Phal bacterial infection

[estación seca]

Phals are warm weather plants. They just survive typical indoor heated US winters most of the time, if nothing goes wrong. A daytime high of 72F / 22C for weeks on end to them is chilly and very stressful.

The big white and pink hybrids seem to be least likely to die with cool temperatures, and other Phals are more likely.

[lauraeli]

Ive only killed 3 so far lol

One was a dendrobium (I have no sun) one was already rotted when I bought it. Some kind of worm finally did it in. The last one was one of my favorites but for some reason it just declined and declined and finally bit the dust...

Ive got one phal that Ive been nursing for months and months. It improves, and declines, and improves again. Seems like some of them are just sickly. Or maybe it's like you said. They just dont do well in a house

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by lauraeli

Ive only killed 3 so far lol

Seems like some of them are just sickly. Or maybe it's like you said. They just dont do well in a house

You have done well! Some of us have killed a lot more, and folks think we know something... no, just more hard experience...
As for sickly, yes, some of them (in fact many) are. Especially Phals... they are bred to grow fast and bloom in only a couple of years out of the flask. So there are plenty in commerce that are "once and done", they're grown as a commodity so that they can be sold relatively cheaply (and still at a high markup). So if you can nurture them and keep them going, it's a triumph. That's how "orchid addicts" are born... as you get deeper into the hobby, and start buying plants from breeders and growers, your success rate will improve too because you will be working with higher-quality plants. I really don't think that 72 deg F house temperature is a problem with most Phals. There are a few species that are picky and want to be warmer, but I think that our comfort zone is pretty similar to what most of them are reasonably happy with. So keep up the good work... if you are succeeding with some, you are doing the right things, some (especially if they weren't in good shape when you got them) may not make it and it's not your fault.

[estación seca]

Orchids can do magnificently in a house, but... This is why people ask what the temperatures are. What are they, day and night, where you grow orchids now?

[Roberta]

When I first got hooked on orchids, I grew the warm growers in my spare bedroom (guests had to use the sofa) Day temperatures were probably about 70 deg F, night 65. (Can't afford to heat more than that, even in California) The "grow room" was a bit warmer by day because I had banks of fluorescent lights to supplement what came in the window, so maybe the plants got 75 deg F or a little more by day, at night they went down to ambient temperature because the lights were off. My success rate was better for generic Phals than I have now in a greenhouse (bought a house with a yard and room for one, so guests now get a bed) I think the GH gets cooler than is ideal for them. I try not to get many warmth-demanding plants since there is more room in the back yard and the GH is crowded.

[lauraeli]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Orchids can do magnificently in a house, but... This is why people ask what the temperatures are. What are they, day and night, where you grow orchids now?

Cold! I keep my thermostat at 68 in the wintertime.

My species phals are good 'chids, though. My schilleriana and equestris dont complain.

My schillie hasnt rebloomed for me, though. Im not surprised, since it fell behind the bench last spring, unpotted itself and sat down there bareroot with no water and barely any light for probably a month!

[Roberta]

Phal equestris, schilleriana, and stuartiana do fine in my GH... which goes down to about 60 deg F. And hybrids do OK too, the ones I have are mostly rescues, so some make it and some don't. The ones I have are the ones that survived, don't go out of my way to acquire the hybrids.

[Dollythehun]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Phals are warm weather plants. They just survive typical indoor heated US winters most of the time, if nothing goes wrong. A daytime high of 72F / 22C for weeks on end to them is chilly and very stressful.

The big white and pink hybrids seem to be least likely to die with cool temperatures, and other Phals are more likely.

No one has told my Phals. As you can see, the temperature this morning was 68 f and probably colder further toward the glass.

[estación seca]

Your S California greenhouse probably warms up quite a bit most winter days, well above 68 F / 20C. I think warm-growing plants tolerate cooler nights much better when they have warm days following, than when every day for weeks is cool to them.

[lauraeli]

It was definitely bacterial, guys. As I was checking over my plants today, the two phals that had been nearest that one have been infected. I just finished cutting the leaves. Glad I caught it! It was moving fast. One of those phals had been completely fine two days ago and today I had to cut off a third of its leaf.

Also noticed the window wasn't latched shut so maybe it was the cold draft coming in from the window. Fixed that too