Question
Hello-
I am really concerned about my orchid, it is a beautiful green and purple speckled one... I don't know much about taking care of them and this one was given to me as a mother's day present from my mom.  I put it on top of our fish tank thinking that the humidity of the tank would help it to grow and blossom better but I think I might have killed it instead :(  The petals are starting to get this black moldish looking stuff on the tips of the petals and black speckles all over the roots (looks like pepper) and then the branches have little brownishy orange little bead like things- I'm sorry I don't know how else to describe what I'm seeing.  I hope you can tell me what to do be it WAS blooming still when I got it with a lot of buds waiting to bloom but now they are all falling off one by one without opening first :( HELP me PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASSSSSSSSSSSEEE!!!!!

Answer
Hello Ashley,

From your description of the flower petals, it sounds like the black moldish stuff might be a fungus caused by the constant humidity from the fish tank.  Moisture left on flower petals overnight can be a prime breeding environment for botrytis fungus to grow, they like dark humid conditions.  It also may be growing on the exposed roots.  I'm not quite sure what the brownish orange beads might be unless they were just brown, in which case it could be scale.  Scale is one of the pests that can slowly kill your orchid, especially if they are allowed to breed and increase their numbers.  Unopened buds falling off could be due to several things but, at this time, I believe it may be related to the fungus problem.  

To hopefully save what is left of any buds, move the orchid to another place.  Check the entire orchid plant for any signs of black mold and try to clean it off with a little isopropyl alcohol and a soft cloth or tissue, if you do not have alcohol you can try a mild liquid dish soap and water to rub it off.  Unfortunately, if the mold has been there for more than a few days, the mold may not totally come off leaving a grey or blackish mark.  For the scale, you definitely will need some isopropyl alcohol, dip the cloth in it and wipe the leaf (both top and bottom) from the bottom to the tip.  Look at the cloth to see if some or all of the spots came off.  Again, unfortunately, if it is scale, cleaning off those you can see does not mean you have gotten rid of them all as they are probably many more lurking down within the pot waiting to make their way up.  To get rid of most or all of them will require repotting into new fresh potting media, cleaning the entire plant including the roots before repotting.  

Hope this helps.

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.