Phal new leaf smaller than older leaves - Orchid Board

Fuzzy · #1 11-04-2014, 11:31 AM

Hello, I have a question. What causes new Phal leaves to be smaller than older leaves? I always thought it was a sign of stress and bad care, but here I have a Phal Surf Song that is clearly thriving. The old leaves are about 7.5-8 inches long, and it recently put out a new leaf that is only about 5.5 inches long. What's even stranger yet, immediately after this leaf stopped growing I noticed yet another new leaf starting to develop! Why would a Phal abandon growing one leaf only to start a second new one right away? One thing I changed over the last couple of weeks was I turned the phal 180 degrees as the new leaf was leaning too much towards light and I wanted to "even it out" a bit. Could this have caused the leaf to stop growing? I am attaching a picture of the phal with the smaller leaf and a pic of the roots with all these tips coming out of the pot. As you can see, lots of root growth, no rot, etc.

Ray · #2 11-04-2014, 03:10 PM

There's not telling specifically what caused one leaf to stop-, and another to start growing, but any kind of disruption could be responsible.

If absolutely everything else was unchanged, I'd put it on the reorientation...

snowflake311 · #3 11-06-2014, 01:43 AM

Could they still be growing? One of mine has the slowest growing leaves I have ever seen. maybe in time it will be bigger?

MrHungx · #4 11-06-2014, 02:07 AM

Was the phal forming buds when the leaf was forming? The bloom spike in yours pics seem to be from the previous blooms. If the phal was reblooming from the old spike, it could have caused the plant to put more energy into the buds than into the new leaf. I usually just cut off the whole spike when a phal finishes blooming so it can put more energy into leaf/root growth.

Fuzzy · #5 11-06-2014, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrHungx

Was the phal forming buds when the leaf was forming? The bloom spike in yours pics seem to be from the previous blooms. If the phal was reblooming from the old spike, it could have caused the plant to put more energy into the buds than into the new leaf. I usually just cut off the whole spike when a phal finishes blooming so it can put more energy into leaf/root growth.

Good question, but no, there are no reblooms on these old spikes. I cut them down to below the blooms and there has not been any activity in the old spikes for quite some time. The root growth has been very good, so the small leaf is kind of a bummer.

---------- Post added at 09:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:47 AM ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowflake311

Could they still be growing? One of mine has the slowest growing leaves I have ever seen. maybe in time it will be bigger?

The leaf has the tell-tale line on the bottom, which is supposed to mean it's fully grown. Also, a brand new leaf is peeking out, and I've never heard of a phal to keep growing an older leaf when a new one is emerging.

lotis146 · #6 11-06-2014, 10:38 PM

My vote is also for your having changed the position given nothing else has changed. What about your humidity levels?

But I think it's safe to say given the overall condition of the plant that you shouldn't get stuck on it. Maybe it's going to grow more yet. Maybe it just really wants to put out another leaf instead! I've had a mini put out two leaves at once and it was extremely stressed. With a little more tending to watering it they grew just fine. So let it be and wait and see!

camille1585 · #7 11-07-2014, 05:11 AM

Maybe the first one isn't done growing? I've had more than one Phal work on 2 leaves at once.

POLKA · #8 11-07-2014, 08:00 AM

It could be any number of things.

From my own experience, it is two different things:

A different fert system that I use compared to the nursery who grew them for sale.

And, my greenhouse is brighter than most. More light less leaf surface needed to capture the energy -- less light equals larger leaf and even darker color to capture the energy by the chlorophyll.

All new phals in a couple of growing seasons will do this exact thing for me.

Regarding Box Store Phals = As the temps climb after spring blooming, it goes into growing mode = lotsa roots and usually two or three new leaves, one right after another. Normal spiking is from now (Nov) until it does...and then, blooming is usually from about Feb until May.

Hope this helps

Rex