Soft wrinkled lower leaves on phals - Orchid Board

irrka · #1 07-01-2008, 02:57 PM

I haven't seen this on mine before so i was wondering if anyone knows what this is. I potted these little guys into S/H maybe around 2 months ago and now they're starting to look like this:

Soft wrinkled lower leaves on phals-img_0317-jpg

Soft wrinkled lower leaves on phals-img_0316-jpg

on J+P site it was saying bacterial root rot and that plants should be repotted?

BikerDoc5968 · #2 07-01-2008, 03:09 PM

Don't know about the root rot, but the leaves are demonstrating dehydration....from whatever cause. Time to look at the roots!

quiltergal · #3 07-01-2008, 04:49 PM

Leave it be. When you repot into S/H and the old roots begin to rot this is what often happens. You will notice that your newest leaf looks fine. When you repotted was there new root growth? If there was the plant should be fine. It will look ugly for awhile because those leaves won't ever recover. I have a Phal that did the same thing. It's been in S/H for over a year and has grown an amazing root system and has put out 3 new leaves. The old wrinkly ones are dropping off one by one as the plant grows replacements. HTH

foxtailskies · #4 07-01-2008, 11:36 PM

more silly beginner questions

what's s/h? it certainly looks interesting in the picture... like round balls of peat/coco peat or something?

thanks!

It stands for semi-hydroponics. Their basically clay pellets made for absorbing the water in the reservor and and allowing air to each the roots.

Ray · #6 07-02-2008, 10:31 AM

It look too dry to me, but Terri's comment is also a good one.

I say too dry, because if the pot was sufficiently moist, that moss would be saturated and it's not. Also - take that moss off, it is apparently doing nothing good and will eventually lead to suffocation of the roots.

irrka · #7 07-02-2008, 04:42 PM

cool. moss is off. i was just putting it on to increase humidity (it dries off pretty fast though). but there's water in the reservoir. So moss off and just waiting and looking. Will let you know what happens!

louez · #8 07-02-2008, 06:19 PM

Thanks to those who posted to Irrka. I just joined the board because one of the phals did the same thing. I'm new to growing orchids. A friend got me started this summer with a gift of a phal. I've acquired 3 more plants.
Thank you.

addictedcountryman · #9 07-02-2008, 06:35 PM

Well Louez yours might be a different case. Irrka is doing semi hydroponics, which trains the new root growth to be acclimated to the changes and in doing so, the old growth falls off. Your phal might be suffering from root rot and might need to be examined, which might explain the leaves dying. Or it could just be leaves dying from old age. check out Ray's link Welcome to First Rays Orchids to read more about semi-hydroponics.

louez · #10 07-02-2008, 07:36 PM

I appreciate that. But this phal is indoors and the AC sucks the water out of everything. I cannot keep water in the dishes under the 3 indoor plants because of it and the ceiling fans. It also had not been watered for several days. It's due for a dash.