Phalaenopsis Help!!!!

[ljon0001]

I have a long history of killing orchids, but havent given up yet.... I am on my fourth now and it seems to be losing its health quickly.

It finished blooming so I cut the flower spikes all the way back. There is a new leaf growing.

The leaves, however, are showing signs of problem....

1) many of them are splitting
2) there are white soggy spots which I have applied neem to
3) 2 of the leaves are drooping
4) on all of the leaves, the tips are turning lighter green and are noticeably thinner than the rest of the leaf

it is currently in front of a bright window, with no direct sunlight.
i water it when the roots appear white-ish
i fertilize with water soluble orchid fertilizer once a month
it is sitting on a humidity tray

what am i doing wrong?? help!

[tucker85]

Have you repotted your phal since you bought it? Often new phalaenopsis are in tightly packed sphagnum moss that, for some reason, seems to work for commercial growers but doesn't work well in the home. Phals should be repotted in fresh mix every one or two years. Most of your culture sounds pretty good but you might want to fertilize a little more often. It's a common practice to give a weak dose of fertilizer once a week rather than once a month.

[Silje]

Originally Posted by tucker85

Often new phalaenopsis are in tightly packed sphagnum moss that, for some reason, seems to work for commercial growers but doesn't work well in the home.

Yes. Why is that? Why does that apparently work so well for nurseries when it's the surest way to kill a phal in a home environment? I'm puzzled by that.

[ljon0001]

i bought my phal about 2 months ago. i repotted when i bought it, in a clear pot and a bark mix.

i will give more frequent fertilizing a shot, thanks.

although, i do not water it as often as once a week.
i live in a very humid climate and find that after a week my orchid is still quite moist.
should i fertilize everytime i water, then?

[Silje]

I was wondering if your plant perhaps have got sunburn from the way you describe the white areas on the leaves. Sunburn can appear white and rough for a while until the affected area dries up. But that shouldn't cause the leaves to drop.

Pictures would be good. If you struggle to attached in the thread, maybe you can upload some to the gallery and point us in the right direction?

[ljon0001]

it is not letting me attach an image or link to my images in this message.

---------- Post added at 03:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:04 PM ----------

ok, i have uploaded into 'member gallery'.... under 'phal malta'.... 'phal fail'

[james mickelso]

Here is why phals (and most other orchids) grow so well in spag at the nursery but fail to grow well for us. In the nursery the light level is optimum (medium), the temp (high) and humidity (high) are optimum, and most of all there is very vigorous air movement (a stiff breeze made by large fans at one end of the growing house). The plants are forced to grow as quickly as possible while in our homes the conditions are less than ideal (and the plants grow slowly). So the moss stays wet down in the moss, the temps are cooler, and there is no air movement. So rot sets in. Most of the phals grown in moss at the nurseries are started as clones or seed and grown in compots. When old enough they are transplanted to small individual pots of densely packed spagnum moss where they are just placed right on top. When they are a year older they are transplanted again by placing this dense plug of moss into a larger pot and packed again with moss around the plug. You can grow them in sphagnum moss but you need to provide good air movement and most of all the moss has to be loose in the pot. Hence a plant clip of some sort to help hold the plant in the pot until it's roots are numerous. Phals like a medium to dim light level too. In Malta a north exposure would be best. My light levels in my GH are too high but they still grow well. In my GF's bathroom which has a north exposure they grow wild. And she doesn't water them very much at all.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by tucker85

Have you repotted your phal since you bought it? Often new phalaenopsis are in tightly packed sphagnum moss that, for some reason, seems to work for commercial growers but doesn't work well in the home.

The reason why is because they grow the Phals much closer to the temperatures they experience in the wild than most home growers do, and they don't water as often as hobbyists do. They also are able to afford losing a few orchids. We as hobbyists can't afford that.

Yeah, I know - Phals don't need to be grown as warm as they do in the wild, but these are the temperatures that these nurseries subject their Phals to. And some Phals grow a bit more vigorous and faster in these conditions.

Like I've always told people, there is a difference between how nurseries grow their orchids and how you guys do it. I've worked at an orchid nursery that primarily deals with Phalaenopsis as their crop plant, and this is exactly what happens.

[ljon0001]

unfortunately i dont have a north facing window which has a space to place my phal.
my open plan living/dining/kitchen and a back room have wall size glass doors which let in a lot of light.
one is south facing but never gets direct sunlight and the other east and gets direct sunlight in mornings.
would this allow enough light to place it somewhere in the middle of the rooms?

[james mickelso]

Would be marvelous. If you can read a magazine easily it is enough light.