Wilting orchid flowers and reddish leaves... help?

[orangemetaphor]

I bought this plant not too long ago (less than a week) and it's my first orchid.

My dad put it on the porch (All day) while I was away for a day. And watered it.

The petals are drooping and some of them are drying up!
The leaves have a reddish hue to the tips and moreso on the underside

I don't know if it needs more light- less light- I'm just not sure! I really don't want it to die.
I've included some pictures. Might help.

[catttan]

Not too much sun damage. Phalaenopsis are low light plants and should not be exposed to direct or too much sun.

[ksriramkumar]

Concur with Yew Sung. flowers look bit droopy because of direct sun light. move it a shade with indirect sun light. leaves look ok. it seems potted in moss. so exercise caution when watering. I would move to bark + charcoal mix when blooms are done.

[Ron-NY]

does the pink pot have a drainage hole?

[Carolla]

Yes, lower light and is the plant in a plastic pot within the pink pot? If the pink pot does not drain, it may be a display pot, where the inner pot needs to come out when its watered until it drains thoroughly. The roots of a Phal rot easily, they like air. Generally I pot mine in coarse bark and add a little sphagnum moss to hold moisture in my dry climate. Many Phals come from the greenhouses in tight sphagnum moss, works fine for the greenhouse care, not so good at home.

Pull back the moss on the top and examine the situation of the roots and how it is all potted and let us know.

As of now the plant looks great, the flowers look stressed due to the heat/sun. It should continue to bloom the new buds though, even if you lose the flowers it has now.

[orangemetaphor]

Yes, lower light and is the plant in a plastic pot within the pink pot? If the pink pot does not drain, it may be a display pot, where the inner pot needs to come out when its watered until it drains thoroughly. The roots of a Phal rot easily, they like air. Generally I pot mine in coarse bark and add a little sphagnum moss to hold moisture in my dry climate. Many Phals come from the greenhouses in tight sphagnum moss, works fine for the greenhouse care, not so good at home.

Pull back the moss on the top and examine the situation of the roots and how it is all potted and let us know.

As of now the plant looks great, the flowers look stressed due to the heat/sun. It should continue to bloom the new buds though, even if you lose the flowers it has now.

Yes I believe so. What am I looking for in the roots? I'll find some coarse bark to put in it. Any brands to recommend? And yeah there's no hole in the pink pot but it is in a plastic one inside there .

I'll take it out. Thank you for the reply.



here are the roots

---------- Post Merged at 03:40 PM ----------

The pot has no drainage hole. Do you recommend any brands of bark?
Yeah my dad just decided to put it on the porch and water it way too much.
I'm glad he didn't k ill it. So the buds are okay though? Also pic of the roots is below. They're green a bit of the way down but I can't get the plant easily out of the pot so.

[Carolla]

Leave the plant in the pot, but keep it out of the pink pot and let it dry out. For now the roots look good - that fat green root is a healthy and happy one. How likely is your dad to water it again? If he'll leave it alone, you might want to leave it as is and just be sure it dries out well between waterings and is allowed to drain until it is done flowering. The stress of repotting could lose the rest of your flowers. If your dad is often helpful, you may want to go ahead and repot it now so it can drain if he waters it.

Where do you live? What is your climate like? That will influence your potting decisions pretty heavily. Your humidity, heat and light can really change how you care for an orchid.

Pick up some coarse orchid bark. I don't think we are supposed to mention brands in the forum, I can pm you, but I think you need 10 posts and to turn on private messages. I also use sphagnum moss (about 1/4) mixed into the bark when I pot my Phals, because I live in a dry area with low humidity. I do pack the media in around and through the roots (I use an old chopstick to help) tightly enough to hold the plant firmly in place. Be sure when you look at the bark itself it is pretty big (~3/4" or more mostly) and its not full of fines that could pack around the roots.

When you get your bark, soak some overnight to hydrate it, then you will have to gently cut the plastic pot off and carefully remove the sphagnum moss off the roots. I did one just like that last night. You will want a pot that drains well. I am fond of the decorative ones that are ceramic with holes in the side for Phals. Get a pot that is slightly larger than the plastic one to put it in. I believe there is a very good video about repotting Phals in the forum to show you how to do it. Because my Phals are in fast draining pots and bark and it is very dry here, I soak them in the sink about every week to 10 days when I water them. This allows the bark and the moss to soak up some water, but the good drainage allows air to the roots to they don't rot. Every person has to learn their own conditions and what works for them, but knowing some of the principles of what Phals like does help a lot.

Good luck!