So here's my take. There could be something wrong or it could be just a freak occurrence. Like Andrea mentioned this could have been caused by a draft, or the opposite by being overexposed to heat (not sure what kind of heating you have in your house). If you fertilized recently that could also be the culprit, I've heard of early flower demise & bud blast from fertilizing during bloom, however I've never seen it myself. I don't know how much fertilizer you give the orchid when you water, but don't forget that orchids really do only need a minuscule amount. That said, there's also a chance that your orchid is slowly going downhill. You say that nothing has really changed over the course of the year, but you have to take into account the changing levels of light especially in winter. To give us a better idea of growing conditions, how close is the orchid to the window? How much light does the window really get? For reference, I grow my phals in a southern window in the winter. I imagine that in zone 4 in a northwest window your phal gets about 1 hr of sunlight per day, if that? That's probably not enough light to sustain 20-30 blooms for an extended period of time. There's also a chance that the medium that the orchid is growing in is breaking down (I assume you have never re-potted the orchid) and suffocating the roots that are inside. Once your plant is done blooming, it would probably recommend re-potting it, unless you already did so when you bought it. Fortunately, they days are getting longer and your plant should be getting more and more light. Overall it sounds like you're on the right track, so keep up the great work. If possible, I would consider moving the phal to a brighter window next winter so that it gets a little more light, that way it will be able to keep up it's wonderful display. Best of luck, ~Jem

You need to water it about every 10 days during the growing season (roughly March-October). It likely got too dry during the flowering development (maybe a freeze) and dropped the buds.

Hmmm....At least for me that will depend on the type of mite. The big red mites are pretty easy to control. I've washed those away with the hose. I had an infestation of a very small mite that wouldn't go away this spring and ended up having to invest in a miticide. Showers, soaps and oils just weren't getting them eradicated no matter how diligent I was with repeat treatments. After the third treatment with a miticide the infestation was gone. randy

I have a new flowering maple plant that is dropping it's blossoms and buds before their time. It's an indoor plant, gets indirect sunlight, and sits near a window cooler that is programmed at 70 degrees for 8 hours a day during the work week. During off hours, the office is warmer. The leaves seem healthy, but each morning one or two have gone yellow. I wonder if I'm overwatering and/or the spot is too cool. All advice is welcomed...I love this beautiful plant and fear killing it. Thank you.