Hi marytweedle - welcome to the forum!

Do you know what kind of orchid it is? Does it look like the pictures at this link? If so, then it's a phalaenopsis. Sounds like you're off to a great start with proper light & fertilizer. Losing flowers is a natural process. If it was in full bloom when you first bought it at Lowes, and it's just losing its flowers now, that sounds about right. After the spike dries up, you can cut it off at the base. If you think that the flowers fell off prematurely, I'd unpot it and take a look at the roots. Lowes and Home Depot orchids are notorious for having root issues - you really have to carefully inspect them before buying. The problem lies in the fact that they are usually over-watered and the roots rot.

Here are a couple links to Phalaenopsis care:

AOS Culture Sheet

RepotMe.com's Phalaenopsis Care Guide

Good luck with your new 'chid...be prepared, growing orchids is addicting :)

~altair

Keeping blooms on an orchid for two months is doing pretty well for a beginner. I have to say though that it is very unlikely that a bathroom window supplies any orchid with "plenty of light". Certainly not in winter. I doubt any root issues are a result of being from a box store as there has been plenty of time for that to reveal itself. However, going forward, root issues and root health are going to be of prime significane because light levels are about to drop precipitously and one simply cannot continue with the same schedule of watering and fertilizing that was done earlier in the year. I haven't looked at them but I am sure the culture sheets will do a good job of outlining care for the orchids in question. What they usually do not do such a great job of detailing is just how poor most houses are at collecting sunlight and emphasising the need for artificial light supplementation during winter if at no other time.

H

I have a skylight in my bathroom. But if this will not supply enough light in the upcoming months, I will need an additional source. The temperature in the bathroom is easy to regulate. I do have a sunroom, but it gets a little cold in the winter.

Now that I realize I didnÂt kill my gorgeous orchid, I feel better. I would like to become a skilled orchid grower. IÂm completely captivated by my beautiful plant.

This is a very good forum excellent and timely information - Mary

It's hard to say whether or not you're getting enough light in your bathroom window since you live in sunny Texas. Let's hope some of our Texas growers will chime in here.

Hi Mary,

The first thing to know is the kind of orchid you have. Is it a Phalaenopsis?

It seems a little odd that your plant would lose all of its blooms over so short a time. With my Phals aging is a gradual, one blossom at a time process over the blooming life of the spike (3-4 months). Short of breaking the spike, only three things have ever caused me to lose blossoms prematurely :

The first was misreading when the plant needed water. Blooming plants use more water--or use it faster--than when there are no blooms. Blooms will close and fall if the plant is allowed to get too dry. I learned that I must check the media, rather than guess or time how often to water.

The second culprit was fertilizer. I now stop fertilizing when the first blossom opens and do not resume until the last flower falls. If I accidentally include fertilizer when watering a blooming Phal, I can count on losing up to three flowers in rapid succession.

The third was intense sunlight directly on the blossoms. Many orchid blossoms are too delicate and wither in the heat of direct sun.

Sweetcicely