Hi there! It’s my first orchid, I believe it’s a phal although I’m not sure. I bought it from the local garden centre and I’ve had it for 4 months now, when I got it there were a few flowers budding and I’ve had 4 buds grow and open, but there’s only two left.

As as I was removing the dead flowers this morning, I noticed that the tops of the stems felt quite soft and when squeezed they weren’t solid. A part of the stem also just came away with the flower when I was pruning.

The plant overall doesn't seem to be suffering any, it’s grown two new leaves and has plenty of green, plump roots, although I did notice a brown root today. The plant came to me in soil when I bought it and I asked the guy at the garden centre if it was okay in soil and he said it’s fine, although I’ve never seen an orchid in soil before, it worries me because every time I water it, the soil stays wet for quite a while. The plant gets plenty of light. I’m just not sure if my little plant is sick or if there’s something I can do to turn it all around!