Question
I have two orchids in the same pot. I bought them from costco in March and after a few days I noticed mold growing in the soil. My plant was doing fine until about 2 weeks ago when one of them dropped all the flowers, a leaf turned yellow and the stem starting dying. I bought a bigger pot and orchid soil and transplanted my plants. I then went out of town for a week and today both orchids are having similar problems. I found a lot of yellow mold in the soil. I removed it but don't know what else to do. I really don't want my plant to die. One of the leaves that is dying has what looks like green zits growing on it. Can I save the plants?

Answer
Hi Kate,

From your description of what is happening with your orchid, it sounds like you may not have removed the old potting mix from the roots when you transplanted them into the new pot with new mix.  If at all possible, it is a good idea to remove as much of the old mix as you can when repotting so what ever it was does not make its way into the new pot.  

Zits?  I haven't heard that term in ages!  (grin)  If you mean green areas surrounded by shallow areas on the leafs, it may be a bacterial infection and unfortunately there is not much you can do to get rid of it other than discard the plants.  

In the future, it is better to repot orchids into separate pots rather than combining into one.  That way, if one has a problem, hopefully it won't affect the other.  Also, use a pot size that will just barely contain the roots as too large a pot would allow the potting mix to remain wet for too long which then can lead to root rot.  

Sorry I could not be of more help or encouragement.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.