What's wrong with my orchids?

[Gina145]

My gardening experience is, for the most part, confined to growing bonsai trees, but in late April (early winter in South Africa), I acquired two beautiful orchids. They've both been doing really well until a few days ago.

This is what one of them looked like on September 4. The wilted flower at the bottom is the last remaining one from when I bought it, and the top flower is the first new one to grow since then.

Yesterday I noticed that the flowers weren't looking so good.

The new flower was drooping badly (it's worse today) and the largest bud was starting to dry up.

The leaves are still looking alright, but I'm worried that this is just the beginning of worse trouble.

My second (larger) plant also has new buds, some of which are starting to discolour.

They're on a table in my dining room where they get a little filtered afternoon sun. The only thing that has changed recently is that we've moved into spring and the weather has suddenly become very hot.

Could this be the result of them getting insufficient water due to the increased heat or is something more serious going wrong?

 

[Larisa]

Most often, the reason for the withering of buds is a sharp change in the conditions in which the flower was previously contained.

If buds wilted in a recently acquired flower, then this is not surprising. Because in a short time the plant has changed several habitats.

In the orangery all the necessary conditions were created for the orchid, and this is difficult to replicate in your home.
Lack of lighting, temperature changes, dry and hot air - provoke wilting buds.
Phalaenopsis loves watering once a week. To do this, the plant must be lowered into water for 30 minutes.

Spraying of buds can also lead to their wilting. You can only sprinkle the leaves.
To increase the humidity, the pot with the plant can be placed in a box with wet expanded clay or small stones.

 

[Gina145]

There have been no changes except to the weather. The plant has been living on the same table since April and developed those new buds and the new (now wilted) flower on that spot. That flower only opened about two weeks ago. I haven't sprayed the buds either.

I've been watering once a week but I'm starting to think that's not enough now that our daytime temperatures are rising about 30°C (86°F). I guess I should do something about increasing the humidity though.

 

[alp]

Now, I am no expert. You could be over or under watering. It's best to have a clear pot so that you can see the colour of the roots. If you can, use a clear pot. When an orchid is healthy, the roots should turn green and plump when they are absorbing the water. You could lift up your roots, have a good feel and look at the colour. Also, you could put some pebbles under the pot and leave some water in there, just to raise the humidity a bit but don't let the roots sit in any water. I used to have moist perlite underneath to keep the plant happy.

 

[Belmont]

Im not an expert by any means eother, but doesnt the plant not flower during the winter?

 

[Gina145]

Now, I am no expert. You could be over or under watering. It's best to have a clear pot so that you can see the colour of the roots. If you can, use a clear pot. When an orchid is healthy, the roots should turn green and plump when they are absorbing the water. You could lift up your roots, have a good feel and look at the colour. Also, you could put some pebbles under the pot and leave some water in there, just to raise the humidity a bit but don't let the roots sit in any water. I used to have moist perlite underneath to keep the plant happy.

My bigger one is in a clear pot, but the little one came in a pretty pottery pot and I don't want to change it. That one is also in sphagmum moss and I don't like to touch that unnecessarily because I've heard that it can be unhealthy to do so, so it's not easy to tell whether it's too wet or too dry.

Im not an expert by any means eother, but doesnt the plant not flower during the winter?

I don't think that there's a specific time of year when they flower. My two had flowers right through the winter and it's the hot weather that seems to be causing problems. I'm not worried about the old flowers dying, it's the fact that the new ones are shrivelling up which worries me.

 

[alp]

You can google youtube for more info

 

[Gina145]

Thanks. There are some useful tips there and it seems I have a lot to learn. Caring for orchids indoors is very different to looking after bonsai that live outside.

From the videos and a little other reading I'm thinking that there are two possible causes of my problem: the change in the weather and not adjusting my watering accordingly, or overfeeding. Some videos and articles indicate one should only feed orchids when they don't have flowers. I only started feeding recently and they were doing great without any fertiliser for the last four months.

 

[alp]

Wonderful video