Phalaenopsis yellow droopy leaves with spots

[AndreeaShuk]

Hello!

My orchid has developed some strange looking yellow spots on its leaves, and the leaves are turning yellow from the tip and they are also getting droopy. Also on one of the leaves there are some weird white scratches? And it started to get yellow from there. No signs of pests anywhere. The orchid has been watered once per week and I'm also using a weak liquid fertiliser almost every time I water it. Also the crown is yellowish (and a bit orange?) but it's not mushy. It's situated in an eastern window along with 3 more orchids. The roots look pretty healthy, the orchid has a lot of blooms, I really don't understand what it's happening to it. Please help me, it's my first orchid and I already spent a lot of time reviving it when I got it because it had horrible rotted roots and when I finally thought it got healthy, I'm getting hit by this.

Thank you!

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

My first thought is sunburn or heat damage. Is the yellowing only on the side closest the window? Does it get direct sun through the window?

[AndreeaShuk]

Thank you for the reply!

Is it situated on the windowsill in a eastern window (actually it's a bit N-E, not fully east) so it receives some morning sun for 2-3 hours at most. The two leaves that are affected the most are closest to the window, yes there are two more leaves that are droopy on the opposite side though. Should I try moving it altogether?

I attached a picture so you can see the exact position of the orchid. I am at loss

[FranningtonBear]

Hello and welcome to OB.

My first thought is, like E_S, that it looks like sunburn too.

However, as a fellow Brit who also grows on my windowsills, I honestly don't think our light intensity is strong enough to burn that much? I'm no expert but my Phals on thrive on windowsills.

[Ray]

I'll offer a different "diagnostic scenario":

I suspect that you're being way too conservative with the water (and I'd like to know how much fertilizer per liter and what formula).

As plants take in water and nutrients, some 90-95% of the water is lost to transpiration, some is used to create phytochemicals used for life and growth. Excesses are stored in the plant tissues for use later.

Based upon that, you can think of three scenarios:

• Uptake > (Consumption + Loss) = the plant grows and adds to the stores.
• Uptake = (Consumption + Loss) = the plant just "sits there"; alive but with only slow growth.
• Uptake < (Consumption + Loss) = the plant must draw those stored phytochemicals and water from the tissues to keep the plant alive and to supply any new growth. They are typically drawn from the oldest tissues first.

I think that last scenario applies in this case.

[AndreeaShuk]

I appreciate the replies, thank you for the different perspectives.

I have recently switched fertilisers. I was using the Baby Bio Orchid Feed from Amazon (13-1-1 I think), 5 drops per litre, every time I watered it. Then I would water it with clean water once per month. Then I noticed the floppy leaves, and someone suggested that it might be a potassium deficiency because that fertiliser didn't have the right formulation so I switched to Miracle Gro which I think is 13-7-5 if I remember correctly (I already had this in the house so I thought I might give it a try). But the orchid isn't improving so I am definitely doing something wrong. So you are saying that I am either fertilising it too often or too much and the plant has already stored the nutrients in its leaves? Or it's the fact that I am using too much fertiliser per liter of water and the orchid can't absorb the water properly? Sorry if my questions are dumb but I am a beginner

[Ray]

Whoever suggested a potassium deficiency is teaching more than he or she knows.

I have been using K-Lite (12-1-1) for more than a dozen years and have experienced no deficiencies.

Formula isn't all that important, but the concentration and frequency of application are. Divide 9.2 by the %N ion the formula - the result is ml/L for 100 ppm N, a good level for feeding once a week. 9.2/13=0.7 ml/L, so at 20 drops/ml, that would be 14 drops/L weekly.

If you feed twice a week, use half as much.

I suspect the feeding is not the issue, but I'd bet you're not watering enough.

Here is a guide you can download to read:

[Dimples]

I agree that it looks like a watering issue. Phals. don’t want to dry out completely. They definitely don’t want to be soggy, but water when the middle of the medium is still slightly damp.

[AndreeaShuk]

Thank you for your patience and help!

I think you are right, I might not water it enough. I've noticed that the medium is not staying wet for long enough after I water it, but I brushed it off as the bark being new (I repotted it 3 months ago with freshly bough bark). I was afraid to water it too often because root rot scared me. I read the guide Ray gave me and it opened a new perspective about these beautiful plants! So thank you for that, and I will make sure I will water it more often.

A last question if you don't mind, should I water it from above or should I dunk it in a container for some time?

[greyblackfish]

Welcome! Running water over the medium especially over fresh chunky bark means less water gets absorbed. Dunking the pot will expose the bark medium to water for longer and let it absorb. If you prefer to water frequently then running water over the top will be fine. But if you prefer to water less often then dunking will be better. Phals grow fairly slowly and I have other orchids to attend to so I prefer to dunk or thoroughly water once a month. The rest of the time, I run some water over the medium because it’s less time consuming. Those phal pots can get pretty big and moving them to the sink can be time consuming. It is however necessary when you want to remove excess salts from the medium.

I usually avoid watering directly over the crown because I’m concerned about crown rot. But sometimes some water does get in the crown. I wipe the excess away with a paper towel but a little bit probably isn’t a problem.