I dove into orchid rearing w/o knowing anything and bought a beautiful
paphiopendulum (excuse the sp if incorrect). But a couple weeks ago the
flower and stem turned brown. The leaves arestill great - a dark green with
lighter green speckles. I fear that it may have been getting too much sun.
I have watered it once a week as the little tag said to do and while it
wasn't in DIRECT sunlight, it *was* off to the side of the window where some
sun could have hit it for a hour or so.

So does this happen? Do the flowers eventually die and if so, where should
I trim it - at the bottom of the stem or just take the flower off? If the
flowers *aren't* supposed to die periodically, is there anything I can do to
get it to re-flower or will it just be leaves forever now or die completely?

Thanks in advance for your help,
Lydia

yes, the flowers are supposed to eventually die It will bloom again if
you're nice to it and it feels like it Kind of like an iris, it will put
up another fan of leaves then bloom from the center of the new fan. The old
fan will NOT bloom again. If the new fan is big enough by this time next
year, it should again be in bloom. It shouldn't get direct sun but a bit of
early morning or late afternoon would likely be ok.
http://www.ladyslipper.com has a lot of good cultural info on growing Paphs
including some "beginner" info. Oh and Paphs like to be repotted about once
per year. Please read the above site about potting mixes before you repot
it tho.

good luck!
Jerry

"Lydia" wrote in message
...
I dove into orchid rearing w/o knowing anything and bought a beautiful
paphiopendulum (excuse the sp if incorrect). But a couple weeks ago the
flower and stem turned brown. The leaves arestill great - a dark green
with
lighter green speckles. I fear that it may have been getting too much
sun.
I have watered it once a week as the little tag said to do and while it
wasn't in DIRECT sunlight, it *was* off to the side of the window where
some
sun could have hit it for a hour or so.

So does this happen? Do the flowers eventually die and if so, where
should
I trim it - at the bottom of the stem or just take the flower off? If the
flowers *aren't* supposed to die periodically, is there anything I can do
to
get it to re-flower or will it just be leaves forever now or die
completely?

Thanks in advance for your help,
Lydia

Thanks so much!


"Jerry Hoffmeister" wrote in message
news:YaGRa.76112$OZ2.13453@rwcrnsc54...
yes, the flowers are supposed to eventually die It will bloom again
if
you're nice to it and it feels like it Kind of like an iris, it will
put
up another fan of leaves then bloom from the center of the new fan. The
old
fan will NOT bloom again. If the new fan is big enough by this time next
year, it should again be in bloom. It shouldn't get direct sun but a bit
of
early morning or late afternoon would likely be ok.
http://www.ladyslipper.com has a lot of good cultural info on growing
Paphs
including some "beginner" info. Oh and Paphs like to be repotted about
once
per year. Please read the above site about potting mixes before you repot
it tho.

good luck!
Jerry

"Lydia" wrote in message
...
I dove into orchid rearing w/o knowing anything and bought a beautiful
paphiopendulum (excuse the sp if incorrect). But a couple weeks ago the
flower and stem turned brown. The leaves arestill great - a dark green
with
lighter green speckles. I fear that it may have been getting too much
sun.
I have watered it once a week as the little tag said to do and while it
wasn't in DIRECT sunlight, it *was* off to the side of the window where
some
sun could have hit it for a hour or so.

So does this happen? Do the flowers eventually die and if so, where
should
I trim it - at the bottom of the stem or just take the flower off? If
the
flowers *aren't* supposed to die periodically, is there anything I can
do
to
get it to re-flower or will it just be leaves forever now or die
completely?

Thanks in advance for your help,
Lydia