Dehydrated or over watered???

[Optimist]

Originally Posted by Benny@12784

Growing in medium bark from repotme. Room temp is 68-74. Low humidity so I use humidity tray and mini humidifier. I soak for 10-15mins once a week. The PHAL with yellow leathery bottom leaves has just 3 thick roots, that’s all. The PHAL with green leathery leaves and good roots. Not a lot, but healthy

Phals and all orchids (either monopodial or sympodial) shed leaves when they are done with them. The sign of shedding a leaf is banana yellow leaf color. the leaf should detach on its own. Phals really do not have much roots. If they are strong, firm, not "hollow" I would consider them "happy."

The sympodials will lose a cane, or "hand" in the case of some terrestrial (so called) like Paphiopedilums. The Monopodial orchids grow as a tall "tower" of many leaf sets, like phals, vandas. They generally grow new leaves from the crown on top, and lose a set on the bottom. This is going to be either once per year or so.