Turning yellow and flowers falling
My orchid was doing great for a bit over a month, but now its starting to turn yellow and the flowers are falling. I was considering repotting it but I am not sure how or if thats a good idea. Any suggestions help.
2ft to light, indirect
6” pot with drainage
Last watered 1 week ago
3
All my orchids are doing this right now. Blooms are temporary, and as they die off, the orchid redirects its energy to creating new leaves. Sometimes, this process involves using up the nutrients from one of the bottom leaves. Your roots look fabulous. You’re doing a great job! 💗
Okay so two things, yes your roots do look green (which is good) and the flowers do eventually fall off as does the leaf, HOWEVER, your pot and potting medium will eventually lead to its demise. The roots have no room to breathe and needs a plastic pot with holes in them. Additionally you have a ton of sphagnum moss as soil. Not a problem if you have proper ventilation but without a pot that has holes it will almost certainly lead to root rot. I can see some blackening in the corner of the roots when I zoomed in your photo. My advice is to take the plant out, inspect the roots, cut out any you se that are black and musshy, get a plastic orchid (clear) pot that is ventilated & repot with an orchid potting soil (combo of moss, bark, wood etc) Sphagnum moss is something retail stores use to keep the orchids green without a ton of care but eventually the roots will need ventilation and proper orchid medium. This is why when ppl get orchids they are fine for months and then out of the blue they start to die. It’s because both the pot and medium are setting ppl up to fail.
Agreeing with Cristina. It's normal for leaves and flowers to die off in a cycle, but your plant needs air flow to the roots and better drainage in the medium. Get orchid mix (something with coarse bark, might also contain perlite, sphagnum moss, coconut husk, and slow release fertilizer, or any combo of these) so that the roots get the moisture they need while also having room to breathe. Also either poke holes in the plastic container and place pebbles beneath it in the decorative pot, or get an orchid specific pot with aeration so the medium can do its job.
You could wait until the flowers fall, as it's not incredibly urgent, but repotting and checking the roots should definitely be in this plant's future.
You could wait until the flowers fall, as it's not incredibly urgent, but repotting and checking the roots should definitely be in this plant's future.