1 Phal w/yellow leaf, large black spots, 1 Phal w/red leaf & dying roots - Orchid Board

elaines · #1 04-30-2010, 11:26 AM

Hi! This is my 1st time posting. Looking @ my 6 orchids, should have been reading & posting long before this.

I have 3 phals. Pic 1 is of all 3 where they live. The window is south facing & there's a pond outside that reflects lots of light. The light is low in pic b/c was taken early this am.

Tiny white phal is new & doing fine.

Next phal (unidentified - 2 blossoms, pic 2) started blooming at least before April of last year. Has been blooming essentially ever since so haven't repotted. Plan to do so today into repotme.com's cattleya classic mix (med coconut husk chips, med sponge rock, med charcoal, granite chips) recommended for thick-rooted orchids. Should I plant into that or into repotme's dendrobium class mix (med coconut husk chips, small coconut husk chips, med volcanic rock, small sponge rock, pea gravel, small charcoal, granite chips) recommended for thin-rooted orchids since phals are more terrestrial? This unid'd phal has a red leaf and some a major new root dying (pics 3 & 4). It lost most of its aerial roots when I first got it (didn't know yet to mist it). It hasn't been repotted in the yr I've had it &, from the bottom, the mix is all muddy. I also have new humidity trays so I'll be taking all orchids out of bowls w/marbles as soon as I repot. The red leaf faces the window. What could be causing the redness?

Phal 3 (Phal Tai Lin Redangel; pics 5 & 6) was bought in Dec in spike. Last blossom opened few days ago. Oldest 2 blossoms bloomed months ago (why 1 remaining is dried) but the rest of the buds got blasted when I opened the door in freezing weather. Learned that lesson!

This phal is potted in sphagnum moss which is apparently not doing well at all. Oh - I water all 6 orchids primarily w/purified or distilled water. Didn't realize there was a difference until recently so had been using purified. This phal is loosing aerial roots (I haven't been good @ misting in a while) and, yesterday, I cut off a rotting (pic 7) leaf w/horrible spots - and then sprayed all 3 phals w/Garden Safe Fungicide 3. Also planning to repot this phal today in cattleya mix mentioned above. Is that okay? What do you think caused the spots & how should I treat it?

Any recommendations or help will be MUCH appreciated! I desperately want my orchid babies to live (despite my care)!

Thanks!

-Elaine

RosieC · #2 05-01-2010, 04:47 AM

Hi Elaine and welcome to orchid board.

Well I would say they all need repotting. I'm not sure the best mix to use, but probably the cattleya one sounds fine to me.

Be careful when misting Phals to only mist the roots and not the leaves. Phals don't like water sitting in the leaves and that may cause rot and fungas.

I'm afriad I'm not an expert on deseases so I'm not sure what caused the damage to the leaf you removed. Hopefully someone else will chime in with advice on that.

The bright orange leaf in the 2nd & 3rd pics reminds me of one that one of my Phals has just now. That is bascially a leaf the plant has decided to drop and eventually it will pull away easily. Leave it until it does. I don't know why they sometimes go bright orange like that, but one of mine does that whenever it drops a leaf.

It looks to me like you have two Phals in that pot, or possibly one of them is a basel keiki from the first. If they are seperate plants I would advise potting them seperately, if they are joined together then it's probably best to keep them together.

elaines · #3 05-01-2010, 05:24 AM

Hi, Rosie!

Thanks so much for your reply!!

I had no idea not to mist the leaves. Oops!

It's good to know that the orange leaf may just be dropping naturally. W/the state of its mix, I wouldn't blame it for losing a leaf. I'm wondering if that's what happened to the other. The other yellowed over 5-7 days before getting the spots overnight.

No other leaves on the Phal Tai Lin Redangel have shown problems since I cut the problematic one off & sprayed them.

Thanks also for the advice on the 1 w/2 plants. It will be interesting to see whether they're connected. My dad got the phal for my mom on their anniv last April & it came w/the little one. Has been blooming since then, too.

Thanks for the welcome & hope you're having a great day! (Random note - I lived in England 3 yrs as a kid - my dad was @ Fairford Air Force Base in the early '80s. I yearn for England at times!)

RosieC · #4 05-01-2010, 12:19 PM

If the blotches only appeared near the end of the Pahl Tai Lin Redangel then it may just be a fungas/mold that atacked an already dropping leaf. Keep an eye on the rest of the plant and see how it goes.

Good luck with the repotting.

occ2405 · #5 02-02-2011, 08:27 PM

JUST REPOT, DONT MIST YOUR PLANTS AFTER 12N, BARK WORKS PERFECT FOR PHALANOPSIS AND REMEMBER DONT LET THE PLANT SIT IN THE WATER
GOOD LUCK!!!!