Drooping leaf on Phal - Orchid Board

dreamynights · #1 08-09-2014, 04:17 PM

Hey All,

I bought my first orchid in Dec 2012 and the first year it was not the healthiest Phal. I had some problems with root growth, some mold and bugs. No surprise when it didn't spike the first winter. However, since then I have had tremendous progress on the plant and I have been excited since I feel like it might bloom this year. There are a lot of healthy roots, no more bugs, and grew 2 new leaves.

The only thing I felt it was really missing was that it might have too little sunlight. The leaves were always a deeper green vs a light green. This year I put it by the window sill where it gets about 3 or so hours of direct sunlight. The top leaf would always turn to the sunlight and I would occasionally rotate the plant so it would grow straight up. Last week the leaf was pretty crooked, at around a 30-40 degree angle when I watered it. The leaves still remained on the darker green side so I decided to move it over where it gets even more direct light, about 4-5 hours. I turned the tilted leaf away from the sunlight so it would grow straight.

However, instead of growing straight, the leaf COMPLETELY flopped over away from the sun, it falls now at about a 90 degree angle. I am wondering if this could be caused by too much sunlight or heat? The leaves still do not look very light or yellow and I see no signs of sunburn. The other thing is that maybe I physically damaged the leaf somehow but I don't see any actual creases on the leaf and still has some resistance when I push against it. I've attached some pictures of its flop and close ups of where it is bending cause the area looks pretty smooth.

I am currently moving the plant back to the spot with less sunlight and supporting the leaf up. Does anyone know what might be the cause? And do you think the plant will have a chance of spiking this year even with this type of damage?

Suzanne17 · #2 08-09-2014, 05:02 PM

Others will chime in but I think it's fine. I have phals that do that.

annak · #3 08-09-2014, 05:35 PM

Looks fine to me too. Like it grew up pretty fast, while still being kind of soft.

Cntry · #4 08-09-2014, 11:28 PM

When you adjust it to more sunlight do it slowly. Its like you having a light turned on you in the middle of the night when your sleeping. YOUR shocked for a bit then your eyes will adjust. Phals like indirect light not direct light. Good luck.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #5 08-10-2014, 01:44 AM

Rotating the Phal will not make it grow straight up if it is not in its genetic makeup to grow straight up. I recommend not rotating the Phal anymore unless you like that "helicopter" look.

Yes. Phals will grow towards the source of light. Many photosynthetic plants do this. They are "chasing" their source of energy.

Regarding the floppy leaves, some Phals naturally have floppy leaves. In nature, the leaves on some Phals point down towards the ground.

In the sticky, "The Phal abuse ends here.", there should be some links to pics of how some Phals grow in the wild.

If not, then here they are:

http://forum.theorchidsource.com/att...s/DSCF1041.JPG

http://www.phals.net/mannii/2013/13ph0404.jpg

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3208/2...7cee73212d.jpg

Optimist · #6 08-11-2014, 07:12 PM

The photoreceptors of the Phal leaf are not on the "top" they are on the bottom, because the top is the bottom, Phals hang to the side or upside down in nature. Look up Phalenopsis in swamp or something like that and you can find various u-tube videos showing orchids in situ. I mount my Phal orchids sideways so they are leaning out over the pot.

tarev · #7 08-13-2014, 02:52 PM

I try not to move my Phals too much. The plant will eventually acclimate and adjust. Just make sure no direct sun to burn the leaves. And some cultivars have different green hues..some lighter, some deeper green.

The leaves just naturally flop down but still has that rigid feel. I would be worried if it flops down, goes very limp, dries out and dies too fast. But if it is just seems gradually flopping down..that should be fine.

Bill U. · #8 08-14-2014, 10:32 AM

I would like to also chime in that there are some varieties of phals that will not ever have that really light green coloring- it is in their genetics to have darker leaves. In my experience and reading, it is most common in phals that have darker colored blooms that contain the red or dark purple pigmentation. It is those plants that will often develop a slight red-purple coloration (almost like a wine-colored blush) on the undersides of the leaves when receiving close to the maximum amount of sunlight it can stand.

As others have stated, phals are not naturally meant to grow straight up- that's a human induced behavior. Eventually many phals will droop off to one side or the other. I have found that most times, it is best to let the leaves grow how they want with the light source not changing in direction too much and then if it is overly top heavy in one direction, you can repot it accordingly to correct for that issue. But that's just my

The droopy-ness of the leaves could be from a sort of shock while throwing this phal into higher and higher amounts of sun with little transitioning periods, causing increased transpiration and stress upon the plant, leading to the phal version of "wilting". This "wilt" may or may not go away, but if it does, it will take a long time for the recovery (on the order of months usually).