Broken Leaf Tip (Phalaenopsis)

[Panino]

My Phalaenopsis was doing incredibly well for the first 6 months that I had it. After it stopped blooming it grew two leaves and started a third one, all in that period! However, about six months ago the tip of the third leaf broke and it stopped all the incredible growth that my phal was having up to that point. Since then the leaf is completely stagnant and no flower spikes have come out either. What should I do with that leaf? Should I try to remove it completely? Should I just leave it as it is even if there are no signs of it growing? I would appreciate any help you can offer! Thank you so much!

[jrodpad]

Don't try and remove it! I would just let it do it's thing and it will grow out and look like any of the other leaves, but with a damaged tip. Mechanical damage for these new leaves is not uncommon as they are tender little things. I can't tell you how many times the center leaf gets a little split down the middle and that split grows right along with the leaf. If it's stalled out, I would check the roots and make sure all is well. Depending on the type of phal, if the roots look healthy, you could stick it on a heat mat to try and jumpstart new growth.

Good luck!

- J

[Leafmite]

My phals seem to take little breaks during growth, too. I don't think there is any reason to worry as long as the roots are healthy. As for the broken leaf, while it might not be the prettiest part of your orchid, I would just leave it there.

[Lana]

Totally agree with the above post. The same thing happened with me many times, and the damaged leaf eventually started to grow again. I have a feeling your phal's growth spurt ended because it approached its normal dormant period during fall when minimal activity is expected; it will probably start growing again very soon as the temperatures increase. But definitely make sure its roots are healthy.

[Panino]

Thank you guys for the advice. I think the problem might be the roots... I've noticed that my phal had some rotted roots due to the old potting medium it was in. When I repotted it last weekend the bottom of the pot looked like it had regular dirt attached to it (not good). I also had a springtail party going on in that pot. So I've repotted my phal with a good drainage potting mix, obviously removing the roots that had rotted. It was left with 5 or 6 very healthy looking roots. Do you guys know other things that I can do to promote even more root growth? Thanks again for the advice!

[jrodpad]

I like a product called K-L-N, which you add to the phal's water to promote root growth. Bottom heat from a heat mat helps too.

Good luck,

-J

[camille1585]

KLN is difficult to get a hold of in Europe, but you can try seaweed extract. Seems to boost root growth quite well from what I've read here.

[jrodpad]

There is a company in Canada that makes Keiki Pro. They also make a root hormone paste with a lanolin base for orchids. It also works really well and I think they ship to Europe.

Hope this helps.

-J

[Bud]

KLN or any orchid bottled product can be shipped to Europe. Only live plants cant be imported/exported without the certificates.
I have always bought European orchid stuff from Ebay.
I had my Phalaenopsis philippinensis mechanically break the tip of the budding leaf; it took a long time for it to recover but it did...as you can see from my thread: it grew nicely and it doesnt even show any damage; in fact it compliments the blooms very well with its rounded tip as opposed to the pointed tip of the other normal ones

[camille1585]

We can find KLN at one place in the UK. But ordering from the UK or US is the same deal, shipping costs makes KLN too expensive. Besides, when we order from the USA there are import taxes to pay. No, I think it's better to go for a locally available alternatives. I wanted to order some MSU fert from the US at one point, but the shipping costs were much higher than the product itself...