Question
QUESTION: I am hoping you can help, I have 4 orchids my father gave me.  one of the 0rchid started to grow large buds and was ready to flower and then when they were just about to open they started to dry up and fall off, i have lost 6 buds this way, i moved some fruit that was several feet away and now the bananas are more than 6 feet away is that still too close, plus the ochid right next to it has now bloomed 4 flowers, and has nice green leaves and the other 3 have red on the edge of thier leaves, and the one that keeps losing buds looks root bound i think 3 of them need to be repotted but they are starting to grow small buds. thanks for your help.

ANSWER: Hello Nancy,

Yes, it would be a good idea to move the fruits a little further away, around 8 feet or so.  

Hopefully, after you moved the bananas a little further away, the buds stopped dying and started to open.  

If the orchids are rootbound within the pot, you can try repotting them after the flowers are gone.  Keep in mind that most orchids grow and bloom better when they are slightly rootbound.  

Hope this has helped.

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: that orchid did manage to sprout two flowers finally yesterday, yeah! however what do i do about the red on the edge of 3 of the orchids, also one of the orchids has what seems like almost all of its roots outside the pot, its as if it is trying to crawl out of the pot, it sprouted one orchid branch about 4 inches was green and doing well, then stopped growing and the sprout at the end turned brown, is it getting to much sun? is that what the red on the edge of leaves is?  and should i fertilize while they are in flower?oh one more thing the 2 out of the 4 flowers on one ochid are yellowing some, they have been in bloom for about 2 weeks, is that just them dying because they are ready or is that premature?  Thank you so much you have been most helpful. thanks Nancy

Answer
Hi Nancy,

First I'd like to apologize for taking so long to respond to your followup questions, I just got so busy that I forgot about checking for new questions.  Who says retirement is easy!!!!  (grin)  

Glad to hear more buds opened!  As for the redness on leafs, that is probably due to a little too much sun exposure.  Phalaenopsis prefer bright shade with maybe a couple hours of early morning direct sunlight.  Aerial roots are usually due to the potting media turning sour (bad).  Once it has finished blooming it would be a good idea to repot it into fresh orchid media.  Look for one that contains medium to large size orchid bark.  As I mentioned earlier, orchids grow and bloom best when slightly rootbound in the pot.  

If you have a balance type orchid fertilizer, you can feed it year round.  Two weeks is a bit premature for flowers to be fading, phal. flowers usually last for several months so look around to see what may be causing this.  Fruits, cold or hot breezes (window or heater), freshly painted wall, any thing that produces a noticeable smell.  These can also affect newly growing flower spikes.  

Hope this helped.  Again I apologize for being tardy.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.