Distorted leaves...why?

[Jenna376]

Hello all...
I'm a newbie at caring for orchids. I honestly always treated them like house plants, until recently. I have read alot of the "phal abuse stops here" and I can't really figure out what's going on with this phal that I have.
I saw the larger leaf in the picture awhile ago, obviously, and i always thought it would open up and maybe that's what that particular one did. However, I noticed this new leaf having a even worse deformity with the sprouting leaf. Any ideas?

Also, all 8 of my phals look dehydrated. I ran water through them for about 20 minutes last week and the leaves on most stiffened up except for a a few whose bottom leaves are still limp and wrinkled. I repoted all of them a few days ago with soaked bark. The media is still moist which I checked with a bamboo skewer. So should i soak them again or cut off the bottom leaves or just leave them alone?

I have them in a west window for about 6 yrs now. The temp is usually always 76°. The humidity is low im sure. I've always has them on a humidity tray though but didn't keep that full faithfully. My media is bark and i just got some spagnum moss to put on top.

[Optimist]

when leaves or buds don't open correctly, you would be looking at a humidity problem. "Accordian-ing" also happens. That's when the leaf is trying to come out, but has a hard time doing it. It is like butterfly wings trying to open. They have to "fold" out first. In the case of orchids, I think they need the help of a bit of mist in the air, or some humidity. It could be other things too, but this is what I think. I had all kinds of humidity problems until I put a fish tank in the room.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I don't recommend watering too frequently. I wouldn't be tempted to do that if I were in your position. You will run into far bigger issues than leaves looking ugly if the roots rot out because of overwatering.

Water when the roots become dry.

I wouldn't worry too much about the wrinkled leaf, or the leaf that did not unfurl correctly, or the misshapen tip of the new leaf. Some of that damage was done a long time ago. Quite honestly, the wrinkled leaf doesn't look too bad, and I'm not even the least bit worried about the leaf that didn't unfurl correctly because it is still functional. Just keep growing it as best as you can.

Orchids are not like your "typical houseplants". Perhaps this is where the disconnect is. They behave much differently. Once an orchid's leaves mature in growth, that's pretty much it. Whatever condition that leaf was in, most of the time, it'll stay that way until the leaf falls off from old age. It will not change much no matter what you do to improve the situation for the plant. Any improvements made to the older leaves will not be very significant. Improvements made in cultural techniques will mostly be seen with the newer leaves.

If you've made all the necessary adjustments and believe that you have done all you can do for the plant, and if the plant still has deformed leaves, then maybe you should just chuck it up to a genetic defect. Hybridized Phals are often cloned. Genetic mutations can happen during cloning. Those genetic mutations can sometimes show or not show. Genetic mutations can show up as deformed leaves, (let me be clear and say that wrinkled leaves are not included in this explanation).

I'm not an expert on plant genetics, (or genetics in general), but maybe you can ask someone who's better versed in genetics than someone like me.

Anyways...

Don't bother with the leaves too much. Worry more about the roots. Treat the roots like the plant's "head". That's where the "brain" is. Think of the leaves as the plant's hands or something, (I'm anthropomorphizing the plant so that it can hopefully make some sense).

When summer rolls around, growth will be very noticeable. New growth if grown correctly will look normal.

[Ben_in_North_FLA]

In 30 years of orchid growing I have never seen a phal close its leaves like that and I have grown many phals.
I have seen many vandas do that. The reason is lack of moisture to the roots and to the plant in general. The plant is closing the leaf to reduce transpiration as it is not getting enough water. it is a "I want to live strategy by the plant". Growing phals in straight bark indoors will require frequent watering due to the low humidity and if you let the bark dry up then it will not hydrate properly. The moss is a good suggestion, but more importantly the need to properly hydrate your bark and water the pot BEFORE it completely dries is more critical. When the bark is dry it repels water, if you water the bark while it is still lightly moist it will absorb water normally. By hydrating the bark, I mean, soak it in small tub with a few inches of water until the bark is soaked and heavy. May take close to an hour or so. when done feel the weight of the pot and remember it. That will be your guide to whether it needs to be watered again when the pot is much lighter in weight.
If you water the pot again just before the bark dries up it will absorb the water much easier. Keep in mind that phals need a constant source of moisture without having roots completely wet all the time as the plant has no bulbs for water storage such as a cattleya or dendrobium or oncidium.

[Ray]

Looks to me like they are simply being grown too dry.

In nature, phal's roots stay pretty much constantly wet.

I understand Philip's recommendation, but if you have an issue with potting media decomposing too quickly and suffocating and killing roots of your plants, you should not compensate by restricting water, but should devise a different medium!

[Jenna376]

Ok . I have probably grown them too dry and didnt water enough. I just ropotted them last week. Can i repot them again and add the moss?

[estación seca]

I would water more often rather than repot again.

[aliceinwl]

I would also not repot. I’d recommend watering by soaking rather than letting the water run through. This seems to do a better job of hydrating the bark. I put my Phals in a container and water the plant until the water is sitting at the level of the bark and let them soak for at least 5 minutes.

I’d leave the old leaves alone. Sometimes they slowly perk up, sometimes they drop: let the plant “decide” ;-) Be patient too, Phals don’t seem to do anything fast. As long as you don’t see increasing droopiness in the new growth, the Phals are probably fine.

[BotanicaExotica]

I would not suggest repotting either. Fresh media dries out fast in the beginning and you must water more. I also wild collect live moss to grow in the top. That helps with my conditions by adding humidity as well as fresh airy water retention that does not rot.

Many times phals from box stores or grocery stores are already somewhat damaged. At the grocery my son worked at the phals came in the same refrigerated trucks as the milk! If you are not buying from an orchid grower, most likely you are having to rescue a plant from trauma.

It's sad really that many people think orchids are too difficult to grow because of ill treatment of plants before arrival. There are MANY easy to grow species no more difficult than other house plants. You do have to actually care about how they grow in nature though to help give yourself a better understanding of what exactly you are trying to recreate.