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Fri, Feb 8, 13 at 11:26
| I know absolutely nothing about Orchids. I love them, and I ~want~ to grow them, but I fail every time. I've read books and websites and tried to follow their suggestions, but something keeps going wrong. I've had this Orchid for about two years now. It was blooming when I got it, but has never bloomed again. And now it looks awful. Please help me save this Orchid. The color of the leaves seems off.
The leaves keep wrinkling up and feeling leathery. The roots crawl out of the pot and stick up in the air... then shrivel up and die. (I've recently cut off the dead roots, but you can see one on the right side of the pot.)
This is the underside of a leaf.
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by olympia_gardener 5 (My Page) on Fri, Feb 8, 13 at 14:02
| Root looks OK. I would say the soil is one of the problem, too dry, if it has no disease. You may want put a layer of wet sand on the bottom to add some humidity. |
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| The plant is dehydrated for some reason. Growing conditions or loss of roots? If you put Phalaenopsis in the search box at the top of the discussions page you will find numerous past threads. Sorry, there is no easy answer except to suggest and ask. Maybe clay pots are not good for Phalaenopsis. What is the potting material and when was the orchid last repotted? What are your indoor growing conditions....temps etc? I am just about to water my small collection of indoor all year Phals. They are happy because they are growing new leaves. It is summer here. Conditions where they are growing at 6:10 am are 27.3C. Humidity 60%. |
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- Posted by shear_stupidity 9B (My Page) on Fri, Feb 8, 13 at 14:30
| It was re-potted two years ago when I bought it. I just kept the same potting medium that it was already growing in (in the original pot) and moved it to this (same sized but different colored) pot. I haven't been growing it indoors. It's been on my back patio until about five days ago. I might not have been watering it enough? I've killed them from watering them, so was trying LESS water with this one. Maybe I went too far in the other direction? |
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| Thank you for having some where i live details on your "My Page" Dr google suggests an average low of about 50F in January in places near you. Phalaenopsis are narrow temperature range orchids, an average of 50F suggests dips into the 40F. Mine are indoors all year to get a range of 60 to 90F What did you use to repot. Maybe it is spent. Generally the warmer the climate the more arid the mix, because finer mixes break down in summer heat and humidity. |
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- Posted by tolumniamatt 6a (My Page) on Fri, Feb 8, 13 at 14:53
| The leaves are not getting enough moisture, my guess of the cause is you have too many roots exposed. In the short-term leave the plant indoors in a bright window with little sun. Mist the exposed roots daily and continue your watering regimen realizing that it will get less air movement so it may take longer to dry out. I would repot the plant in March using fresh orchid bark. Bury the roots with the crown of the leaves just above the top layer. The clay pot is fine as long as air can get into the bottom hole of the pot. As for flowers, healthy phalaenopsis grown well can continually put out flower spikes more than once a year if allowed to cool to 60f at night. That is the coolest they should be grown at all year long. It is probably too cool where you are right now to be left outside. |
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| A lot of answers all pointing out different things. First of all, Phalaenopsis are from the Philippines and Southeast Asia. There are strong monsoonal winds in the fall that cause the temperature to drop by about 10 degrees that causes bloom spikes to initiate. Ironically, picture #3 suggests that a bloom spike may be initiating although it's hard to tell without a closer peak. In their natural habitat, the grow on the lower trunks of trees, crown (apical shoot) pointing down. The roots are exposed to the air but..the humidity is also quite high. In times of prolonged dryness, they will dessicate, turning leathery like the one you snapped a picture of. They will fluff back up nicely when watered regularly and given decent humidity. From the picture anyhow, it looks like the roots are hard and white (aka still alive) although we cannot see what's in the pot. In my experience, in areas of lower humidity, Phals growing in a clay pot will rapidly get dessicated unless watered frequently. So....if you water a lot and have been rotting them out, clay pots are good for you. If you water seldom (say once a week), I would sugest a plastic pot to keep the humidity up around the roots. As new roots grow into the air, you should periodically repot (say once a year) and bury the new roots into FRESH medium. Never reuse your medium as it tends to rot out and cause the medium to not aerate/breathe. You can buy orchid bark (typically fir bark) or other orchid medium at your local nursery, home depot or garden shop. Medium fir bark normally works best for full grown phals. Okay so...in your case, it looks like you cut back on the water and used a clay pot at the same time which is a double whammy. Do one or the other. Also, if your temperatures are below about 68 outside, I'd sugest that you bring the Phal inside until the night temperatures are at least in the mid-sixties. Above all else, avoid watering at night when it is cold and keep the water out of the crown. Finally, blooming can be initiated by a 10 degree drop daily for about a month or until you see a spike initiated. I would suggest that you fatten your phal up before you force flowers on it. Hope that helps. -A |
Here is a link that might be useful: The Wayward Hawaiian
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- Posted by shear_stupidity 9B (My Page) on Wed, Feb 13, 13 at 9:16
| Thanks, Arnie. I've been keeping it indoors and it is starting to plump up. Still a few leathery leaves, but they're recovering, too. The thing sticking up in the air is another root. Here are pictures from this morning. Looking better in general:
Since it used to be outside, it's got oak leaves and sticks in it. I wanted to pull them out before taking the picture, but these are the actual growing conditions so I left them, I will re-pot today. I bought Miracle-Gro Orchid Potting Mix. Is that ok?
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| Looking 10x better! Orchids will tell you just what they need if you pay attention to the signs! I've never tried miracle grow orchid mix since I normally buy bark in the big bulk bags and the fancy mixes are expensive when you have a lot of plants. It's probably fine though. Just let the media dry out between waterings and keep the humidity and temperature up and you'll be fine. |
Here is a link that might be useful: The Wayward Hawaiian
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| SS, I am looking at the outside of the clay pot with its white accumulation of fertilizer salts which can burn roots and even kill plants. I recommend that you change to a new pot and then do regular flushing to prevent the buildup in the medium and on the pot. |
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- Posted by shear_stupidity 9B (My Page) on Fri, Feb 15, 13 at 14:48
| Thanks, cj. I'll do that. I have lots more of the same pots. |
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| I would switch to a plastic pot as well, along c some new mix. |
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