What causes phals to get yellowed leaves?

[RandomGemini]

I do mean yellow and floppy, not hard and bleached. I have two phals with this condition. One came home with the yellowed leaves. It definitely needed to be repotted as it had a solid case of root rot and it seems to be perking up just fine. The other one, when I got it, the roots were packed tightly in moss and I was concerned about rot and cooties in the media, so I repotted it in bark. The leaves were in great shape, with just a few knicks and cuts that were probably made when the store opened the box it was in. No big deal though. They have turned yellow in my house, under my care. I have not seen any root growth since I repotted this phal and in the last week or so… two of the lower leaves have turned yellow. One of the yellow leaves just dropped off completely. This phal is still in bloom and has new buds developing. I water it approximately once a week. I haven't mastered the skewer method yet, so I just lift one of the stakes holding the spikes up and if it's damp, I leave it be. The spikes are very tall with 5 blooms each. I wasn't planning to cut them until they turned brown, they are very green right now. The root system, when I repotted it, had almost no rot, which I think was probably a lucky thing.

I'm just wondering what I'm doing wrong. Is it too much light? Not enough?

The phal I have sitting right next to it is doing great. I've had that one a bit longer and it seems to be very happy right where it's at.

[DweamGoiL]

Judging by the black spot near the spike in the picture, in this case, I would say rot. Sometimes a Phal's leaves are just growing in such a way that allows water to stand within the foliage unless you are really diligent at spreading the leaves and drying in between the nooks and crannies each time you water them.

[RandomGemini]

Oh… son of a gun… I just pulled back some of the bark at the base of the stem… and sure enough… black spots. A whole bunch of them. <sarcasm> Awesome! Great! </sarcasm>

What do I do about it? It hasn't spread to the top leaves yet. Is it possible to remove the rotted sections of the plant? The spots do appear to be on the stem. I don't want to have to pitch the thing if I don't have to. I like the blooms on this guy a lot.

[DweamGoiL]

Cut off all rotted leaves and any rot on the stem you need to dig out with a sharp instrument until you see green. Do this right away...it spreads really fast. Wash the area after with some peroxide and seal the incisions with cinnamon. If the crown wasn't affected too much, it will survive.

From now on, be really careful when watering. You might also want to remove a little of the top layer of bark.

[Bud]

spray the rotted parts with hydrogen peroxide .... next time you water this plant, use a paper towel to dry the nooks and cranies of the leaves....cold water that stagnates harbors bacteria that will rot your crown(the part that joins the roots to the leaves)

[RandomGemini]

Should I put it back in the pot immediately afterwards or allow to air dry? (Air drying makes sense to me.)

Also, it's time to cut the spikes, right? I want to give the plant more capability to focus on healing itself if I can.

I do think I know how this happened. I was watering this plant a couple of weeks ago and my dogs were let into the laundry room and Jet jumped on me and the pot tipped into the bucket. I took a paper towel and ran it in between all of the leaves and as far into the stem as I could get and blew it out with a straw and thought I'd dried it sufficiently… I'll bet that I didn't. I'll have the daughter make a sign for the laundry room door that will let family members know to keep the dogs out when I'm watering.

Thank you for your help!

[Bud]

Yes, air dry but paper towel it first to absorb the water. you are in grow zone 5b so it takes longer for anything to air dry, meanwhile the plant have started to rot....
yes, cut the spikes so that it gives a message to the plant to grow new leaves and roots to gain enough energy for the next blooming season.
just do not fuss too much about it...let your plant relax from stress

[RandomGemini]

All righty! Thank you Bud, DweamGoil! I'll take care of this today. I'll post pics when I'm finished. Wish me luck! You all are the best!

[Orchid Whisperer]

When re-potting, set the plant a bit higher so that the base of the plant is at the level of the top of the medium, or at least close to it (not buried).

I agree with letting it dry a day or 2 before putting it back in a pot again.

BTW, use a clean pot, clean new medium. You don't want to re-use medium that was exposed to rot-inducing bacteria.

[RandomGemini]

Well, I went out to grab some cinnamon. I came back and the orchid had fallen into the floor. The roots are completely brown, dead… I think it's over for this one. I still have green leaves, but I'm not seeing a single live root.

---------- Post added at 02:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:59 PM ----------

It is confirmed deceased. I did not find a single bit of green in the roots. It looks like the rot spread up from the root system into the stem and there was rot going all the way up into the crown. I'm bummed. Farewell little guy. I knew I should have checked the roots a week ago. I lifted the clear pot out of the ceramic pot to check it for watering and the whole thing started to come up out of the bark. I thought I just hadn't packed it in firmly enough. Now I think that it's been this way for a while.

Gah… gonna kick myself.

Farewell little guy, grow free in orchid heaven where novice orchid enthusiasts will not inadvertently kill you again!