phalaenopsis leaves droopy and wrinkled.

[cmarf]

Hi Everyone, im Chris and a newbie here. I have had several phalaenopsis for a few years and would say i manage to "keep them alive" rather than effortlessly thrive with them. I just seem to think i have a good routine and the plants are doing well, then things go downhill and the plants deteriorate.
My question now is, ive just had several months of blooming flowers on all my 7 plants.. (strangely they all flowered around the same time"ish" ) They are in 3 different places in my house. 3 in the front window, 3 in the rear, and 1 in the middle room on the sideboard. For the last 2-3 months, all the ones in the windows have slowly started to lose flowers and the leaves have become dull and started to wrinkle and droop. I know the flowers dont last forever but why such a sudden decline in leave health? im wondering if the cold nights by the windows have shocked them? or is this just the natural cycle of the plant? it seems odd to me as the only plant still healthy is the one not in a window! ( although this was the plant to bloom the last) i would apreciate any advice and what to do to bring the plant back to life.
Thank you

[SouthPark]

Hi Chris. And welcome to the OrchidBoard forum.

It is possible that the cold conditions are affecting the orchids. So may need to get some temperature monitoring or records of the temperatures in the growing area.

Also - check the roots of some of the declining orchids - to see if they are ok or not.

Also - do you occasionally (eg. once a month) provide any weak fertiliser and/or mag-cal supplement?

And the amount of light (intensity and duration) needs to be adequate. Phals generally don't require as much light as say regular cattleya orchid. But some minimum level will be needed.

Although - you mentioned you had several phals for a few years - so that sounds quite ok.

Checking the roots will tell whether they are suffocating from wet conditions in the media, or too cold and too wet, or even too dry.

[cmarf]

Hi Southpark. Thank you for the reply. I feed them about once a month with baby bio orchid food. Ive watered this morning and the roots look ok. There are some that look a little black/rotten but most seem nice green and plump.If anything, generally i would say they are over watered/ wet rather than they are dried out and thirsty.

Should the leaves be firm and shiney geen all year round despite flowering or being dormant... or do they have a cycle where they droop and die?
Thanks

[estación seca]

What are your temperatures day/night?

[cmarf]

Im not sure what the temps are exactly at the window point, but the room heating is set to 21c/70f day and 18c/64f night, although i suspect the window temp at night will be lower than this.

[SouthPark]

Chris ----- thanks for describing the situation there with the roots. If all the roots look ok in general - including the ones right underneath the plant in the media - then that's a good situation in that regard.

As for leaves getting floppy. If all of them get floppy and droopy, and if all of them (in addition to that) start to change colour to something like patchy and yellow ----- then that's not a desirable condition.

Oldest leaves (down at the base of the orchid) will eventually die and drop off etc. But all leaves losing sheen and becoming droopy will require some assistance.

The temperature range seems to be ok. Could later upload some 1024 x 768 pixel pics to get a visual on the plant and the media/pot too.

Maybe check on light intensity and lighting duration as well. This is assuming the orchids aren't getting crown rot or pathogen/mite/insect attack.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by cmarf

Hi Everyone, im Chris and a newbie here. I have had several phalaenopsis for a few years and would say i manage to "keep them alive" rather than effortlessly thrive with them. I just seem to think i have a good routine and the plants are doing well, then things go downhill and the plants deteriorate.
My question now is, ive just had several months of blooming flowers on all my 7 plants.. (strangely they all flowered around the same time"ish" ) They are in 3 different places in my house. 3 in the front window, 3 in the rear, and 1 in the middle room on the sideboard. For the last 2-3 months, all the ones in the windows have slowly started to lose flowers and the leaves have become dull and started to wrinkle and droop. I know the flowers dont last forever but why such a sudden decline in leave health? im wondering if the cold nights by the windows have shocked them? or is this just the natural cycle of the plant? it seems odd to me as the only plant still healthy is the one not in a window! ( although this was the plant to bloom the last) i would apreciate any advice and what to do to bring the plant back to life.
Thank you

