I have had a Phalaenopsis orchid for almost weeks now since October 24. (I ordered it from ProFlowers online.) One bud fell off when I opened the package.

Within the first week, I had to depot it because it was shipped with plastic wrapped around the roots inside a clear container without any holes. :/ I kept in the same moss that came with it and tried not to disturb it as much so it won't go in shock.

So far, I have lost one bud, and I flower. All my buds have opened. I still have flowers and mostly green leaves, so I hope my orchid is okay.

For the first 3 weeks, the moss would get dry after about 1 week and I would water it and let it drain out. (My pot has three holes in it). So, I was averaging watering about once a week.

Week 1: Water + fertilizer (better gro) + bloom booster (better gro)
week 2: water + fertilizer
week 3: water + fertilizer

I was going to just water it without fertilizer for week 4 to clean out the excess salts.

But, now, I haven't watered my orchid for almost 4 weeks now. (This Wednesday will be week 7). The top portion of the moss is getting dry, but it is still wet on the inside. So I don't want to risk watering it.

What could have happened in the past 3 week to cause a change in my watering schedule?

Is my orchid okay? Or do you think it might have root rot now despite the drainage holes? Should I just go ahead and water the orchid despite feeling slight wetness when I dip my finger inside the moss?

SN: I let it sit on top of a humidity tray with rocks for humidity. I live in the Mid-Atlantic US. And my orchid is on a southeastern facing window if this helps.
Also, I noticed my leaves are browning. They were browning weeks ago though. And they also have scratch marks on them it appears. And part of the leaf is tearing apart (though it came like this, the tear seems to be getting bigger. Some of the edges of the leaves are brown and look chewed off. What does this mean?

Find some complete culture notes on the net that relate to your climate zone and read some of the past numerous Phalaenopsis threads on this site to give you some idea on how to proceed.

How much air movement does the orchid receive? When I have a hard time drying out my moss, I usully look to watering less and getting the plant in a brighter, more "airy/air movement" situation.

Good luck,

Bob

What you need to do is pull it out of the pot. Remove about a third of the moss from random areas on the root ball, loosen it up tease it out a little.Now stick the root ball back in the pot, you won't send it into shock. Sitting constantly in something wet and cold would be more shocking to me.You might want to incorporate a heating pad into the situation as well if you can. My orchids were just delighted when I added the heating pads to my set-up. I think they are much more important than humidity trays personally.

Sorry I can't say too much on the pictures because it was hard for me to see anything in them. Ginnibug

I just loosened up the moss a bit and took a big chunk out. It was extremely tightly packed.

Though the top layer is dry now, the middle and bottom part are still wet. Ugh, I hope it's not too late. Either way, lesson learned. Never order orchids from ProFlowers again, and make sure the middle portion isn't still wet before I water again.

"Another thought is to provide the amount of water to the plant that allows it to dry out at the interval you desire. i.e. a few days to a week. You can saturate moss to where it takes weeks to dry out or you can add less water so that it dries out sooner. Watering moss is different than bark. The amount per watering is important."

Watering in small amounts will lead to mineral toxicity. Since water is never allowed to drain, and minerals contained in water do not evaporate, they accumulate until the plant can no longer take up water. It's much better to change the medium to something that holds the proper amount of water when saturated. I mix chunky perlite with my sphagnum moss to achieve a proper balance. The moss may also just need to be replaced if it's old.

-Chris

Ok here is the low down on moss...

Pros
easy to pot with
has anti-bacterial/anti-fungal properties
drys from bottom to top(if not packed tight)
proper ph level for 1 year or better (then time to repot)
encourages new root growth
easy to get in & out of the pot when dry
Not real buggy like bark

Cons
(If packed tightly)Takes forever to dry,meanwhile your plant is drowning in cold &wet like the Titanic
Moss starts breaking down after a year or so,so shorter repot time compared to bark

Moss just isn't for everybody. For me, it's a life saver, for others it's a death sentence. I happen to love it. Thats all I can grow my phals in or I'll kill them. I can just read moss better than bark.gb