Urgent situation - brown, rotting air roots, drying leaf

[astrbac]

Hi all,

I apologise for posting without proper introduction and all but I believe we have an emergency.

I recently got into caring for home plants and got this phalaenopsis to take care of (it is my girlfriends so Id really like to do a good job and not kill it ).

What is the problem here - too little water, too much water, fungus infection? I have been soaking the plant in water every, say, 7 days for about 15 min and draining it afterwards. Also, I wet the air roots a bit every now and then.










MANY thanks in advance!

[Orchid Whisperer]

I see nothing urgent.

Assuming your girlfriend will not be gone long, and asked you temporarily take care of her plants, and gave you specific instructions, then follow her instructions with no change.

If she gave you the plant, or she will be gone a few months, or left no instructions, I would soak twice a week. You can soak more often as long as the bark has a chance to dry between watering. With orchid watering, the important thing is to provide plenty of water, each time you water. But, they do like a dry interval between each watering. Water quality is important, water containing low dissolved solids (< 180 mg/L) is best, your water utility may have this type of data.

Roots are alive, and helping the plant, as long as they are firm. The wrinkled ones will soak in water and become thicker with more frequent watering.

[estación seca]

Air roots often wrinkle and die in a low-humidity home. The ones in the pot look OK.

The leaves are wrinkled. For some time now it hasn't been getting enough water. Did the wrinkling occur on your watch, or was it like this when you took over? Phals survive a very long time with chronic underwatering, so there is no urgency to rehydrate it.

Orchid Whisperer is alluding to the fact that many people absent for a while want you to care for their plants/cats/dogs/children exactly as you're told, rather than doing what's best. (Or what you think is best.) This plant needs more water to thrive, but it's better to follow the owner's instructions until you can have a discussion on how to care for it.