Phal lost some blooms, but is back now... do I prune? - Orchid Board

Jdcampbell · #1 01-11-2011, 01:47 PM

New to Orchids, I bought four different Phals back in October. Everything was going great, until we went away on our Honeymoon in Dec. Away for a week, Im not sure if the house sitter watered or didn't, but they weren't looking too hot. Two days after returning, my house was suddenly infested with ants, and they had made their homes in my Phals. In all four plants, the blooms shriveled and fell off. I repotted, pruned the two that lost all their blooms and they seemed to thrive again. However the two I didn't prune... The both have blooms currently, and are only one spike, but they each lost 4 or 5 blooms. Is it just best that i Prune them all the way down to begin the new growth, or just let them be?

tucker85 · #2 01-11-2011, 04:17 PM

I would just let them be. If they've begun to loose blooms they probably won't last much longer anyway. I always assume that the plant will do what's best. Good luck.

Zoi2 · #3 01-11-2011, 11:42 PM

Hello and welcome to the OB.
Can you post pictures of your plants?
Joann

RosieC · #4 01-12-2011, 07:22 AM

Welcome to Orchid Board.

How do the plants them selves look. It's possible that it's just time for the flowers to drop, they last about 3 months on average but if they were fully in flower when they were bought then you don't know how long they had already been open for.

The thing to check is the plant health. You say the two you pruned the flowers from have picked up, what are you looking at... leaves, roots?

Flowers are not the best indicator of plant health so take a look at the leaves and roots.

CTB · #5 01-12-2011, 08:04 AM

If you bought them in spag. that probably is the problem, it holds too much water and is so tightly packed the roots can't get any air. Now that you have repotted give them a chance to recoup. Trim after the existing blooms are faded.

Jdcampbell · #6 01-12-2011, 11:55 PM

Well Thanks for all the info! Im working on getting pictures (camera battery is dead). As for the plants themselves...before I repotted the one that was most infested with ants began to yellow on the upper most leaf. After I repotted the leaf turned green again.
I was also interested in everyones opinion on the best way to water. The people that I bought my plants from suggested watering once a week by soaking the whole pot for 5 minutes and then draining. It seems to be working, but Im a little worried about excess moisture and possible molding... any input?

RosieC · #7 01-13-2011, 06:41 AM

I water this way, it's a good way of watering because while orchids like air arround the roots they also like lots of water.

It's not that water causes rot, rather that lack of air flow caused by too much water blocking the gaps in the medium causes rot.

The thing is to perhaps not work on a fixed 'weekly' basis. Rather try and water when it's ready, not on a fixed schedule.

For Phals I water when the roots in the bottom of the pot (using clear pots) are turning silvery. If the pot is not clear then you can use a wooden skewer pushed into the medium. When it's dry when pulled out then it's time to water again. Push it back in the same place every time to avoid damage to the roots.

A final thing I will mention, is that if these indicators seem to be pushing you past 2 weeks between waterings then something needs doing to increase the drying time (by changing the medium mix, either for fresh stuff or for something different which is faster drying). Actually I think 1 week is the ideal to aim for, I start getting worried over two weeks though.