Question
I received the above referenced orchid for Mother's day.  It had six flowers and one bud, the bud flowered and then one by one the seven flowers begin to die.  I now have 4 rather wilted flowers and I want to know what do I do now.  Do I continue to care for this plant as I do my other house plants and will it bloom again next year or will it put out another stem with a spray of flowers?  

Answer
Hello Barbara,

Congratulations on getting a phalaenopsis orchid for Mother's day, you must be a special mother to have gotten one.  (grin)  

I am a little surprised that the flowers have begun to wilt and die off so soon, phalaenopsis flowers normally last over two months from opening.  By chance, are there some fruits nearby?  If there are, that might be why the flowers have wilted so soon as ripening fruits emit a gas that is deadly to orchid flowers as they ripen.  It is probably too late to try and save the flowers once they have started to wilt.  

Yes, continue to care for the phalaenopsis and it should grow one or more new leafs over the summer.  Although you can grow phalaenopsis right along side of houseplants, you have to be more careful of watering it.  Water it only when the potting media becomes barely moist, if watered too often the roots will rot.  

Here is a short course on how to care for the phalaenopsis.  Place it where it will get bright but indirect sunlight, temperatures between 60F to 85F, humidity above 50%, some light air movement around it.  As I said above, water when the media becomes barely moist.  It would be a good idea to feed it a balance type orchid fertilizer once in a while to help promote new leaf growth and blooming next year.  

Hope this helped a little.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.