I got a mini Phalenopsis as a present. It made me uncomfortable from the very beginning. I don't go on well with plants that actually flower (apart from my mammillaria cactus). It was all good (weekly soaks) until a cold spell hit and in response the block management cranked up the central heating to the max. Now all the flowers and buds are shriwelled and falling off. Is there any way how to salvage that poor thing? The leaf rosette and roots still look healthy enough. Is there a chance of giving it a healthy rest and expecting more blooms next year? How should I protect it from the dry heat?
How long has it been flowering? What you're describing, at least in relation to the flowers, sounds like what the flowers do when they've reached the end of their bloom time. I've had orchids where a couple of the buds just didn't open and kind of shriveled when the flowers did. I guess what I'm trying to ascertain is whether the bloom situation is in response to the heat or just a natural progression.
I'm not entirely sure, Ronni. It was from a supermarket, so probably not very fresh, so it's entirely possible it was just past it's best anyway... Assuming the best, what do I do? Do I trim the flower stalks once all flowers are off? Do I keep feeding it monthly as the label suggests? Should I put it hovering above a dish of water to keep air locally moister?
I can only tell you what I do with mine, which have produced blooms year after year. I don't touch the bloom stalk till all the blooms have dropped off and the upper end of the stalk has turned brown and brittle. Once that happens, I snip off the brittle part and wait. Eventually it will put out another bloom stalk. Yeah, I'd feed monthly. I don't quite know what you mean about hovering it above a dish of water. I just take mine out of their decorative pots once a week and gently run water over the leaves and stalks (not the flowers if it's in flower, though I will gently mist them with a spray bottle as long as the spray is fine enough) Then I soak the growing medium completely and leave it in the sink till all the excess water has run out. The pots they're in have lots of drainage so there's no chance the roots will sit in water, which will just cause them to rot.
I have seen a setup where the pot sits in another pot with no drainage in a way that it's stuck halfway through, and there is water in the bottom of the second pot, but not touching the orchid pot, so as the water evaporates, the moist air goes through the orchid pot. I think my grandma keeps hers that way
That's interesting. Never heard of that one. But I'm a very, very far cry from being an orchid expert so it's not surprising!
