How do I care for a potted phalaenopsis orchid?
By Flowersrus
United States 
I just got this plant and it has 6 blooms on it all but 2 were open when I bought it and now all have opened. I was so excited that I was doing this right but now the bottom flower looks wilted. What do I do? Is this natural?
24 Feb, 2009
This is perfectly natural, each flower up the stem will wilt and eventually drop off. When they have all dropped off, cut the stem back to just above the first 'scale' that you can see. Keep up the watering and feeding routine and a new flower stem should grow, either from this node, or from between two leaves.
A good way to make this happen if your orchid takes a while to start a new stem is to take it into a cooler room for about three weeks, that seems to spur them into action!
Good luck with it.
24 Feb, 2009