orchid with wrinkled leaves

[kyra wilson]

I'm new with orchids and don't even know if I'm giving to much water or not enough.

When I bought the orchid it looked fine but now it's beginning to have the appearance of lines and wrinkles in its leaves.

What could this mean?

[Gage]

Could be a few things. First thing to do is check the roots for rot. Pull that sucker out of the pot and anything dry and flaky, mushy or black is either dead or on its way out. Plump and silver or green is a good root. No roots = no water to the leaves. Either way you will probably need to repot in something like a bark mix. I'm sure others will be along with plenty of info. There is a lot of great info in these here parts. Good luck!

[JDawggie]

...Kyra, I agree with Gage to check on the roots and see what is going on. I just had a similar experience where I thought my plant was not getting enough water because of a few wrinkled leaves (it is a mini) -- so I started to give it some more waterings and there was no change with the leaves. After this did not work, I figured it was the roots -- yep, I trimmed bad roots off and I am hoping to nurse it back to health (there were two or three good roots left) -- but only time will tell for me. I do wish I checked the roots earlier, but I am still learning to grow these things!

Have a look at the roots to really find out what is going.
Jared

[silken]

Wrinkled leaves indicates not enough moisture. The leaves that are wrinkled will never straighten out, but new ones should grow properly once the moisture problem has been rectified. It could be from poor roots, not enough humidity or just not watering enough. So figure which reason applies to yourself and then adjust what you are doing. Good luck!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

What kind of orchid is it?

Is it a Phalaenopsis (aka Moth Orchids)?

Is it an Oncidium intergeneric?

Is it a Miltoniopsis (aka Pansy Orchids)?

While I do agree it could be a number of problems.

It could be a problem with the roots.

It could also be a problem with not enough water.

Not to mention, it could also be insufficient humidity.

I think it would narrow down some possibilities if you mentioned what kind of orchid you have.

A pic is great too.