Why do my orchids keep turning brown near the blooms and ...
4ft to light, indirect
2” pot with drainage
Last watered 3 years ago
4
Your leaves are shriveled, which unfortunately can mean either too much or too little water. You need to pull him and thoroughly investigate the roots. If you see any breaks in the roots, any yellowing or brown, and any other signs of rot or distress you need to trim them all away (and if you haven’t pulled the core they typically come with make sure you do that right when you bring them home going forward). Once the roots have been maintained give them a good soak in peroxide mixture and sprinkle with cinnamon which helps stop the fungal spread. Then give him some orchid fertilizer if you haven’t in a while and get him in a nice airy orchid mix. Remember - only a few ice cubes a week is needed to water them, too much consistent water is just as bad as too little and both cause the shriveling. I’d also remove the damaged flowers - orchids put forth energy to maintain flowers they he is going to need to grow new roots. Oh and trim off any dried out areal roots as well. He will bounce back, they are just super sensitive. I had to do this for mine recently and I had to make the tough call to take the final two flowers down too so he’d focus on his leaves and roots. It happens and it’s easier than you might think, don’t feel bad!!
I respectfully disagree with some of the information that’s been given to you. Cinnamon desiccates orchid roots and should be avoided. While cinnamon is a great antibacterial for orchids, it works by drying out the tissue and effectively making a deal so no bacteria or viral infections can get in. So it works great for leaves and if you need to cut a flower stem off. Roots however are covered in a really delicate covering that is essential for moisture absorption and so you don’t want to put anything that can dry them out on the roots, including cinnamon. It’s a similar story with watering with ice. Phals come from South East Asia, the Philippines and Australia and they grow on trees. They never encounter ice in their natural habitat and have never adapted to cope with ice. Watering with ice can actually shock the roots, causing the plant to kill them off and can stress the plant out too, which leads to blooms ageing too quickly or blooms or leaves failing. It’s best to water the plant by soaking the roots as this ensures adequate hydration that ice or running water through the pot can’t provide. It also provides the wet/dry cycle they encounter in the wild when it rains (ie, the bark becomes wet when it rains and dries out over a number of days and repeats. Soaking the roots also allows for absorption of the fertiliser - water soluble fertiliser tend to be much better for phals than ones you drip into the bark which can burn and damage the roots. You only need to water when the bark is dry and the roots are a silver colour. A healthy phal with lots of energy can easily stay in bloom for 3-4 months without problems. When the spikes start shutting down while still in bloom, it means that the plant is either stressed (moving the plant to a new room or subjecting it to cold temperatures can do it (phals can’t cope with temperatures below 12-14 Celsius. It could also be that it’s not getting enough sun to give the plant enough energy to keep the flowers alive. Phal roots tend to give us so much information about the health of the plant and I would inspect yours. You should be looking out for rot (the roots will look black and soggy) or dryness (they’ll look white or papery). If you have either of these problems, a repot is needed. Miss Orchid Girl on YouTube has a great repotting tutorial. If you need to cut away dead roots, always cut into dead tissue - cutting living tissue can let in viral or bacterial infections. If you don’t have many viable roots left, I would recommend cutting off the flower spikes so that the plant can rest and concentrate on making new roots. You can put the flower spike in a vase and they last a few weeks! Phals are known to flower themselves to death - they will actually shut down roots and leaves in order to preserve the blooms (they do this because they want to be pollinated) and this can lead to the death of the plant, so it’s always best to put the plant’s health first. Repot in good quality orchid bark, removing any sponge plug the roots may have been potted in, make sure the plant has enough sun, soak your roots and use a good fertiliser and you should have a happy phal that is able to hold onto its blooms for months!
Hi Rachel welcome to Greg. I agree with @MotherOfOrchids 💯 her advice helped me with my orchids. I would definitely check those roots and look for that spongy plug and remove it (ugh my nemesis with orchids those spongy plugs are death). Happy growing 🍃🌱🌿🥰
