Phalaenopsis - Yellowing lowest leaf, discoloration near base of leaf

[rozalin!]

Hi!

Apologies for making another, "help I'm new and don't know what's going wrong" post on this forum, but I'm having trouble figuring out what's wrong with my orchid. Unfortunately, I don't really have the exact... vocabulary? to figure out what it is I should be researching!

The orchid dropped two out of five flowers over the last week, but the other three seem to be okay for now. I've attached a photo of the area of concern and a photo of down into the orchid. The roots seem healthy inside of the pot.

Help would be appreciated!

Thank you,
roz

[camille1585]

Hi Roz, welcome to orchidboard! And don't worry, there are no stupid questions here, we're always happy to help.

At first glance there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the plant. Your phal looks healthy and it's the lowest leaf which is yellowing. Leaves don't last forever, and it looks like natural aging. It will slowly continue to yellow and wither, and it's best to let it fall off by itself to avoid damage. There's a high chance that you're going to see a brand new leaf growing soon now that the plant is nearly done blooming

However it does look like it could use a repot after the flowers fall off. The sphagnum looks old, and from what I can see it's potted in one of those soft transparent pots, which usually only have one hole in the bottom. Those are not very good for drainage or air flow around the roots. I'd recommend moving it to a clear plastic pot (size should be the smallest the roots comfortably fit - they like to be snug). You can use sphanum moss again if it's something you are comfortable with, or move it to bark chunks. In that case you will need to water more often than in moss.

Have a look at this thread for lots of good information on growing Phals, and don't hestitate to ask more questions.

The Phal abuse ends here. - Orchid Board - Most Complete Orchid Forum on the web !

[Dimples]

Welcome! Camille gave you great advice. Only thing I’ll add is that flowers don’t last forever. Phal. flowers can last for months, but not always, and they eventually fall off and the spike may die back, but again, not always. Orchids like to do what they want.

[rozalin!]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Hi Roz, welcome to orchidboard! And don't worry, there are no stupid questions here, we're always happy to help.

At first glance there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the plant. Your phal looks healthy and it's the lowest leaf which is yellowing. Leaves don't last forever, and it looks like natural aging. It will slowly continue to yellow and wither, and it's best to let it fall off by itself to avoid damage. There's a high chance that you're going to see a brand new leaf growing soon now that the plant is nearly done blooming

However it does look like it could use a repot after the flowers fall off. The sphagnum looks old, and from what I can see it's potted in one of those soft transparent pots, which usually only have one hole in the bottom. Those are not very good for drainage or air flow around the roots. I'd recommend moving it to a clear plastic pot (size should be the smallest the roots comfortably fit - they like to be snug). You can use sphanum moss again if it's something you are comfortable with, or move it to bark chunks. In that case you will need to water more often than in moss.

Have a look at this thread for lots of good information on growing Phals, and don't hestitate to ask more questions.

You're absolutely right, it is potted in one of the flexible single-hole pots. When it comes time to repot, I was planning on using a mix of primarily moss with some percentage (~20-30 percent) of either bark or LECA - probably the latter, since I have it on hand - in a clear mesh pot. It's been very humid around here lately, so drainage feels particularly important; much of my worry comes from it only needing watered every 3-4 weeks at this point, determined by when the roots against the wall of the pot look silvery.

I ended up spraying the affected area with a tiny bit of dilute Physan solution. I figured that the worst case would be that it does nothing. This one has been moved a lot, so it's probably been put under a fair amount of stress as a result.

Thank you!

[Blueszz]

Welcome!

Don't spray the affected area. You don’t want moist sitting between stem and leaves. This could cause rot.

Like Camille explained, leaves and flowers don’t last for ever. This looks like a normal way the plant sheds its lower leaf.
When illness isn’t de cause of shedding a leaf, nature knows best. Don’t interfere 😉

[Flower Fool]

Hi Rozalin. Welcome to the Orchid Board.
I agree with the other posts. Your plant looks healthy. I would like to add that when the flower spike starts to die DO NOT cut it off. The spike will die off, usually about half way down. (That's what I have noticed will all of mine.) When you are sure that it is not going to die any further you can cut off the dead portion. I find that many of my Phals will then send out a new spike off that one. I have mine planted in an orchid bark mixture to which I add a hand full of spagnum moss. They seem to do very well.
Again, your plant look quite healthy.