Orchid HELP please!

EagerLearner

Please, please help - my orchid has been fine, until now!

I was given it in July and it's been ok. I rest it in some water for 1-2 mins then let it drain, ensuring no water is left sitting in the vase.

I gave it orchid food 2 weeks ago. Then on Sunday gave it some more - Monday it lost one flower and now, all of them look a bit wilted and yesterday 2 more fell of in the night Is it because of the orchid food? I added it to warm water as suggested...

What can I do to stop more flowers falling off?

UKJubilee_2

has it got any new buds showing? My flowers tend to drop off as the new buds develop and begin to open.

EagerLearner

Hi UKJubliee - not that I can see - *all* the flowers are slightly wilted, weird that it's all at the same time AND just after I gave it the orchid food? I have already lost 3 and am so protective of it (had never had an orchid before) that I hate to see this happening and want to stop a 4th flower falling...

floss2

I would suggest it may be a bit dry.....it has been quite warm & sunny (even when its raining outside). I have had orchids for years, and have only had this happen with a new one that had got very dry - it lives on a sunny windowsill.

Mine all have a few small stones or gravel in the bottom of the outer pot, so the inner pot sits on the gravel...then I just keep this wet, so it gives a bit of a moist atmosphere for the roots. If you think of their natural environment as being attached to trees in the jungle, it gives you an idea of what they like - damp, moist air but not wet feet.

However, it might just be that it has finished flowering........have the stems of the flowers gone a different colour than they were before? If it has, it just need a bit of a rest.....what I do is keep them in a light bright place, and water every couple of weeks. Your plant probably won't need any more food for a little while, until it flowers again.

The next thing to do is to have a good look to see if it has anymore air-roots or flower spikes coming. The air-roots will be from below all the leaves, be a bit rough looking and will grow more horizontal & down , whereas flower spikes will come from a bit higher up the stem, and will grow upwards, looking quite smooth.

EagerLearner

Hi there sorry I am really new to orchids - do these photos help any?

http://picasaweb.google.com/sophiegist1/Misc/photo#5237038989673113634

There are 2 pics.

I looked at the roots and some are green (closest to soil) and the ends are drier/brown. They don't look like they have changed.

There was another flower fallen off today.

I water them every Sunday is that too much?
The orchid food says to add orchid food every two weeks?

I wish I knew what a spike was like - is it where the flowers are? I think I can only see where the flowers have fallen off...

frivolous_fay

If it's been flowering since July or before, it could just be finishing.
We have an orchid with similar colours, and the flowers all dropped recently, the last one about a week ago... but then it had been going since May, bless it! It's also got some dried out looking roots.

EagerLearner

Thanks FF - maybe that is it then. I got it in early July as a birthday pressie... 2 more flowers dropped last night... It has been so sudden - I thought they would drop over a period of time - not 4 days - but I am a newbie to orchids!

So how can I make the roots look better? They have been like that since July, I thought it was normal...

MookieSnuffles

Hi ya!
Floss 2 is so correct about the wet feet! Throughly reccomend misting instead of water draining more regularly. And please make sure that the roots are sitting in a clear pot, especially if it is a Phalaenopsis type (the type most sold in supermarkets and garden centers, also know as a Moth Orchid) as they like their roots to be in the light! Misting is where you liberally spray around the plant with a fine spray of water from a bottle. If the orchid is a Phalaenopsis type you can get a second flowering from it, the tip I was given was:
When the flower has withered, cut the top of the stem off just above the node where the last flower was attached to the stem. This encourages another flower stalk to form further down the stem. Only cut the stem off completely if it has turned brown and dry.

Mel x

floss2

EL, your plant looks fine & dandy to me - the flowers have finished, thats all!

The "dried out" roots are air roots - they will always look like this.

I don't usually cut off the tips of flower stems; one of mine has had 1 lot of flowers and then grown seven more buds on the same stems, and is also growing a new spike (the stem that your flowers were on). I have another that has approximately 18 flowers on 2 stems but I've had these plants for 2 & 5 years respectively, so don't expect too much from yours - it probably needs a bit of a rest before it flowers again.

This is quite a useful guide: http://www.johnlewis.com/121_Caring+for+your+Phalaenopsis+orchid/Content.aspx

EagerLearner

Thanks so much everyone, I feel a bit better now as I was feeling like I had killed it with the orchid food...

1) So shall I just spray mist the earth then every Sunday, say rather than soaking it for a couple minutes?

2) If there are no flowers does it's 'bath' still need to be weekly?

3) Looks like orchid food should be every 4 weeks...

I have one flower left now, as another fell of last night... I do not have it in direct sunlight but our living room is not dark, seems to have been ok so far.

The leaves are chunky green and healthy, according to John Lewis this means I could cut the stem just below where the lowest flower was?

floss2

EagerLearner wrote: »

Thanks so much everyone, I feel a bit better now as I was feeling like I had killed it with the orchid food...

1) So shall I just spray mist the earth then every Sunday, say rather than soaking it for a couple minutes? Yes - although personally I have never bothered with misting, just watering every week or so & checking that the pots are sitting on wet gravel but not standing in water

2) If there are no flowers does it's 'bath' still need to be weekly? yes, it still needs the moisture

3) Looks like orchid food should be every 4 weeks...or less, I only give mine a few drops of Baby Bio after the winter & they seem to like that!

I have one flower left now, as another fell of last night... I do not have it in direct sunlight but our living room is not dark, seems to have been ok so far.

The leaves are chunky green and healthy, according to John Lewis this means I could cut the stem just below where the lowest flower was? yes, it may then grow another spike from there or another from the main body of the plant.

Good luck!