Flower Buds and blossoms fall

[basiaurban]

Dear Friends and Orchid lovers,

I'm writing you with a few questions about my phalaenopsis orchid.

It was delivered to my office a week ago - with several flowers and about 20 buds about to blossom. When delivered, the plant had couple leaves that were becoming yellow. Within a week, the leaves turned more yellow and several of the blossoms fell off. It also looks like the leaves on the more developed blossoms are getting wrinkled and dry - as if they were ready to fall off. I also noticed that in place where new buds were growing, there is yellowish sort of sticky liquid. I wanted to send a few pictures to help you identify the problem, but have hard time uploading them. I hope that someone will be able to identify the issue without pics.

And to add more about the conditions: the plant is in a plastic transparent pot with drainage (so the water is not retained in the pot), i watered the plant once since I received it. It stands in a warm place behind the blinds (so no direct sunlight).

I'd be grateful for any help.

Basia

[Bikerdoc5968]

Possibly the reason you are having a problem uploading your digital pics is because they are too large of this forum's size restriction of 700 x 700. Use a "photoshop" type of program and down size to 700 x 700 and then from the "reply" screen select "manage attachments." Since we don't know your location, it is possible that the delivery service had the plant in a cold vehicle and the flowers are blasting. As for the leaves, lower phal leaves naturally turn yellow when they get old..... Pics would be helpful.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Welcome, Basia. I agree with what Bikerdoc has said. I suspect that it is not anything you have or have not done, but rather the delivery of your phal. IT was probably exposed to cold temps - very hard on developing buds and spikes. Since you are new here, I thought I would share a few links on the forum you might find helpful. The first two are articles on growing your phalaenopsis. The third link is to our "Help Video" section. There, you can learn how to post a photo into a thread. Enjoy the forum.

Cheers,
BD

Phal-a-normal: So What's A Phal Supposed to Look Like?

Growing the Phalaenopsis Orchid (Moth Orchid)

OrchidTalk Orchid Forum Help Videos

[ischel1]

Basia. Follow the good info from Biker doc and BD and you're chid will be fine. You said you are in an office, you might want to check the humidity and try and raise it to about 50% around the orchid by placing the orchid on a tray of pebbles with water in it. Don't let the water touch the bottom of the pot however. This might help. Good luck.

[Cjcorner]

Welcome to the group, and good luck with your new phal. I had a problem with a gift plant to my mom awhile back. Call and let the company know what condition it arrived in and they may resend for no cost. UPS trucks are notorious around here for ruining plants by leaving them in the hot sun. Most companies know this and generally will try to make things right. They left my mom's sitting outside on a porch, did'nt bother ringing the bell.....it was -20 F outside. It had frozen solid!
Connie

[basiaurban]

Thanks everyone for your help!
I didn't even think that it could be the delivery and yet it's very likely as the weather here has been pretty cold. Looking at the pics of the blasting buds that Bikerdoc posted, I see it's exactly the problem with my plant. In addition, the office is pretty hot, so I already placed the plant in a tray filled with pebbles and water in order to increase humidity.
Million thanks to all of you! Orchids are very rare here (I'm in the Palestinian Territories) and I'd be heart-broken if it died.
Cheers!