Big, full buds on Phal Amabilis not blooming

[Elise]

I joined this forum about a week ago and this is my first post so please bear with my novice descriptions!!!

I bought my first Phal. about 3 weeks ago. I'm not a huge houseplant person but this pretty little thing just SPOKE to me and I had to bring her home!! Now I understand why people get so addicted to these things. There is such a beautiful grace about orchids I never really noticed before. Anyway, about my Amabilis: she looks quite healthy, I keep her in a south east facing window with (what seems to me) perfectly filitered light. She's about 20", with what I think is a 6" keiki coming out at about the 8" mark. When I bought her, she had 1 flower open with a few (2-3) buds. Now she has about 8 buds, 3 of them are absolutely huge (well to me anyway!) and look like they are ready to pop. The keiki has about 5 buds, 2 of which are fairly large as well. The few inches of the stem where the buds are seem to be a purplish green. The main question I have is what can I do, if anything, to help these buds open? The weather here in coastal Virginia has been very cloudy for about a week or more so she really hasn't received a lot of sun. I just ordered some 20-20-20 Growmore Orchid Fertilizer--will this help?

Also, she's planted in a small, 4-1/2" round terra cotta planter, so I can't really see the roots. She's pretty packed in and I'm afraid to take her out to check them. It looks like sp. moss she's planted in. Should I consider repotting her, if so, when?

My digital camera is on the fritz right now so I can't post a picture. At any rate, any help you can provide would be appreciated

[Bird Song Farm]

Hi Elise, and Welcome to the OB.
You're going to learn a lot and have fun here!
You don't say where you bought your Phal. so I'm going to guess that the change in light may have slowed down the opening of the buds. P. Amabilis can have blossoms 6" in diameter and sometimes it just takes time for them to open. Orchids will teach you patience.
I'm going to leave your other questions about re-potting to others. Meanwhile, just be very careful about watering. It's very easy to over water. If the moss is damp on top, don't water. If you poke your finger down an inch or so and it feels damp, don't water.
Hope this helps some, I'm sure others with more experience will join in soon.
Al

[Tindomul]

Hi Elise, welcome to the Orchid Board. In my opinion the buds are right on track. I have some that take 5 weeks to open, and I have one now that has had 1 developing bud for 2 months. The cloudy days are not a problem. If anything keep your phal out of too much sun until you can figure out what it will handle.
If you think the plant is packed tightly, then I would say pull the moss out a bit to loosen it. The roots need to breath. Try digging in to take a look at the roots. If they look brown or yellow or mushy or anything other than plump white or green they are dieing. If you see that, then its time to repot. Phals love fast draining media that can hold moisture. Not soggy media that has no space for air.

[Elise]

Thank you so much for the info! I loosed up the moss a bit and checked her roots and they are nice and plump and greenish/grey but they do look sort of cramped so I'm still going to consider repotting.