Spots on my phal

[estación seca]

Heat mats can work. Take care not to cook your plants. Put something down on the furniture so the mat doesn't damage it. I then put heavy landscape plastic sheeting over the heat pad so it doesn't get wet.

You can put a heat mat under a large metal automobile oil changing pan filled with sand, to spread the heat wider. Consider also putting plastic sheeting between the pan and the sand so the pan doesn't corrode from the wet sand.

Aside from reptile heat mats, you can find waterbed heaters for not much money.

[Roberta]

Another possible heat source can also give light - this is a case where fluorescent bulbs will be better than LEDs precisely because they are less efficient, and so give heat along with the light. 12 hours a day of gentle extra light would be beneficial.

[greenpassion]

I have all my phals on heat mats, and it really helps. I have the kind that has a thermostat and the heat can be adjusted. Got them on eBay. The pots in the window sit right on the mat in my windowsill set up, and I have a sheet of tempered glass between the mat and the pots in my track lighting set up.

[malteseproverb]

I have a heat mat but I find it ugly, and my current grow space is all white and it is black. I've tried to strike a balance with having my grow space aesthetically pleasing as well as functional so I've always been resistant to getting lights. This phal has ordinarily done very well. I do now have lights in my basement but the plants I have there all have bugs and must be quarantined. I'm already starting to plan for next winter what I will grow under lights in the basement as it's warmer there (my nedosa is #1 on that list). It's good to learn that phals would appreciate a warmer space too. For now I will put it in a warmer/sunnier spot and water it more carefully.

I think it may have been just so gloomy for so long it didn't get its daily warm up from the sun, and the temps outside were around 55F so I wasn't putting the heat on in the evenings either. I just remembered how I hadn't been using the heat at all in those weeks either. The combination probably set off this leaf problem in my phal.

[malteseproverb]

OK I lied, I went home and found my heat mat and stuck that and my agalomena on it until this terrible March weather passes. It is supposed to be sunny the next few days so that is a relief but I didn't want to take a chance. It has two spikes that I want it to focus on.

[greenpassion]

Look for my post in my setup. I am all about Aesthetics. I grow my orchids in my living space and both setups are beautiful. No ugly lights or wires. The heat mats are unable to be seen.

---------- Post added at 09:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 PM ----------

And the heat mats that I use are not those thick black things. They are nearly transparent within bars and do not at all take away from the Aesthetics of things. And my LED lights do not give off any heat, they are in track lighting, and are natural light. They are nearly four feet from the plants. No one would ever know that they are grow lights. They are from Orchids Limited. And every single phalaenopsis orchid underneath these lights is now and Spike, many double spike, and in bloom.

[malteseproverb]

Here's my set up. I just stuck the heat mat on that rolling cart in the middle because I don't have an extension cord and the cord on the mat is so short, it needed to be close to the one outlet on the right. Otherwise I may have found a different spot. I really should find a nicer heat mat and an extension cord.

As you can see I have some odd furniture that these plants are sitting on. Do lights four feet from the plants do all that much? I regularly bloom cattleyas and dendrobiums and all other kinds without lights. The phal in question is in double spike. So I've always resisted lights. The lights I have in the basement I got for free. I try to prove you can do very well in just a windowsill, but every winter there is always a spell like this with weeks of cloudiness that really stretches the limits of windowsill growing!

[estación seca]

If you bloom catts and Dendrobiums you don't need lights for your Phals. Lights might prevent trouble during the unpredictable dark spells.

[greenpassion]

Originally Posted by malteseproverb

Here's my set up. I just stuck the heat mat on that rolling cart in the middle because I don't have an extension cord and the cord on the mat is so short, it needed to be close to the one outlet on the right. Otherwise I may have found a different spot. I really should find a nicer heat mat and an extension cord.

As you can see I have some odd furniture that these plants are sitting on. Do lights four feet from the plants do all that much? I regularly bloom cattleyas and dendrobiums and all other kinds without lights. The phal in question is in double spike. So I've always resisted lights. The lights I have in the basement I got for free. I try to prove you can do very well in just a windowsill, but every winter there is always a spell like this with weeks of cloudiness that really stretches the limits of windowsill growing!

The pics that I just sent are very too small for me to see if they were the right ones. But yes. Lights 3 to 4 feet from the plants that aren't long fluorescent lights which I find very unattractive work excellent. Go to Orchids Limited online. They are LED light bulbs. And they tell you which wattage works for how many feet or how much light you need. I have had absolutely excellent results. And it's interesting but no one ever hear on this board is ever responded to me talking about these bulbs. But I couldn't be happier. They Spike bloom readily and they aren't ugly no offense to those who grow in wired fluorescent to situations. I couldn't be more pleased.

[malteseproverb]

Update on this phal leaf situation if anyone else comes across a similar issue. I've kept it on a heat mat for a couple weeks now and made sure to water only the roots, but the leaf spots have only gotten worse.

The strangest is thing is how the yellow spots and pitting only appear where the sun hits the leaf. Even the most affected leaf is clear from these symptoms where another leaf covers it from the sun. The oldest leaf on the plant is totally unaffected and also completely covered from the sun by another leaf (you can't see it in any of the attached photos but it's underneath the most damaged leaf).

I found this blog post and thought maybe it could be the same issue: My World of Orchids: Tawain Orchid Virus or Microfungus??

However I've yet to see another plant that has the raised white spots among the yellow and pitting. I've separated it from my other plants for now. I wonder if I should remove the heavily affected leaf or just keep monitoring the situation (totally helpless????). It's putting out flowers, maybe I should remove them?