Orchid leaves yellowing/browning and limp- Help w/ diagnosing and treatment planning - Orchid Board

aprilsprings29 · #1 12-13-2016, 04:57 PM

Hello! I was hoping to get a diagnosis on my orchid. I'm a little concerned about her condition right now and I am a beginner when it comes to orchids!

So here's my orchid's (Vivian's) story:
I received her as a gift in April 2016 and she was already in bloom. She blossomed a few more flowers, then they fell in early June. I kept her in that original pot until about October. By then, she started to grow air roots, which freaked me out and the gardener at Home Depot also scolded me that she was in the small pot for WAY to long. So I repotted her in what I believe is now too big a pot... Packaging peanuts take up about 1/3 and the MiracleGro Orchid Potting mix another 1/3. She sits kind of low in the pot as you can see...

Although the size of the pot and her air roots made me kind of uneasy, everything seemed fine until just yesterday I looked at her leaves and saw there were yellow and brown ones at the bottom. Her leaves are also extremely limp to touch. Her leaves up until this point had been green and pretty firm.

Additional notes about her living condition:
Just recently, the temperature of my apartment increased because of the weather. It is now about 75-80.
She sits near an east facing window.
I water her once a week with about 1/3-1/2 cup of room temperature water.

rbarata · #2 12-13-2016, 05:58 PM

Your plant is dehydrated. It seems to have a good root system so the probable cause is not enough water.
I suspect your pot doesn't have good drainage and I can see it is standing in water. Don't allow this to happen 'cause it will lead to root rot.

When did you repot it? And the mix is only bark?

aprilsprings29 · #3 12-13-2016, 06:26 PM

I repotted it in early October... apparently the Miracke Gro mix is softwood bark and fertilizer... so as for the standing water. I had just watered it before I took the picture? But since my orchid is dehydrated should I just increase the waterings? Thanks so much for your help!

rbarata · #4 12-13-2016, 07:10 PM

Quote:

I had just watered it before I took the picture? But since my orchid is dehydrated should I just increase the waterings?

You should take that water out. Water it without it and after all of it is drained you can pou the pot again on it.
I'm not sure how the roots are but with that pot size (too big) and a cup of water once per week, I would increase not the watering frequency but the amount of water.

Dollythehun · #5 12-13-2016, 07:15 PM

That pot is waaaay too big. Go back to HD and get no larger than a 6" pot. I use clay but to each her own. See if they have Better Grow mix. Or else rinse Miracle Grow well before you use it. Clip off the dried dead root tips,, soak the mix overnight in a zip lock bag, soak the pot if you use clay. Repot and water thoroghly. Stick in a bamboo skewers so when the soil end is dry, you will know to water. OR, feel the weight of the newly waterer plant, when it feels light, water. This is my successful method others differ. There is a sticky thread worth reading "the Phal abuse stops here." Also, the people on this Board know way more than HD, listen and learn from them.

jkofferdahl · #6 12-13-2016, 09:00 PM

I agree about the pot. It's for a small tree, not an orchid. And though I adore Ms. Hun, I'm going to suggest that even a 6" pot is too large, and suggest 5". Before repotting, put the new bark mix into a large pot and soak it with boiling water, then allow it to continue to soak overnight. When actually potting, you want the mix to hold the roots and plant in the pot fairly tightly. Phals like to be secure.

Once Vivian is in her new pot, don't be stingy with water. In a pot as enormous as you used, the amount of water used was very low, almost arid. Even in a 5" pot it's a low amount. When you water, go ahead and really flood the pot so that both the roots and media get drenched. Then allow it to completely dry out before again watering.

dounoharm · #7 12-13-2016, 09:37 PM

watering orchids is learned after you kill a few....so, the flower stems are finished. you can cut them off down to about 4 inches. they may or may not set a new set of flowers. keep it tidy and you wont get bugs.

the leathery leaves of course, as mentioned above, are dehydrated. orchids absorb water thru the roots....mostly they are ARIEL ROOTS. that means they stick out and try to attach to a tree! no trees? well let them be happy in their search...do not attempt to confine them. if you cut the ends off of them, they stop growing, and that is that much water your plant wont get....

also, sitting down in that gi-normous pot is like being stuck down in a hole, air will not circulate. orchids need circulating air, remember, they are epiphytes, they grow on trees!

Vivian, of the phaleanopsis tribe, is so dry, I would stick her in a bucket of water while you are soaking her new bark. let them both soak together!....

when you put her back into a small pot, trim all the black dead stringy roots off the bottom. leave her aerial roots hanging out a bit, and set her down inside the empty pot....
holding her straight with one hand, fill the pot gently with bark...then shake the bark to settle it....keep filling and shaking till the pot is full.

when you water, let the water run COPIOUSLY THRU the pot and drain. once the pot has been saturated, and drained, place it on a plate of small gravels....voila! Vivian should feel better in a couple months....

I probably left out some stuff, but that's the main routine. if your water is as bad as mine in texas, then use bottled water....never let water sit on the leaves....