Possible dying orchid?

[skanteater]

My mum gave me an orchid to look after when I moved to uni because she has so many and she said she wouldn't mind if I accidentally killed it...but I would rather not kill it, so here I am and here it is.




I think it's dying...and I'm not sure if/how I can rescue it. (Please excuse my naivety about growing orchids, I'm literally clueless.) It's normally about 20-27 degrees Celsius in my room, which my mum says is too hot for it...is this true? I used to keep it on my windowsill (which gets no sunlight) but as my radiator is directly beneath that, I thought maybe that would be too hot for it. I now keep it on a shelf which is sort of by the window.

I know I definitely need to get rid of that awful yellow leaf at the bottom. Can I just cut it off with scissors? Also I think the roots need sorting out but I'm not entirely sure and don't know how I would go about it. And lastly, I'm fairly sure it's not supposed to be hanging out of the pot at an angle like that, do I need to empty the pot out and repot it or something? How would I do this?

Are there any other problems that anybody thinks could be hurting my orchid?

Thanks in advance!

[kiwiorchids]

You need to stop watering that thing so much lol! That temp is fine for Phallies too. That leaf you see dying is actually just a finished leaf-it is of no more use as a functioning, sugar producing part of the plant. It will just drop off if you give it a light tug. No problem.

BUT it looks as if you need to give that thing a repot! The medium is breaking down for starters, and it looks far too wet. Just let it dry for a few days between watering, dont give it water if it is already moist, and always make sure it is NOT SITTING IN WATER, that has to be one of the biggest and most common mistake. Give it a brightly lit position too,

To repot:
After you gave let it dry for a few days (which it needs lol), take it out of the current pot (throw this away) and just soak it in a tub or sink of water with one or two GRAINS (not a teaspoon!) of Condies Crystals (Potash), to kill any potential fungus spores or bacteria that could harm the plants roots. Let it soak for about 20 mins, and pull off the bark from its roots, and chop pff any dead, shrivelled or mushy roots. Then, lay it out on a teatowel or a HandyTowel to dry. The leftover roots should all be green. When they develop a white waxy coating (about 20mins later), pot into a pot just larger than the plant, and put a bit of bark (buy specially marked bags of Orchid Bark from nurseries or online etc) on and lightly bang the pot to settle it into the bottom and around the roots. Repeat a few times until the pot is full.

A good watering criteria to follow with Phallies, is water whenever the top of the medium is dry. Works for me. Also try adding a few pebbles to the bottom of your pot holder-make sure there is always water just below these, so it isnt touching the pot. This gives added humidity to the root area.

[skanteater]

Thank you so much for your amazing reply and sorry I've been rude and not replied! I had it in a pot with holes in the bottom which was inside another pot the inner pot was sitting on a foam thingy so the water would drain to the bottom. If that makes sense. Anyway, I've been watering it about once a week but I think I needed to let it drain for a bit after watering it before I put it back in the other pot. I've removed the dead leaves and dead roots and repotted it now and hopefully it will be healthy now

[kiwiorchids]

Thank you so much for your amazing reply and sorry I've been rude and not replied! I had it in a pot with holes in the bottom which was inside another pot the inner pot was sitting on a foam thingy so the water would drain to the bottom. If that makes sense. Anyway, I've been watering it about once a week but I think I needed to let it drain for a bit after watering it before I put it back in the other pot. I've removed the dead leaves and dead roots and repotted it now and hopefully it will be healthy now

No worries, and thats fine! We all have a real life that needs attention every now and again dont we ? Here, we just have pot covers, just a ceramic pot missing the drainage hole. We sit the pots inside these, and it is so simple! Just make sure the pot is well drained, a little bit of water in the bottom is ok, but not advised