HELP!! What's happening to my orchid

[Alefti42]

Help, I bought an orchid for my girlfriend. We've had it for a week and a half and waited a week after we got it to water it, as those were our instructions. And then we had planned to water it a little each week and give it some fertilizer once a month. It's a beautiful Phalaenopsis.

Today, we came home and four of the leaves had fallen off (there were seven total). Three of those that had fallen off looked healthy (just detached), but the third was rotted and withered. The buds that haven't bloomed yet are dry and withered, too. The flowers that have already bloomed look okay.

Does anyone know what is going with this orchid? I can send you pictures if that would help. I really don't want it to die, as we just got it and were looking forward to taking care of it.

Also, a bit the inside of the plant is exposed where the leaves broke off. Is there something I should do about this?

Sorry, I wasn't expecting this many problems a week into owning the plant. Thanks to whoever can help me.

[ischel1]

Please post a pic of your orchid

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Yes, something is wrong for all that to happen in a week's time. It was probably something that happened before you got the plant. Post a photo and let us take a look.

cheers,
BD

[Alefti42]

Thanks so much. Here are some pics.

This is one of the base where the leaves fell off.



This is of the leaves that fell off. You can see one of them is all mushy and the other ones that fell of look better.



This is of the whole flower



And of the buds that are looking dry and droopy (sorry this one is a little blurry)



This last one is of one of the leaves still attached (there are three). It has some brown markings on it, so I thought it might be relevant.

[MaryLou]

What kind of conditions is the phal living in: Temperature, where is it located and amount of light for starts? A photo would be great also. :-)

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Thanks so much. Here are some pics.

This is one of the base where the leaves fell off.



This is of the leaves that fell off. You can see one of them is all mushy and the other ones that fell of look better.



This is of the whole flower



And of the buds that are looking dry and droopy (sorry this one is a little blurry)



This last one is of one of the leaves still attached (there are three). It has some brown markings on it, so I thought it might be relevant.

None of your photos show up? Can you upload your photos instead of linking?

cheers,
BD

[Alefti42]

Thank you so much. It's at a good temperature, I think. In the 70s normally in our apartment.. And it isn't in direct sunlight. The light it does get comes from a Northern exposure window.

Here is the base where the leaves broke off:



And the leaves that fell off. A lot of water came out of the withered one when I was moving it:



Here are the flowers and buds. You can sort of see how they're drooping toward the end of the the stem. They also look dry:



One of the remaining leaves. You can see a brown marking, and there's some black gooey stuff that is hard to see. I think it rubbed off from the rotting leaf.

[Alefti42]

I just posted them correctly. I knew there was something wrong when the preview didn't show the photos. Anyway, this time it did. They should be showing up shortly.

[articuno75]

Your plant has some serious issues going on there. First there is something bacterial or fungal going on if it's ooey gooey black, and oozing. Plus there's rot. Your plant is also stressed. That's why you're loosing buds. We call it bud blast. Since you only had the plant for little over a week and only watered it once, I'd take it back. Something is wrong with it for it to have that many problems in such a short time.

[ischel1]

My guess is stem rot, but hard to tell from the pics, they are kind of dark. but that's my guess anyway. Take it back to the vendor you got it from, it most likely occurred during his care.
ischel