Hello,

I purchased a beautiful, mounted, Laelia Gouldiana a few
months ago\. It was doing beautifully, and bloomed
just before thanksgiving. I took it back to pittsburgh (I live in NY)
with me for the holiday and shortly after I brought it back, the bloom
fell off (I imagine bc of the rapid temperature change).

Now, however, it looks like there is a problem with the pseudobulbs! 2
of the 4 (the two that do not have leaves growing from them) are
turning yellow/ orange and it looks like they are dying. the tips are
also developing a dry, crusty looking bits, and on one of them, it is
developing dry, crusty patches along it's surface. Any ideas??

Also, after the bloom is finished, do I cut it off? At what point? (the
stem is now brown as well... is that supposed to happen?

I have attached some pictures... please let me know if they don't come
through.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b5...LG-sick-09.jpg

This is my first orchid, I really appreciate the help!

thanks
Sarah

Also, some of the orchid care resources say that Laelia Gouldianas do
best when they are watered less in the winter... is this the case? I
have also heard that it is virtually impossible to over water a mounted
plant... am I safer to err on the side of too much water in this case?
Should it be fertilized? If so, how often?

Hello Sarah, There are many reasons why the petals would have fallen
off, once finished they will drop, the climate may have knocked them if
it was warm to cold, any small bumps will also dislodge the delicate
petals, i keep mine in a sheltered area with as much heat as possible,
with minimal watering most of the year, winter less watering. One of my
orchids is growing great after repotting, in their case the bulbs are
thrown into an old terracotta pot with loose pumice growing medium,
very little. they are thriving so i left them. I remove dead stalks
once dead/ dry, cutting as close to the bulbs as possible taking care
not to snip the bulb. I repotted some of the bulbs like you mentioned
you had that looked dry, try potting them and a good watering in. Keep
them somewhere warm.good luck.
Check out some of my orchids in my blog.
www.nzlandscapes.blogspot.com
www.nzlandscapes.com