It sat on that table by the east facing front door with a large window. Only one bloom opened a couple days after I brought it home. It was all downhill from there. When the flowers started to wilt a few week later, I thought that maybe it wasn't getting enough light since the light dies off fairly quickly in the morning where it was. I moved it to a well shaded west facing window in our utility room. Never did show any signs of improvement. I have repotted it since I bought it. I very carefully cut it out of the plastic container it came in and put it directly in the pot. I cut the spikes off about two weeks ago. I finally realized it wasn't going to respike. I'm jealous every time I go to Home Depot and see all the neglected phals blooming away. Here is how it looks now (picture taken outside for the lighting -- it still lives inside).

I also unintentionally planted it leaning forward. I don't know if this is considered bad or not.

I did read in the FAQ that this could be caused by lack of hydration. I water it about once a week and it is planted in Home Depot orchid mix, which is probably too water retentive. Every couple of weeks I give it some fertilizer (Dyna-Grow Orchid-Pro). I am thinking the lack of hydration is probably root rot, as I don't think I'm watering too infrequently. I want to get a second opinion from everyone here on my phal's health and advice on where to go with it from here. I will probably pull it out of it's pot and examine the roots sometime soon.

I think I may have overly worried about the light issue. It probably could have used some more light, but the flowers probably starting dropping from the change in environment. I bought the plant at a local nursery that has a special greenhouse devoted to just orchids, so it came out of an ideal environment. I'm hoping to buy a temperature controlled greenhouse so I can grow more orchids.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

I can spot about three healthy, firm roots out of the bunch. Do I cut off everything that is shriveled? Should I keep some of the dry roots simply for structural support? Reason I ask is that I heavily pruned a failing cattleya once and the wind blew it out of its pot and it was destroyed by the dogs once it hit the ground.

Here it is unpotted. The soil is Miracle Grow orchid mix.

I would also apply some kind of rooting hormone to the good roots. Powder is ok. I use a gel, and paint it all over the roots and stem, but if you don't have it, use powder.

Repot into a tiny pot, just big enough for hold the roots-- probably no bigger than 3". Then put a baggie over the leaves to create humidity and make them last longer. What you are trying to do is to create enough humidity to save the leaves until new roots start to form. I use one baggie on each side, leaving the crown center open. It doesn't have to be a pretty-pot, since the plant, all baggied up won't be too elegant for several moonths.

You have a good chance to revive this, I think, assuming you want to. Give it the best light you have, assuming the leaves don't get hot. You'll have to check them by feel when the sun is shining on them.

Also, what are the temperatures where you are growing your orchid? Phals thrive best when winter night temperatures do not go below 60 degrees, and day temps are 15 or so degrees warmer. Cold and damp are difficult conditions for phals. I am concerned because you mentioned utility room, and those are sometimes unheated.

Your orchid can be saved, the repotting instructions above are excellent.

Good luck,
Jane

I monitor the temp in the utility room and it is never more than a few degrees off from the rest of the house. I only grow this inside so I can't do the 15 degree temp drop at night as the thermostat is set the same all day long. I know this is not ideal but it's all I can until I get a greenhouse.

This may sound stupid, but does it matter what kind of bark I use? I prefer to use things I can find around my yard when possible (and it's free), so will some oak or mesquite bark work just as well?

Thanks for all the advice.

I like to save money too. You can use the same pot and potting mix, what you can do is put 1 or 2 Styrofoam peanuts under the root mass so the center doesn't keep too wet, also you can get 1/2 a handful of small rocks, or gravel (wash first) and mix it into the potting mix to air out the mix, or cut up 2-3 Styrofoam peanuts to 1/8-1/4 inch pieces. Do NOT use the other bark.

Remember the Miracle grow has enough fertilizer for 3 months, but if you have access to Dyna-Grow products, consider pick up KLN, which helps rooting. The leaves looks as it could use a little more light but wait until it has regrown roots. As for flowering you might have to wait till next winter for it respike. The 15 degree temp drop isn't as necessary as a reduction of light which happens in winter.

I'll see if I can post a picture of my Miracle grow plant later.

Good luck,
Auger

Chances are, dry roots indicate not enough water. Mushy roots indicate too much water. You might try the skewer method of watering. Put a trimmed down shishkabob skewer in the medium and leave it there. The next time you go to water, pull out the skewer and touch it to your cheek, lip, or the back of your hand. If it's just damp, water. If it's wet, don't water. Phals like to almost, but not quite, dry out before they're watered again, but they don't like to stay wet. You may find your skewer is dry, an indication that you are not watering with enough water at each time or the intervals between watering is too long. When you water, water thoroughly. The saying goes, you can't water an orchid enough, but you can water too often.

It may be me, but the holes in that blue ceramic pot look like they have accumulated salts around them. Too much salt in the medium can be death to an orchid. Salts can accumulate from your water or fertilizer or both. If you fertilize, every fourth or fifth watering should be a thorough flushing with plain water. Before using that pot again, thoroughly scrub the inside of it and those drainage holes.

After reading this thread, I took mine out of the pot but the roots didn't look the same as the ones in the picture. They were light brown and dryed up and some still had live green root sections in between the brown dead parts. I think that I have been underwatering?? (was afraid to overwater). I have cut off all the dead roots and repotted. My pot is much smaller and I had a lot of live root left (some sections over 6 inches long).

When the plant was blooming I had been soaking it for about 20 minutes and then draining it about every two weeks between normal waterings but hadn't done that since it quit blooming. I just cut the stalk back also. I think I repotted at a bad time before because it was fully bloomed out when I did it and very shortly after that all the blooms fell off and the stalk started to turn brown!!

Does it sound to you like I should go back to the old watering routine even though it isn't blooming? Did I make the plant go dormant? I have never seen any new growth on it and I've had it since February. I live in Texas and we keep our home at around 78 during the day while we are gone and about 74 at night in the summer. When it was blooming this winter the house was about 76 during the day and 66 at night. The plant is in a north window with filtered light all day. It never gets direct sunlight. I am using Miracle Grow as well, but it dries out quickly. My pot also has holes top to bottom and is about 4" wide and 5" tall not counting the draining saucer. I would really hate to lose my first orchid!! Help!