Phal question

[Leslie2934]

probably an hour

[beanluc]

When you water, do you pour it through and call it done? Or, do you fill a basin/bucket and let the plant drink from it for a while?

The watering frequency sounds to me too like a little much. These plants can store water, so, a bucket soak can do 2 things: Revive a thirsty one that has used up its stores, and, allow the roots to dry well between waterings so root-rot won't happen.

Root-rot shows the same symptoms as underwatering. The reason is that dead roots can't convey any water up to the plant, even if they are constantly wet from frequent watering.

So it sounds like you have already checked your root health and took care of some rot. I don't know how long ago that was, or whether you've done the same recently for (I think you said) other ones that also are wilty. But once they are free of rotted roots, the new watering habit would be as described in this post.

If you water this way, it won't matter as much whether your medium is holding as much water as well-soaked bark would.

It doesn't sound to me like your problems are from feeding wrongly.

Good luck,
BL

[Sandy4453]

I would imagine that twice a week is too frequent for watering. Sometimes you can't tell how dried out the medium really is, especially in the center. Once your bark is retaining the water properly, once a week should be enough....depending on the size of the plant and the size of the pot the plant's in. One way to get the bark primed is to boil it in a pot, filled with water. Once it begins to boil, simmer for about 1/2 hr., let sit for about 1/2 hr., drain and let cool for about an hr. This method opens up all the barks pores and is good to go.

I agree with most everything suggested here. One other possibility for the limp leaves, may be......mealies. They sometimes hide from sight but every time I've had this happen, I've discovered these critters upon second inspection.

[Leslie2934]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I had never heard of boiling the bark. I may try that sometime. I'm just going to leave it and see how it goes. Thanks again.