Phalaenopsis flowers opened weirdly?

[akhenenra]

Hello, I am a relatively new hobbyist. I have this mini Phal plant that I bought about a year ago- it's been healthy and is now reblooming. However the flowers are not opening normally. A few petals open "correctly", but the others either pitch forward or directly behind the flower. The flowers don't have that phalaenopsis "moon" shape at all. I thought maybe the plant was dry- I've been monitoring it carefully but the flowers aren't droopy or limp- they're just weird. See photos. A couple of the leaves are also leathery, but I still don't think it's dry- the top leaves are very strong and healthy and the roots are thick and green. See photos and please tell me if I'm wrong. Any thoughts what this could be? Needless to say this is not how the flowers looked when I bought it.

FYI since it bloomed last time I have been growing it in a grow tent with good lighting and high humidity. The orchids I have in there all seem to be very healthy and thriving. Thank you!

[Keysguy]

I am not an expert on Phals so take these observations with a grain of salt until others chime in.

The plant overall to me looks to be suffering either from not enough water or, more likely, too much and combined with what looks like old higly compacted media, the plant roots are being suffocated. Either condition will result in those older withered looking leaves.
In that condition, the flowers are bound to struggle as well.

I think it's time to get it out of the pot and get a look at the foundation under the house (the roots).

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

As above. The plant isn't getting enough water. That means either you aren't watering often enough or the root system is poor. The visible roots are alive but I can't see into the medium.

Phal roots must have plenty of air or they suffocate. Most people would use a potting medium with larger air spaces than I see in that container.

Does the container have a drain hole for the water?

How are you watering? How often? How much?

There is a great thread here on learning to grow Phals. From the left yellow menu choose Forums then Beginners. Near the top look for the sticky thread The Phal. abuse stops here. Glance through the first ten or so pages of the thread.

Read through the sticky thread before you make any changes.

[akhenenra]

Thank you for your responses both of you!

This orchid isn't in peat moss- I repotted it into a mix I made myself, about 60% bark, 30% Leica balls, and maybe 10% perlite. Please let me know your thoughts on this mix. However I didn't repot it from it's original peat moss until recently so maybe I waited too long and it suffocated? The container it's in now has lots of drainage holes but I plant to move it to a clear plastic orchid pot once it's done blooming.

I've been "warily" watering it since I moved it to the new medium as I'm trying to get as sense of how often it needs to be watered. I've been doing it probably once every 2 weeks and I'm thinking that's not enough. I generally err on the side of dry with all my plants.

I have several other Phals that I bought recently in bloom- they are all packed in peat moss and I plan to repot them but I was told not to do so while they are flowering- True?

Thank you!

[Dimples]

I can water phals in fresh medium sized bark every day for the first few weeks if I want to in my conditions. Fresh bark holds almost no water at first unless it was already partially broken down by the time you got it. Sponge rock holds no water, only what sticks to the outside of the pieces. Leca can hold some but it depends on the specific product and how it’s used. Watering once every two weeks is likely causing significant drought stress and could explain the malformed flowers.

How did the roots look when you repotted it?

[akhenenra]

Thank you for this help! I think I've been too scared to overwater. The roots looked pretty good to me as of about 3 weeks ago when I repotted it- however some were very white almost like little grubs (yuck) so I think form what I read that means they need more air circulation and light. There wasn't any rot though.

I've been told not to repot while they are blooming do you know if that's true?

I am in PA so it does get hot in the summer but also humid. I watered my orchids infrequently whenI first got them bc they were still in the packed moss that commercial growers use, so I am still getting used to the bark mix. Interesting about waiting for it to break down didn't know that.

[estación seca]

You can repot Phals in flower. Every 2 weeks is almost always too long a watering interval for Phals in bark. Depending on temperature people might water every 3-7 days.

Watering in sphagnum moss is different from other media. Wait until the top of the moss is crisp dry before watering. If the pot is transparent wait until the roots turn from green to silver. Do not soak the moss. Water just the top of the moss for about 1 second. The water will diffuse through the moss leaving it damp but well aerated. Soaking obliterates the air spaces and roots may suffocate.

[Dimples]

Originally Posted by akhenenra

however some were very white almost like little grubs (yuck) so I think form what I read that means they need more air circulation and light. There wasn't any rot though.

Interesting about waiting for it to break down didn't know that.

Roots that don't receive light will be white/yellow/tan-ish from the lack of chlorophyll (no light exposure = no reason to have chlorophyll in the root tissue). Your pot blocks all of the light from the roots, so they don't develop the green pigment. There's nothing wrong with light color roots assuming the plant is healthy. Green roots can photosynthesize, but in pot culture their contribution to the plant's overall energy budget is small.

High-quality orchid bark will start out quite-to-somewhat water repellent so the pot will need to be watered more frequently since it will dry out faster. Lower quality bark will often start out more absorbent. As time goes by, and the bark is exposed to water over and over, high and lower quality bark will start to hold/absorb more water, and the number of days between watering should be increased.

[akhenenra]

I appreciate everyone's responses- the plant is doing much better with more frequent waterings. I didn't understand about the bark and breaking down.

[tmoney]

howdy,

just a quick thought: we usse similar media to the stuff you are mixing. we were told to soak the bark for a couple days before using it to help with the water retention issue.

might give it a try to jut not hae to water every day for a week. but honestly, wer never did that anyway! also, with this similar medium we water once a week by the soaking method.