My first Phalaenopsis Equestris

[Orquiadicto]

This is what she looks like today. Buds keep opening one after another. On the secondary spike one can already guess what in a nearby future will be bloombuds. The keiki grows well, but it doesn't put out a single root. Is this normal?

[nenella]

Very Pretty! Yes don't worry about roots it takes time for them to grow.

[Orquiadicto]

The first flowers that opened are wilting now. I guess that's normal after +/- 4 weeks? What I've noticed though, is that the tip of the spike has bent down. Any idea why? Should I worry? On the other hand, one of the secondary spikes has grown quite a lot, and both the mother plant and the keiki are growing a new leaf.

[camille1585]

That's perfectly normal equestris behavior. Spikes on all of mine usual arch over like you descibe. As for blooms wilting, equestris is a bit of a sequential bloomer. I never have more than a dozen blooms open at once, but the spike (on a mature plant) may produce over 50 buds in its lifespan.

[RosieC]

This is gorgeous!

Bought my first equestris recently and love it already.

[Orquiadicto]

My equestris has started yellowing some leaves and I don't know why. Yesterday I took her out of the pot and I saw some bad roots, that I cut. The bark she's in, didn't feel wet, so I don't think it's overwatering (but I don't exclude it either). Could it be underwatering?
However, blooms look fine and she continues making buds and the new leaves on the mother plant and the keiki are growing steadily. The leaves of the basal keiki though have yellowed as well. Right now (19:04 in Spain) we have 27°C (80.6) and a RH of 65%. Should I be worried or is it just that she's going to loose some old leaves? Here some pics.

[Orquiadicto]

Saturday I came back from holiday and my equestris looked worse than when I left. The spike is drying from the tip backwards. Also the spike that holds the keiki is drying. I've wrapped some sphagnum around the keiki, soaked in rooting hormones to see if it produces roots and I can plant it alone in a tiny pot. I mist the sphagnum several times a day (it's very hot these days).
Should I cut off the spike so the plant can concentrate on growing roots? The new leaf she's growing has grown and the leaves don't look dehidrated. Also the leaf the keiki was already growing has continued growing. I've put her outside in bright shadow where she gets lots of air circulation. Was this a good decission?


Please help me save this plant. I don't want to loose her.

[Orquiadicto]

Today I discovered this on the spike. Looks like a keiki to me.

[RosieC]

Your leaves look very dehydrated and that could be the cause of the problem with the spike as well. How long were you away and was it very dry when you came back. In the pics the medium does not look dry so the other possibility is root rot.

I would take a look at the roots to see what state they are in. If the plant is struggling then a keiki might be a survival mechanism, although this species keikis a lot anyway.

[tucker85]

I think you made a good purchase. I've heard so many good things about this species, I really need to get one.