winter and cooled around April to induce flowering out of its normal season.

The plant sounds healthy and should do well for you. The only problem with forced plants is that they may not have enough time to recover after blooming to be ready to flower this winter. Put it in a area where it can get 45-60 degree nights and about 65-70 days for a month. Usually this means putting it outside on the last good month in northern starts. If it does not set buds try again in the early spring.

[lizmo]

Thanks Jerry, what you said about my plant being a 'forced plant' is quite interesting, and I'm glad to hear that you think it sounds healthy!

I don't really have much of a place where I can put it outside. Do you think putting it by an open window at night when the temperature drops would be sufficient? - Liz

[K9babe]

Jerry Meola:"you will lose buds this time of year because you can not duplicate the greenhouse conditions of the grower and this is a forced plant.

Phals normally bloom after a cool period in the winter or early spring. The one you bought was heated in the winter and cooled around April to induce flowering out of its normal season.

The plant sounds healthy and should do well for you. The only problem with forced plants is that they may not have enough time to recover after blooming to be ready to flower this winter. Put it in a area where it can get 45-60 degree nights and about 65-70 days for a month. Usually this means putting it outside on the last good month in northern starts. If it does not set buds try again in the early spring".
Now this information was very reassuring. I've been scouring the internet trying to find something or someone with a similar problem as 'lizmo' has. I have a Phal that I bought at a retail store about a month ago. It's grown dramatically fast over that time and I transplanted it to a slightly larger pot about 2 weeks ago. Just the other day I noticed the blooms starting to wither away on one side and fall off, now they are doing it on the other side. I sure hope I can get this one recovered enough to bloom agian!!!!

[Trisha]

I'm no expert, but from all I have read you are not suppose to repot your orchids while they are in bloom. The question is will it rebloom, or do you have to wait until it's next natural blooming season? That's a good one.