Phal. Mini Mark Breckenridge health

[harrefr]

Hi everyone. I am once again seeking advice from the experts out there regarding the health of my Mini Mark. I can’t tell if he’s developing crown rot, but it looks suspicious. The leaves are dark green and rather limp. He is planted in coconut husk bark and I let him dry out thoroughly between watering. Am I still overwatering? Or maybe he’s not getting enough light? He is on the edge of a full spectrum grow light that is about 12 inches above the leaves. Not sure what to do….

Thanks for the help!

[Roberta]

You are WAY underwatering. You should not let it dry out completely... your goal in the root zone is "humid air". you don't want soggy but it should not dry out completely, it is dehydrated.

[Mountaineer370]

I thought the same thing, just from looking at your photos, before I even read Roberta's post. I'm not seeing anything that looks like rot, but it does look dehydrated. Phals, in general, never want to get "thoroughly dry."

[harrefr]

Oh, ok. I thought this particular phal liked to dry out completely between watering, but I guess not. I will up the watering frequency and hope the damage is not done. The roots that I can see through the pot do look rather healthy, so maybe that’s a good thing. Thanks for the advice, mountaineer and Roberta!

[Roberta]

I deleted the duplicate thread.

There are so many cautions about not overwatering orchids that it's easy to go overboard. It helps to drop back and look at the reason for the advice, as well as what you're actually trying to accomplish. Lots of people acquire Phals in sphagnum, and they water the plant so that the medium stays soaked. That, indeed, kills roots and ultimately the plant. But... the plant isn't really suffering from "too much water" but rather from lack of air that the water crowds out. But the plant definitely needs water - in nature, these hang from trees, get rained on almost daily. When the rain stops they dry out, but the air is very humid. So what they really want is humid air. How to get that in a pot? Water well, let it run through the pot. (That flushes out "crud" and also pulls air through the root zone). Then as the plant dries it, the water is replaced by air. So you let it go a vew days, then water again. Your plant appears to be in a well-drained medium, so overwatering is really not likely to be a problem. But it also dries out fast. So then it needs another good drink.

[harrefr]

Originally Posted by Roberta

I deleted the duplicate thread.

There are so many cautions about not overwatering orchids that it's easy to go overboard. It helps to drop back and look at the reason for the advice, as well as what you're actually trying to accomplish. Lots of people acquire Phals in sphagnum, and they water the plant so that the medium stays soaked. That, indeed, kills roots and ultimately the plant. But... the plant isn't really suffering from "too much water" but rather from lack of air that the water crowds out. But the plant definitely needs water - in nature, these hang from trees, get rained on almost daily. When the rain stops they dry out, but the air is very humid. So what they really want is humid air. How to get that in a pot? Water well, let it run through the pot. (That flushes out "crud" and also pulls air through the root zone). Then as the plant dries it, the water is replaced by air. So you let it go a vew days, then water again. Your plant appears to be in a well-drained medium, so overwatering is really not likely to be a problem. But it also dries out fast. So then it needs another good drink.

That makes a lot of sense now that I read and think about it. I am an analyst by trade, so I tend to overanalyze the simplest of situations, lol. And, my growing area tends to run on the dry side, ~40-45% humidity, which only contributes to the dryness. We’ll get him back to good health soon, I hope. Again, thank you for your help and advice.

[greyblackfish]

It’s very easy to overanalyze everything about your orchids. But phals grow so slowly and stay in bloom for so long that it’s easier to water them when they need it and otherwise forget them the rest of the time. Lol

[gjanick2]

I live in Thailand. I have about 9 phals, from old and large to newbie phals. We are in our rainy season now (almost every afternoon and evening now we receive heavy rainfalls). My phals are under a sunscreen cloth which allows rain water to come through. I have no control how much water my plants receive.

My phals with heavy rain look so much healthier now rhan before with little rain and hand watering. So, I agree with Roberta--overwatering phals probably is not a problem.

[harrefr]

Originally Posted by gjanick2

I live in Thailand. I have about 9 phals, from old and large to newbie phals. We are in our rainy season now (almost every afternoon and evening now we receive heavy rainfalls). My phals are under a sunscreen cloth which allows rain water to come through. I have no control how much water my plants receive.

My phals with heavy rain look so much healthier now rhan before with little rain and hand watering. So, I agree with Roberta--overwatering phals probably is not a problem.

Very good to know, thank you. Up until now, I had believed phals liked to dry out between watering. And I believed ‘when in doubt, wait another day before watering.’ Is underwatering equally detrimental as overwatering?

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by harrefr

Very good to know, thank you. Up until now, I had believed phals liked to dry out between watering. And I believed ‘when in doubt, wait another day before watering.’ Is underwatering equally detrimental as overwatering?

Yes, underwatering can also be very detrimental, even deadly. (How long would YOU last with no water??) If there is there is sufficient air, you really can't overwater. The problem with "overwatering" is actually "under-airing" ... in the absence of air, roots rot. But if you have a well-drained medium so that water just flows through the pot and pulls lots of air behind it, you could water every day and the orchid will be happy. If you have an environment like in Thailand where it rains all the time, you don't have to bother with pots or medium at all - that's how they grow in nature. Constant water, but also constant air.

I have the luxury of a greenhouse now... I grow many of my Phals in hanging baskets (or mounted), some of them have roots that reach the ground. At that point, the medium is irrelevant. I particularly have found that the species do much better that way. I guess hybrids are more tolerant of pots because they were bred to be grown that way. Species, not so much. The closer you can to that 'maximum air maximum water" balance, the better.

---------- Post added at 10:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:39 PM ----------

A further note... Once you water your plant adequately it will start to grow again (a new leaf is likely to start to develop) but if the exiting leaves are limp, they may not regain their stiffness. Don't worry about that, or try other treatment. The new growth will be nice and still as it should be, once it has enough new leaves, the old ones may start to yellow and drop because it will be "recycling" the damaged tissue. So don't be alarmed, as long as it is producing new growth it will be OK, just may look a bit rough for awhile.