Question
I have had a purple dendrobium for about a week. It was in beautiful bloom when I purchased it and looks like there is going to be another bloom. A couple of the current blooms have become pale and varigated in color and are drooping a little. I also purchased a yellow one at the same time. Not sure what kind. It has low leaves that look like rabbit ears. Two of the flower on it are drooping. I had sat the orchid pots over into another larger decorative pot several days ago. Today, I lifted them out and noticed that the small clay pots felt moist. Should I remove them from the decorative pot or do you think that I have another problem. The plants stay on a bar over my sink and have little light except for florescent which stays on 6-10 hours a day. I waited until the medium felt dry to water. Thank you very much. Brenda

Answer
Hello Brenda,

If the decorative pots do not have a hole or holes in it, there is little or no air getting to the roots of the orchids.  Also, if you placed them into the pots soon after watering them, excess water may have drained out and the orchid pots were sitting in water.  

For the blooms to start wilting so soon is highly unusual as they should last for a month or longer.  I'm not certain but the rabbit eared orchid might be a phalaenopsis orchid.  Are the leaves fleshy or thick and grow from a central stem rather than a bulb?  If it is a phalaenopsis orchid, it will require slightly different growing conditions than the dendrobium.  Let me know if it is a phal.  

Now, back to the droopy blooms.  Are there any fruits near by?  If so, that is what is causing them to droop so soon.  Ripening fruits produce ethylene gas as the ripen and that gas is fatal to the blooms.  

Lastly, even though the top of the potting mix the orchids are planted in may look dry, it may still be fairly wet within the pot.  For this reason I like to lift the pot to feel how heavy or light it feels to determine when to water.  When it feels rather light, that is when I water.  

Hope this helped.  Get back to me about the other orchid.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.