Crying emoji! (lack of success with longtime Phals)

[rbarata]

One of my new leave has a red cast, which I read from someone indicates too much light.

That is not so plain and simple. It deosn't mean too much light but rather the right amount of light.
Also, I've noticed that plants with red/purple flowers/fruits show this sign much faster than the ones that are not of that colour.

This red tinge is cause by pigments called anthocyanins that act like a protector against excess of light. Much like melanin in oour skin that get tanned by the sun.
Anthocyanin is plant's melanin.

[Lucille]

Yeah, I'm stuck on light too. Duration is important, but also look at what is coming through the window to see if what looks bright to you is actually providing the needed light. I had a friend who had to give up growing roses in her back yard because after 20 years a beautiful specimen tree was overshadowing them. Do you have a nearby tree that has grown? And what about the windows themselves? When I moved into my apartment the huge living room window appeared to be (and was) letting in a lot of light. But when I decided to wash the outside of the windows they were filthy even though light was coming in (I think it was probably dust stirred up by the yard guys, on the windows), and after a number of blacked paper towels the windows were crystal clear and I know more light was coming in.

[estación seca]

Phals with poor roots don't tend to flower well. I would re-focus on good cultivation techniques. I suspect you can still get flowers before next summer, or next fall at the latest.

Even with your loose potting mix, at your temperatures, wetting them once a week during winter might be too often. The medium might not have a chance to dry out. This would account for all the rotten roots.

Did the plants turn reddish in summer, or recently? Too much light in summer can easily become too little in a cloudy, grey winter. That said, the problem might be duration of light, and not how much they get. Phals will bloom with very little light.

I think you would benefit from reading a couple of sticky threads here in the Beginners forum: The Phal Abuse Stops Here and Using Wooden Cooking Skewers. Go to Forums in the left menu, then Beginners. The sticky threads are in the top section.

[gingersmommy]

Roberta, I have them in a south window which is very bright, however, the days are so short now. They probably only get 6-7 hours of decent light. I may look into a light because then I can control that, too.

---------- Post added at 03:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:14 PM ----------

Thank you. I have read the sticky, "The Phal Abuse Stops Here" many times over - all 50 pages of it, or whatever it is up to. I just don't know. I am so attached to my orchids! I have been examining what I do to account for my lack of success. I probably "repot" or readust them too much - at least 2-3 times this year. Just did it two days ago for several that I thought were planted too deep. I understand they don't like to be messed with like that. Some of them had substantial roots right next to the first leaf and originally I planted them up to that to keep the roots moist, however, then I got afraid of "crown" rot so I held them in place and shook some of the medium down farther. Now those roots are more exposed and I am hoping that they don't dry out. How far below the leaves do you keep the medium? I think my next thing will be an LED light. Do I need a big light, or is an exposed 60 watt LED enough? I really don't mean to make you all nuts with this. Went to my sister in law's this morning and her's (3) are always in bloom. She does NOTHING to them. Probably hasn't ever repotted, they have more roots out of the pot than in - many of which look dried out, doesn't fertilize, etc. Now I am watering about once every 10 tens but am concerned that they are getting too dry.

[rbarata]

You should repot them only when the medium is degradated or the plant has overgrown the pot.
In avg, this means every two to three years.

[Roberta]

For a small area, that small LED lamp should suffice. It's the hours that are important. And you do need to ignore them a bit... Phals want a lot of air around their roots... if they are confined so that the roots stay too wet, they'll do more aerial roots to get that air. When you repot, the new root tips (where the growing happens) are very likely to get damaged. So every two or three years is plenty for the repotting. When you water, do it thoroughly enough that the visible roots turn green, if you can, but let the water run through the pot.. let them get silvery-white and they can be watered again. "How often" is a function of the potting media, the pot, and your humidity so there's not a blanket "how often" prescription. If it is still wet after a week, the media is holding too much water and not enough air. It's the wet-dry cycle that they crave.

[rbarata]

And never allow the pot to be sitting in water 'cause it will stop the air circulation from the bottom.

[gingersmommy]

How far up the plant do you keep the medium - right up to the first set of leaves, or like 1/2" below that?

[rbarata]

Around 0,39 in (conversion from 1 cm) bellow the first set of leaves.

[Roberta]

Since plants very... the tops of the first roots below the leaves don't need to be covered. If the Phalaenopsis had its choice, it would be in humid air completely bare-root. Since in our houses, especially with winter heating, we don't have a lot of humid air, we provide some media to hold moisture to imitate "humid air". But the "air" part is really, really important.