Question
Hi Wayne,
I am worried my Phal orchid is dying. I bought it about six weeks ago. It had six open blossoms and several closed buds. After about three weeks, the first blossom started drooping, and then one by one all blossoms fell off. The buds have by now all fallen off, too, except for one. Some of them opened before dropping.
I took the plant out of its pot, and the roots look firm and healthy. Yet I found there is hardly any potting medium in the pot. I water the plant every 7 to 14 days.
I live in Southern California and keep the orchid in my bathroom. The window there is constantly open. The temperature indoors has varied between 55 (nights) and 85 degrees. Also, during showers, it gets rather humid for some minutes. The room is a little dim.
Do you have any idea what caused the loss of my blossoms? I would be happy if you could tell me what I could do to improve the health of my plant and make it flower again. Thank you for your help!

Answer
Cara, it is likely that your plant was in flower for some  time before you bought it and those flowers that were open may well have reached senescence.  I can't explain why the buds dropped before opening or were open for only a short time. If it is a relatively young plant it may not have been able to support additional flowering and aborting buds is a way of conserving energy.

From your description of growing conditions, they seem fine.  Some suggestions: 1) repot the plant in a plastic pot, with lots of air holes in it, with fresh orchid potting mix; 2) increase the light level for good future blooming (leaves should be a light yellow green for best flowering)