phalaenopsis soft leaves

[green_tea_88]

Hi! So I got this orchid (phalaenopsis) 2 weeks ago, and I watered it 2 times since. Now I noticed the leaves are getteing kind of "soft", they are not as "strong" and "rigid" as on my other phalaenopsis. Also, there is only one root that is sticking out of the pot and it has gotten kind of dry.. Today I took the plant out of the pot and it was like 2 dl of water in there there that I discarded. Have I been giving the orchid too much water? I've been watering it as much and as often as I do with my other phalaenopsis (that I had for like 5 years now and it seems to be ok with the watering...).

What should I do with this new orchid? I really wouldn't like it to die after only 2 weeks at my house..:/ It is still flowering and it looks ok but the softening of the leaves made me kind of worried..The leaves are still green but they cannot support themselves anymore and they are kind of hanging out of the pot.

Is there anyone who knows what I should do? Maybe I should just stop giving it water and wait?
(Sorry for my bad english)

[jrodpad]

Is there any way that you can post pics of the leaves or roots? From what little I know, softening, wrinkly or veiny leaves can be a symptom of either over-watering or under-watering - both cause the roots to not take up enough water, in the first case the roots drown and in the second case there's just not enough water and the roots shrivel.

If I understand you correctly, when you removed the plant from the pot, there was standing water. Standing water is something that you should avoid. Phals don't like to have their feet wet, and in fact this could cause the roots to drown. I would remove the plant again and check the roots. Are they brown and mushy? This could be a result of standing water.

Reversing the damage is something that others should comment on. If the roots are affected, I would probably trim away the dead/rotting roots with a clean blade, pack the plant in moist sphag moss and put in a plastic bag in low light for a while until I saw new roots forming and the leaves plump up a bit. A rooting stimulant like KLN might help too. Someone with more phal experience should chime in though, I'm just shooting from the hip with the 'ol sphag and bag routine.

Hope this helps.

- J

[Izzie]

If it is in a pot that does not drain, that might be why it has not been doing as well as your other phals (that might be in draining pots that let the water out).

It was smart to take it out and check on the roots- from what you've told us, it needs to be repotted into fresh media as soon as possible, and into a pot that drains well- that is only just big enough to hold the roots. Match the pots to the roots, not the leaves/plant size.

member Ray has a great page here about repotting- Repotting Plants
He explains repotting sympodial and monopodial orchids- your phalaenopsis is monopodial.

[green_tea_88]

Ok so here come some pictures that I just took. As you can see it still looks pretty good, but the leaves are really soft and if you look closer they are a little wrinkled.
I have this plant in a plastic pot that it was in when I got it from the store, and I just put this pot in a larger pot (the purple one). I also took some pictures of the roots that you can see through the plastic pot, from the side and from below.
Now that I think about it, this plant usually stands by a window and I often have this window open, maybe it was too cold for it (my other orchid is by another window)? I have around 70 F inside my house and recently its been around 59 on the outside.
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[Izzie]

From what I can tell, I bet that water has been collecting in the bottom of that outer pot- since it doesn't drain. When you water, take the inner plastic pot out and let water run through.

If it's been standing in water, some roots might be rotting- and can no longer absorb water, which causes the leaves to wilt because the plant is not getting as much water as it needs. Underwatering and overwatering can look very similar.

The limp, wrinkled leaves are indicative of lack of water, either under or overwatering.

What roots you can see look good and healthy- but I bet there are some in the middle that are less than ideal.

As far as temperatures, unless it dropped below somewhere around 60* F (15* C), the phal would be fine- in fact, they like a 10-15 degree difference between night and day, so drops in temperature at night are good- especially to encourage flowering in the fall. 55-59* should be no problem every now and then.

If the plant has never experienced those temperatures before, then it might have shocked it a little, but nothing to worry about.


I'd repot with fresh media when it's done flowering, unless it really starts to go downhill. That inner plastic pot looks great- good vents.

[Zoi2]

Your flowers are beautiful.
The roots in your pictures look good. You might keep the plastic pot out of the decorator one for a couple of days to let the potting medium and roots dry. Phals will tell you when to water. Roots green they are fine, roots silvery white time to water. Once things dry out, your leaves may firm up.
Joann

[green_tea_88]

Thank you all so much for your answers!! You're awesome!

[ardera]

I have all my babies in decorative pots too (planted in plastic pot, sitting inside decorative pot). What I have done is to put rocks inside the bottom of the decorative pot. That way, if for any reason my baby is still dripping water (even though I let them drain for about 20 minutes) the inner plastic pot is not sitting in that water, it is still sitting above the extra water level.

Just a thought.

[Orchid126]

The drop in temperature is one thing, but a cold draft is completely another. Just be sure the plant isn't in a cold draft.