Phalaenopsis equestris - pale green leaves
 

I purchased this orchid among other ones about a month ago from Oak Hill Gardens. When it arrived its leaves were pale green with waxy surface and its spike was dried up. I thought it was due to shipping and decided to not bother the vendor. The leaves are still the same color so I thought I would ask all of you if you think it is normal. My previous equestris' leaves were typical color and more matte unlike this one. Here is a picture of it (the one with a tag) next to other orchids for comparison.

Attachment 69628

I checked its roots and they look good. It is starting to grow either a root or a spike (to small to tell right now).

I have an equesris alba whose leaves are like yours much paler than my pink one. I also received a Phal parishii not long ago with lighter coloured leaves... I don't think you should worry too much as long as the roots look good and continue growing.
I look forward to seeing how it does in the future.

I agree with Nenella. If the roots are ok, and it's growing, I wouldn't worry about the leaves. It might have been exposed to a little too much light, or it just might be the usual leaf color for this particular type of equestris. Take care of it, and post the photos of future blooms :)
By the way, if you are still worried, or just have an uneasy feeling about this plant, then I'd email the vendor, just to let them know about your concern. In case something IS wrong with this plant, and you lose it very soon, that'll prove that the problem existed from the moment you got it.

Thanks Nenella and Lana. I didn't think theres was much to worry but it is nice to hear reassurances. It would be neat if it turned out to be alba variety. I guess I won't know for sure if it is until it flowers and grows new leaves.

I've had my equestris for about 4 years and the leaves have always been a pale green.

Bill

Interesting, both my equestris 'Red' and 'Orange' have leaves as dark as the large plant on the top of the picture, and just the 'Orange' has some silver mottling on it. The 'Red' has solid green leaves.

I have 3 alba types, and all have the normal medium green leaves of the other equestris.
I got a Phal pallens nearly a year ago that was very pale. I thought it was because of high light, but it never darkened. It did spike, but it is not growing otherwise. It is the only Phal (out of the 35-40 I have) that has not grown a new leaf, or new roots this spring...

That's interesting. I wonder what can cause that. Perhaps I got a similar 'dud' like yours.

I'm thinking that maybe mine has a deficiency of some sort. I fertilize, but uptake by the plant can be blocked for various reasons. I'm going to try watering with Epsom salt, magnesium deficiency does cause pale leaves.

Camille, I have never done the 'epsom salt' watering although I have some. I'd like to try. Could you tell me what quantity ES/water does one use?

The dosage I use is 1 tsp per gallon. As I can't be bothered to calculate what it is in metric, nor bother with weighing the stuff, I just dump 1 tsp in 4L of water.
The only orchid that gets the stuff on a regular basis is my Cym. No matter how much light it gets it will not bloom if I don't supplement it with magnesium. So the cym gets salts every 2-3 waterings most of the year. I have yet to use it on all the other orchids, but after seeing the water quality report of my area, I probably should. Our water is very soft.
Since Epsom salts are so very hard to find in Europe and quite expensive, I bought a carton in the US last time I went.

I know those is an old thread but just wanted to add that my alba has very pale leaves and the nursery said that was normal for the alba :dunno:

My semi alba is also a light green. But not yellowy green. That reminds me, I watered my green-yellow Phal pallens twice with epsom salts, and the result is amazing. The leaves are now a nice light green AND the plant suddenly started growing roots and a leaf, both of which it had not done at all since getting it a year ago. So I conclude that it must have had an Mg deficiency...

thanks Ill be doing this next watreing.

I might try Epsom salt. The equestris is growing a spike at the moment (it's about 2.5 inches long right now). So I will get to confirm soon if it is an alba or just a nutrient deficiency. So far I think I am seeing a bit of pink tinge on the tip of a tiny bud. I am leaning towards nutrition problems.

Here is a current picture of the spike.

Attachment 70663

I am seeing a lot of pink on the bud now, so I am assuming it will turn out normal color. I am starting to think either the plant got too much sun at the nursery before I got it or it is deficient on micro-nutrients. That can be adjusted :)
Either way, I am excited for the spike and can't wait until it opens. :biggrin:

Look forward to seeing your blooms!

Nastia, I also got P. equestris from Oak Hill around the same time. Mine is (unfortunately) var rose x var. aurea. This wasn't described in their web page, and I don't like hybrids or inter-variety crosses. Oh well... That's great yours is already spiking!

Mine has the similar color of leaves to yours, which is quite different from another specimen I have. It is not as pale as P. hieroglyphitica or P. pallens. P. equestris appear to have some variation in leaf morphologies: short vs long leaves, and difference in green color. The following page is not translated to English yet, but check the photos about half way down:
Equestris
This site is wonderful for pure species lovers who admire natural variation than people who like to "improve" species or create "beautiful/weird" hybrids.

Camille, according to the same site, P. pallens prefers higher light and temp. than most Phal species (there is English version of this info there). It could have been Mg def., but the recent growth could also be partly due to higher light of summer time, couldn't it?

