Shea,

First of all, welcome to this wonderful addiction and the newsgroup! Never
hesitate to ask anything.

Loss of a lower leaf on a phal is a reasonably normal part of the growth
process, and you should start seeing new leaves growing from the top soon.
If it continues with other leaves, it may be a sign that the root system is
compromised, usually indicating root rot due to overwatering and/or
decomposing medium that is not allowing free air exchange to the root
system. You'll have to be the judge of that, and can share more info if you
want more advice in that arena.

I would also suggest that the phal could probably be moved to somewhat
brighter conditions. I picture the coffee table in the middle of the room,
maybe ten feet from the window. If that's a good guess, then for all
practical purposes, your plant is getting almost no light at all. Direct,
early-morning sun is not too much for a phal, assuming it wouldn't get the
direct sun all morning, so once it's stopped blooming, you can probably
consider moving it closer to the window. The cooling effect of air
conditioning actually helps that a bit.

As to the dendrobium, I'm not a great source of info, so will let others
take over, but it sounds like you're described new root growth, which is a
good sign. The stalks of the dendrobium at pseudobulbs, which serve as
storage vessels for water and nutrition for the whole plant, even long after
they have bloomed and lost all of their leaves. Actually, each is its own
plant, with the individuals joined via a rhizome. That is the typical
growth habit of sympodial orchids, as opposed to the monopodial growth habit
of the phalaenopsis.

This I can tell you, though: more light! I see from your email address that
you're in the Tampa area, so maybe transitioning it to full sun isn't a
great idea, but up here in Pennsylvania, the 2 or three I have are up high
in the greenhouse, getting almost full sun.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!

.. . . . . . . . . . .
"Shea" wrote in message
om...
I've been lurking around since I received my first orchid on Mother's Day,
knowing that eventually I would have a question for you. Now, I actually
have two:

The first question regards a phalaenopsis that I received from my husband
in early May. It looked very healthy, with two spikes and at least a
dozen
blooms, with some buds. I did a little research and put it on a coffee
table where it would get indirect light from an eastern exposure but no
direct sun. I watered in every few days, checking to make sure it wasn't
getting too soggy. The flowers lasted through all of May and June,
finally
fading one at a time starting in early July. I still have 3 blooms left.
I
cut one of the spikes back when it lost its last bloom. One of the leaves
is turning yellow starting from the base of the leaf. The other leaves
look
unaffected and perfectly healthy. Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong
and
how to correct my error before any more damage occurs?

The second question regards my second orchid. It is a dendrobium (Burana
Wan) that had lost all its blooms and was looking a bit neglected. I got
it
at a local discount store for $4.99. I figure for that price I can try to
help the poor thing. I put this one on a table facing a west window.
There
is an overhang, so it doesn't get much direct sun at all, but lots of
light.
It has some nice fat green little tubers??? or roots??? (I don't know
what
they are called sorry) coming from the bottom of one stem. They appear to
be reaching for the medium. There is one stalk that has no growth at all.
The other two have leaves that appear to be burned at the tips, and their
color is a bit yellowish/green, otherwise they appear strong and thick.
Can
this orchid be saved? If so, how?

Thanks for any help you can offer. I've gotten some books from the local
library, but sometimes they give too much information. I just found
myself
getting confused.