Floppy-leafed Phal (and a general request for guidance)

[ajssbp]

Hi everyone,

So I kind of new to Orchids, although I've always like them and been jealous of those would could grow them successfully. After many envious remarks of others, my girlfriend got me a Phal hybrid in this last October. It was in bloom when I got it, and the blooms lasted until the beginning of January. At that point they fell off, I trimmed the stem to just above the last nodule and 4 new blooms have since grown (yay!)

Now for the not so good part......... when I got my orchid the leaves were nice and green and rigid, but now they're rather floppy. I have several new roots growing (4-5 that I can see above the bark), but I'm not sure how many are left growing below the surface. The plant has been knocked over a few times and it feels kind of loose in the bark, so I'm wondering/afraid if the couple of spills broke/killed some of the existing roots. I don't think there's root rot but I'm not completely sure as I haven't unpotted it since I got it. I have been apprehensive to do so while it is in bloom. I only water it once a week, and it seems to dry out completely between waterings.

Although in the pictures it looks like it's in a solid pot, the bronze pot is actually just a container, it is actually potted in a clear plastic inner pot with plenty of drainage holes and the outer pot doesn't have standing water in it. I guess I'm just not sure where to go from here. It seems fairly healthy except for the floppy leaves (which are kind of dark, I'm assuming it's not getting enough light? although it's in a SW window.......but it is Michigan so....). Any help/guidance/wisdom anyone could share would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

-Adrian

[Izzie]

Can you take it out of the outer pot so you can see roots through the clear pot?

Floppy/withered leaves are generally a sign of dehydration. And the two biggest causes of that are
1. Underwatering
2. Root rot, from overwatering.
Either way, the roots are not able to take up the water they need.
I'd unpot the plant and check on the roots, and repot in fresh mix that drains well.

[Izzie]

Also, now would be a good time to repot anyways with those active root tips.
Good luck!

you can search "repotting" and such here on the board for some good guides.

[Royal]

Adrian,

Welcome! It looks like you're keeping it happy. New roots is a good sign (usually). I would repot as soon as the blooms drop. Blooming takes a lot of energy so don't worry too much about the floppy leaves. Getting it into fresh media should perk it up. Nice blooms by the way. Good luck!

[johnblagg]

It looks pretty healty to me Good job so far.

It does look like it would like fresh medium perhaps the roots below the new ones look just a little tired and like they are failing not rot per say just damage from the knocks its had.the new roots are looking great though so it will be fine with just a little freshening up.

You might try misting it a once or twice a week with a mix of weak fertilizer right on those new roots.I Mist air roots at least once a week to feed the plant and it works wonders for me .....take a look http://www.orchidboard.com/community...-phal-now.html

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[ajssbp]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

So this is what I'm hearing, and please let me know if my thinking is correct or flawed.

1. Basically keep watering the way I am until the current buds drop.
2. Once the buds drop, cut the spike all the way down to the leaf level.
3. Replant

My only question is how deep do I replant it? There are several roots currently above the level of the bark, do I replant it with all those new roots at or below the level of the bark? Thanks again for all your help!

Edit: one more thing, when I do replant, do I remove all of the dead/dessicated roots? I would assume so, but I'm not entirely sure........ Thanks!

[johnblagg]

Originally Posted by ajssbp

Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

So this is what I'm hearing, and please let me know if my thinking is correct or flawed.

1. Basically keep watering the way I am until the current buds drop.
2. Once the buds drop, cut the spike all the way down to the leaf level.
3. Replant

My only question is how deep do I replant it? There are several roots currently above the level of the bark, do I replant it with all those new roots at or below the level of the bark? Thanks again for all your help!

Edit: one more thing, when I do replant, do I remove all of the dead/dessicated roots? I would assume so, but I'm not entirely sure........ Thanks!

well that depends on if you would have to cover up leaf bases much or nor.If the roots are very high just repot to the same level, its natural for roots to grow in air as well as in the medium.

if they are very close to the level of the medium and the lower leaves are looking like they are yellowing and going to be lost then I might cover them with new medium but I usually wait untill the leaves are gone before I plant deeper and simply let the areial roots grow as they want.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

My recommendation is to reposition the plant the way it is now. That's how they naturally position themselves in the wild.

Photographing phals in situ on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Check out the whole host of pictures this guy has on Phals in the wild and you'll know what I'm talking about.

As per the floppy leaf question, your particular Phal is fine.

But as Izzie stated, if the leaves are not turgid and they appear to have wrinkles; that's from insufficient water, either from:

1. Underwatering.

2. Not enough water getting to the plants because the plant lost most, if not all it's viable roots.

Your Phal is growing new roots and that's always a good sign.

When you repot, it's not always necessary to move up in pot size. In fact, with orchids, don't be in a hurry to move up in pot size. Sometimes, it's okay to put them in either smaller pots or pots that are the same size as what you have them growing in currently. It really depends on how many living roots there are left on the plant.

When you repot, I recommend checking the roots and removing any dead roots.

BTW, it's not necessary to just get general guidance here. You can get nit-picky specific, and many people will be able to answer most of the questions. In fact, sometimes, the answers to your questions that you get on forums such as the OB (etc.) will never be found in a book.