Hello!

1. Air humidity isn't as important as most people think so don't worry about it. Over watering is far more dangerous
2. That's not okay, unfortunately as that will rot your roots and kill your orchid.
3. Your plant doesn't look sick - the flowers are dying which is completely normal after a while. Your leaves look fine, except possibly underlit. How do you know your roots are getting too big?
4. Don't worry about the flowers drooping...either they were meant to die, or your change in environment led to a faster death. With care the plant will flower again for you! You can cut the stem off at the base (leaving about an inch attached to the plant) or leave it. It's up to you. If you leave it, it could flower again (rare) or create a new baby orchid (also rare).

What you have it in is probably fine, imo. Stick a wooden skewer into the pot to measure moisture in your moss. Pull it out periodically and check whether it is wet. Water when the skewer is dry and you should be good to go. Also I would move the plant to a slightly brighter location.

For more information, check out the FAQ, which is an excellent source of information.

Please read the FAQ's about Phalaenopsis Orchids (Phals). They are located on the first page of this forum, at the top. Purchase an inexpensive book Ortho's All About Orchids which is available in all the big-box stores and on line (about $12.00).

Your plant needs to be repotted into a pot with drain holes. It can stay in sphagnum moss, buy new moss also at the big stores or on-line, and put it in front of those windows. Your plant is probably dehydrated from lack of water. I would soak it and repot it as soon as possible. The plant is dumping its flowers because it can't support them without water and good roots. That's fine. Cut the spike and repot.

Please do a little research on this forum by typing in the search bar Phals, repotting (ouch) and look at the FAQ's.

After doing that, please come back with any specific questions.

Good luck,
Jane

"I live in the pacific northwest so there is low air humidity, but my last orchid died from over watering"

Your last orchid died because it did not receive enough light and this one is doing the same thing. You see those rich, deep green leaves? They indicate a sub-par light situation. Not at all unusual, given your location. In such light any watering, even the standard 1x/wk will produce symptoms indistinguishable from overwatering. In a clay pot you should be able to water 2x/wk without incident. The lack of a drain hole is no biggie! When you water pour it in, let that puppy fill up and then hold the plant and upend the pot and drain out all the water you poured in. What remains, held in suspension by the moss is exactly the same amount of water that would remain if there were drain holes. Drain holes are recommended because they make the process of watering a no-brainer. Should you forget to perform the very necessary operation of pouring out the trapped water... ... ...

Yes, in your desire not to overwater you underwatered and the flowers suffered. You can of course water well and hope they plump back up but they look pretty hard done by to me. Nothing to do now but grow the plant well and that means locating it where it can get an hour or two of good window SUN each day plus several hours of light from a small to medium wattage compact fluorescent light. If I thought you could do it with the light you have now I would not push you to spend money on lights but your orchid shows that it isn't getting the proper light.

H

Sorry Jane and Calvin, when I started my post there were no other responses to the newbie. It appears our advice differes in places. Hopefully linny will not be too confused and will take you up on your offer, Jane of further clarification.

H

Okay, thanks, everyone!
I had read a lot of the FAQs but it is all a bit confusing to someone with a bit of a black thumb.
I think my plan of action will be this for the least amount of care later.
1. repot in a clay pot with drainage holes/ tray for humidity that doesn't touch the roots and moss since it doesn't look rotten at all. Correct me if I'm wrong but the roots look outgrown because they are large and wound around towards the top of the pot and they don't come out easily.
2. put in a window with more light- I've been shifting it from eastern and shaded northern windows some but this doesn't seem to be enough so will look into different windows or possibly a lighting set up
3. leave the stem with flowers for now (during intensive care) and if they don't improve within a week, trim stem and *hope* for a regrowth- it can still flower again, right?!

Thanks again, I know it must be frustrating for pros to help someone who can hardly keep a pansy alive!
This plant was given to me by my mother in honor of my best friend who was killed a year ago at 24. You can see why I want to try so hard!

linny a window will not be enough in north america at this time of the year. Your orchid is a tropical plant that needs a lot of heat and light in order to re-bloom next year. It will also help with the over-watering. look at the leaves. They are very dark green. There are many threads concerning CFL's compact Florescent Lights. No need to shade a window. A north window is not enough light for anything. Since the plant has been underlight, you will ant to acclimate it slowly to more light. At minimum at 28w (actual 120w equivelent) is good but a 42w actual would be better. It would also add some heat so your phal dries more quickly

Clara

Hi, Linny. Since the plant is important to you, and you want to do well with it, check out the culture notes at Bedford Orchids, Big Leaf Orchids, and Robert Beddard Nurseries.

These are very good summaries of what phals need in order to thrive. You can print them out and review at leisure. Each takes a slightly different slant, but the "theme and variations" makes it easy to digest.

Also, check the end of the spike to see if it will still grow. I bought a phal with all but the last flower off of it, so it was marked half off, put it under lights and 6 more flowers formed over the next 5 months. Added light will stimulate the plant to keep flowering. Your old flowers look blasted from a change in environment- less humidity in your house than in a greenhouse where it came from, cooler temps, etc. Happened to me when I bought a brassia in bloom and the flowers quickly died from the change. Tom

You don't need to drive yourself crazy, just increase the light and repot 'carefully' in some fresh media. Personally, I would cut off the spike as I would like the plant to put its energy into growing some more roots and leaves. Follow the course and you will get new flowers next year.

Good going..

Jane

A different take..

Linny, if you werent' worried about having a black thumb, I'd tell you that sphagnum is a lucky choice for pots without drainage. After you check overall moisture level of the pot with a wooden skewer or finger and/or the pot starts to feel light, or the sphagnum is crunchy on top, you could just water moderately, aiming to wet, say, just the top half of the sphagnum, and being careful not to drench. The excellent wicking properties of sphagnum moss will spread the moisture evenly throughout the pot and if not overdone will actually result in more air about the roots than you would have by drenching sphagnum in a new pot with drainage holes. This could be a boon at this time of year with less than ideal light and cooler temps. You also have the terra cotta going for you, which 'breathes' and helps moisture dissipate. And together with the improved light that Howard suggests, would tide the plant over very nicely until warmer, sunnier weather ensures an easier time for the plant dealing with being repotted - particularly since the plant has just bloomed and is unlikely to have much activity at the roots right now.

HTH,

John

Linny,

I live in Seattle so I thought I would just give you some moral support. These folks are amazing and also gave me great advice on my phal. It went from mocking me to sending out a spike thanks to them! : )

If I can have everyone else put on their blinders for a moment...kay, don't tell them, but I don't have extra light on my plant. It's in a southern window with an overhang. I know it could do better with extra lights, but my budget is super tight so extras have to wait.

Ok, the rest of you can look again. Hopefully this won't start a debate, but I also found that Superthrive helped my roots out a lot. I'm pretty sure you can get that at Fred Meyer's.

Also, did anyone mention that it's ok for your roots to work their way out of the pot?

I've purchased a compact florescent light for my phal and am putting it on it for several hours a day. Hopefully it will get in a nice routine and I'll get it on track to keep growing and blooming!
Thanks so much for all your help, I'll keep you posted!

I'd like to ditto Coey's suggestion about superthrive. It's a very good hint.

I did an experiment once with seedlings side by side in the same spot outdoors, same everything else. With and without superthrive. The ones watered with superthrive developed wonderful root systems and were ready for planting much sooner.

And coey, I didn't read that middle paragraph. Good growing. :)