Hi Naoki,
Sorry to hear you got something other than what you expected from Oak Hill Gardens. Mine has a generic "Phal equestris" tag without varietal info. However, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that I got the same plant as you since you are describing similar plant. We should definitely compare flowers together when they bloom.
Thanks for the link. It is an interesting comparison of different types of equestris.

No, I don't think it's that. Summer? What summer? It's been nasty chilly rainy weather most of the time.

It was just one small surprise out of many plants I got, and I'm really happy with healthy plants (and great price) from Oak Hill. They are great. Yes, mine probably needs quite a bit more time to bloom, but I'll be looking forward to seeing yours.

Camille, when I was in Lyon 2 years ago, it was hell hot. Well, I guess that it was more of cultural differences; warmer soda, no ice in water at the restaurants, higher temp set for the AC (or no AC) etc. But I guess people in the US waste more energy, and we are wimpier. But I enjoyed great food there!

Interesting, I understand the difference now. Mine is a pale green but not yellow green.

Indeed, that's the normal summer weather. Hardly any one has AC in their homes unlike in the US, and though we are used to it, oh how we suffer! On very hot days it would still be 100F in our apartment at midnight, and opening windows would do nothing, not a breeze to be felt. And we don't even use fans. We don't have 'cooling centers' like they're been during during the recent heat wave in the US. We suck it up. And you're right, no ice. You can't even buy bags of in the supermarket like you can in the US.

I'm mostly living in the Netherlands now, and there is no summer this year, again (and it's only marginally better in france). We get a week of 'summer' per month it seems and the rest is rain or clouds! That's why I'm convinced that my Phal pallens responded to the Epsom salts, and not the light. I think that if it had been light it would have responded much sooner, as all the other Phals started their growth in early June, which was a bit sunnier. I watered twice with Epsom salts in the space of a week, within 10 days of second watering the leaves lost their yellowness and the crazy growing started.

so does that mean that if u have pale/light green leaves, then its a Mg deficiency, but if they r yellow-y (and an alba) then thats the way they r supposed to look?

Other way around. Light green leaves can be perfectly normal. And yellow leaves is not necessarily a sign of Mg deficiency, it could also be other nutrients, most commonly nitrogen. But I fertilize regularily, so it couldn't be nitrogen related. My fert has no Ca or Mg, and my tapwater is soft, which is why I tried Epsom salts.
Excessively high light will cause leaves to yellow, but not the case for me.

Ok, thanks! thats good to know... i knew about the leaf color in relation to light, but i was not quite sure about how to tell if an orchid has micro-nutrient deficiencies... are there any other tell-tale signs that show if an orchid (in general) has micro-nutrient deficiencies?

Update:

Well it's official, my equestris is not an alba.

Attachment 71912

It looks as plain to me as all other equestris' I see on pictures. Although, I do like its coloring.

One discovery I made is that this one is extremely sensitive to light. It was sitting next to my other phals (couple of them just seedlings) and equestris' leaves started to get paler. Other phals were just fine. None of those get direct sunlight and are about 3-4 ft away from an eastern window. At first I didn't even think it was the light but the next day I saw a darker green line on one of the leaves where a stake was casting a shadow. I moved the equestris further away and it is no longer getting paler. At this point I don't know if the leaves are that color from light overdose or nutrition deficiency or something else. Hopefully it will make a new leaf that is normal.

I think it could just be getting more sun than it needs.

I like it and it doesn't look like your generic equestris as they do look like here in Sweden at least, they look more like this;
http://www.neovita.com/orkideer/bild...36660.orig.jpg

I've also noted that some varieties of equestris seem to be more sensitive to light than others. I've had to move some of mine to my "darker" room since they started getting a bit too much of a red tint on their leaves. The ones that doesn't seem to care at all are my generic equestris, Blue Lips, rosea, and the aureas, while my equestris 'Orange' had to move pretty quick, followed by 'Apari' pink, and then later, 'Apari' and coerulea. I think it's really interesting that the coerulea is more sensitive to light than the Blue Lips since they're almost the same colour... :hmm

Thanks. I do see the difference between your equestris and mine. Mine has a white 'halo' around each petal/sepal like a border with pink in center. I kind of like the more solid pink color on yours better. Go figure (always want what I don't have, hehe)

It is interesting that some of your equestris are more light sensitive than others. My older one was not (may it rest in orchid heaven). That's why I got surprised when I saw how pale leaves got (from already odd pale green and waxy color).

I'd love to see pictures of all your different equestris for a side by side comparison. It surprises me how little info I found on different equestris varieties considering it is very popular species in hybridizing.

And I love yours, especially because of that white border. Typical eh? *sniggers*
I hope I'll get my hands on one like yours since I don't think I have one like it and I have to have one of each variety that I like. :biggrin:

I think it's because there are so many different varieties and there are more popping up every day that makes it hard to find any solid info. Many of these varieties are not recognized as true varieties I think, which makes it even more difficult.

I'll see what I can do about some comparing photographs of my little darlings. :)

Hi Nastia, is yours doing well? I just posted the photo of mine here: http://www.orchidboard.com/community...tml#post629147