Cold nights could be one issue. The other, is roots. Often newly-acquired Phals already have roots that aren't in great shape... if potted in sphagnum, it may be too wet, or rock-hard in the middle. So this would be a good time to take them out of their pots and have a look. Really rotten roots can be trimmed, but if just the outside part (the velamin) is rotted, the core of the root can still hydrate the plant, and also help anchor it firmly in place in new medium. (If roots are bad, the plant loses water faster than it takes it up) Your goal is an open, airy environment where the roots get "humid air" rather than "wet". Sphagnum can be a good medium if you can master the watering. Personally, I prefer bark. A note, fresh medium will dry out much faster. A good way to determine how often to water is to water the plant until it runs out the bottom of the pot - which flushes the root zone and pull air into it. Let it drain, then weigh it on a kitchen scale or postal scale. Weigh it again the next day... when the rate of decrease of weight (due to evaporation) flattens out, it is time to water again. You can't water by the calendar - your conditions are going to be different than mine or somebody else's. After you do this a few times, you'll have a good idea of what is right for YOU.

[cmarf]

Hi Roberta, Thanks for the reply. To be honest, i dont think i water correctly.I tend to fill the holding pot full of water and leave them all to stand for 10mins or so then drain them off.
Ive tried different methods, and like i said in my first post, over the years ive tended to keep them alive rather than having them flourish (although they have always flowered at some point!) This summer they all flowered within a month of eachother and lasted about 4-5months, so i was reluctant to alter my watering method as it seemed to be working. It was only once the winter months set in and the nights turned colder that the change in leaf deteriation started. I dont know if this was just coincidence or the watering finaly took its toll.

[SouthPark]

Chris ------ if the orchid was doing well ---- growing new roots, and extending into the media during the whole time that you had been applying that particular watering style ------ then it's possible that a change in condition ----- eg. change in summer period to winter period ----- drop in temperature to relatively low temperatures - wet and cold - could impact the growth processes.

In some regions ------ altering the watering schedule to compensate for changes in environmental conditions may be necessary.

For example, when it is warmer - and when water movement is increased ----- such as water moving into the roots and up through the plant, and then out in the air ----- then an orchid can get adequate oxygen to the roots (and root cells) to keep the roots in good shape.

But when the temperatures drop, and amount of light etc drop ----- then the same amount of water applied to the media could result in soppy media for long periods, with not much water movement (and not much transfer of oxygen that comes with the water movement into the roots) ----- then the orchid's roots can stop doing what we would desire them to do ----- as in to keep operating and getting water into the plant.

So some adjustments may be needed - such as less water during cooler and darker times.

But on the other hand - if the amount of light is too little for too long a time, then that can also impact the health of the orchid.

So - for the moment - a focus can be on lighting and lighting duration, temperature range, and allowing orchid roots to stay warm enough and with adequate oxygen - while providing adequate humidity and moisture for roots.

Natural air-flow can also be beneficial in places where humidity is relatively high - which is like bathroom conditions. No airing of bath-room (windows closes after hot shower) ------- result is often mold growing on walls. The airing and air-flow tends to cut down or prevent that kind of thing from happening ------- so similar idea can apply to leaves, stem etc of orchids.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by cmarf

Hi Roberta, Thanks for the reply. To be honest, i dont think i water correctly.I tend to fill the holding pot full of water and leave them all to stand for 10mins or so then drain them off.
Ive tried different methods, and like i said in my first post, over the years ive tended to keep them alive rather than having them flourish (although they have always flowered at some point!) This summer they all flowered within a month of eachother and lasted about 4-5months, so i was reluctant to alter my watering method as it seemed to be working. It was only once the winter months set in and the nights turned colder that the change in leaf deteriation started. I dont know if this was just coincidence or the watering finaly took its toll.

Well, Phals don't like cold generally. And when it's cold, it is even more likely that rot will set in. But generally, Phals usually need repotting soon after purchase... nobody pays the grower to repot, and plants tend to bloom well just before they get desperate. (Maybe fear helps.. they bloom because they want to reproduce themselves ) But at any rate, as roots deteriorate they become less efficient at taking in water - so even though you're watering the plant can't utilize it, and so the process accelerates. So your limp leaves are a symptom of dehydration, not because of lack of water, but rather the inability to use it. So... fresh medium (which will inspire new root growth) is in order. After you have repotted, you want, if possible, to slow down the water loss from the leaves until the plant can grow some roots. For that, you can create a "mini-greenhouse" with a plastic bag. You don't want it air-tight, just want to create an environment that is more humid than the house is likely to be be.