Phal Leaves Turning Yellow/Falling Off

[Justine]

I am having a problem with one of my phals. 3 of the upper leaves have begun to turn yellow and drop off. They are the newest leaves on the plant, so I know it can't be good! I have read that yellow leaves can mean that the orchid is getting too much light; however, I have 2 other orchids sitting in the same window with the "sick" one and they both have thick, green, healthy leaves. I also read that yellow leaves could mean the plant is getting too much water, or that it has a disease.

My question to you all is... what are some solutions to these problems? I have no idea what kind of disease it could be and how I would fix it.

[Daethen]

Can you upload some pictures. It sounds like it may be crown rot.

[val_and_graham]

Hi Justine, photos would be a great help. Also, let us know if this yellow leaf orchid has had anything at all done differently to it compared to your other 2 orchids on the window?

[Cyplover]

do you know what species,hybrid it is that might help

[Royal]

Loosing the newest leaves is not a good sign. I'd separate it from the other healthy plants and hope for the best. It may be a lost cause, but it could bounce back and push out a basal keki (a new set of leaves from the bottom of the stem). This would take a while but it's worth it if the plant is especially important. I wouldn't get my hopes up though.

[JeffreyGreen17]

it seems like your phal is not getting enough water, it sounds to me the problem could be root rot. when it comes to root rot, your main chance is hoping it sets out a new set of roots, but this could take a while

[Zoi2]

Have you unpotted and checked the roots yet? What condition are they in?
Joann

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by Royal

Loosing the newest leaves is not a good sign. I'd separate it from the other healthy plants and hope for the best. It may be a lost cause, but it could bounce back and push out a basal keki (a new set of leaves from the bottom of the stem). This would take a while but it's worth it if the plant is especially important. I wouldn't get my hopes up though.

I agree that it's best to seperate it from the others to ensure whatever it is does not spread. Until we know what it is it could be a fungas or bacteria which you don't want spreading to the others.

It sounds to me like it could be crown rot, but pictures would really help as in many ways we are just gussing with only a description to go on. If you need help with how to post pictures see this link.
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...chidboard.html

Originally Posted by JeffreyGreen17

it seems like your phal is not getting enough water, it sounds to me the problem could be root rot. when it comes to root rot, your main chance is hoping it sets out a new set of roots, but this could take a while

In my experience it would loose the bottom leaves first if it's just a case of not getting enough water. Dehydrated plants will sacrifice their lower leaves to try and reduce themselves down to a size that can survive on the amount of water they are getting. In my experience this would always start from the bottom though.

As Jeffrey has said though, dehydration could be from root rot, often more often than from underwatering, so it's NOT a good idea just to up the watering. It may be a good idea to take a look at the roots to see what is going on with them.

I don't think too much sun would turn a phal yellow as you describe. I've had them turn more red in too much sun but maybe it depends on the parantage of the plant. As for the fact the others are fine in the same sun, remember that different phals (with different parantage) need different amounts of light. I have one which does not like to be in the window (and goes very red if put in the window) while my window ledges are filled with other phals which are perfectly happy in that light.

[tucker85]

As some others have stated, I suspect a root problem. If you can't visualize the roots and the medium is old I would consider repotting. You may find lots of dead roots that need to be cut off.

[Justine]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I decided to do as some of you suggested and unpot the plant to check the roots. Unfortunately, they were pretty atrocious... so I had to get rid of it. I think maybe I will try to space out my waterings a little more to avoid this problem in the future.