Question
I received a Dtps Newberry Parfait orchid from a friend who passed away this past spring.  It had two "stalks" with flowers on them. The flowers fell off and the stalks got brown. I cut them back but now the leaves (there are 6) don't look so good.  The very bottom ones have a yellow tinge to them and the upper ones have lost their luster.  I water it roughly once a week. I have it on my kitchen table with a north east exposure.  The "soil" seems to be kind of a chunky bark and it sits on a saucer with small pebbles in it.  I'm really good at killing things but would like to keep this orchid going as it is a lasting reminder of my dear friend.
Thank you so much for any advice you can offer. I would be most grateful.
mb

Answer
Hello Mary,

I hope I can help you keep your Dtps. Newberry Parfait alive.  

You were correct to remove the brown stalks (spikes) because they were dead and of no further use to the orchid plant.  The problems you note could be an indication that there may be a problem with the roots within the pot.  What I believe has happened is the roots may be rotting inside the pot.  You water it about once a week which might be a little too often because the potting media (chunky bark) may still be too wet.  It is best to water only when the media starts to become barely moist, constantly wet media can cause the roots to drown and die.  Also, the best time to do any watering and misting of an orchid is in the morning, this will allow time for water drops on the plant to evaporate by night time.  

To find out if this is what has happened to it, place some newspaper on the kitchen table and remove the orchid from the pot.  Remove the bark from the roots and try squeezing a few roots, if they are soft and mushy they are rotten.  Put the roots back into the pot and put the bark back in while gently shaking the pot to get the bark to settle between the roots.  If all of the bark does not fit back into the pot, don't worry, just discard it along with the newspaper.  

Go to your local nursery and purchase a small bag of chunky orchid media.  Unpot the orchid again, clean the roots of media, cut off any roots that are rotten (hopefully there will be some live (firm when squeezed) roots.  Place a little bark in the pot then position the orchid inside with the lowest leaf even with the pot rim then fill in around the roots with fresh media.  When full, gently press down on the media to slightly compact it and add more as needed.  Water it then place it on top of the saucer of pebbles and where it will receive bright shade with temperatures above 60F.  Although the kitchen table may have a northeast exposure, unless it is right up against the window, the orchid probably is not getting enough light exposure.  In order of preference, the best window placement would be east, south, west then north, keeping in mind that you don't want direct sunlight but just bright shade.  It is okay to expose it to an hour or two of direct early morning sunlight.  

As for the yellowing leafs, leave them alone and allow them to fall off on their own.  Dtps. use their leaves to store water and nutrients and leaving them on will help your orchid survive until it can grow new roots which should begin to appear within several months.  

Hope this helped.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.