Phal leaf issue

[rbarata]

As a side note, to help determine what is happening, Ca deficiency occurs firts on newer leaves while Mg def. occurs first on the older ones.

[Setter]

Thank you!

[Kateryna]

All of our orchids leave outdoors in a humid warm climate. We have orchids for 7+ years and have never had issue like this. This year 3 orchids started getting black or brown leave tips.

The other two cases (case #1 - pic 1 & 2; and case #3 - pic 5) are dry and stopped spreading.

Also, the plant on pic #5 has not many, but nice healthy roots. I just replanted it as it does not bloom now (not a season for it) and thought that the roots may be not good.

Other two plants were not replanted for a long time.

Case #2 - The brown part of the leaf seems like gets bigger (2nd & 3rd pics - same plant). The tip where it is brown is a bit moist to touch. I was searching for the pictures online, but did not see anything close to the brown leaf. But from what i may infer, it may be bacterial (I hope I am wrong).

I almost do not fertilize them. The last image is what I was spraying a couple of times...maybe three times per year on leaves and roots. and the last spraying was like 5 months ago. But this spray never caused any issues.

1. Is this the same issue or different issues?
(pics 1 & 2 is one plant; pics 3 & 4 is another plant; and pic 5 is a third plant).

2. What may have cased this?

3. What to do for each of the issues?

Many thanks in advance

[Shadeflower]

HI,
It could be bacterial but I truly believe that bacterial problems only affect weak orchids.
Orchids that have been fertilized well are less likely to get bacterial infections and are able to prevent them taking over.
It could also be a deficiency, I am thinking in particular of either calcium or potassium as the culprit.
Potassium can creep up after many years particularly after the orchid has just invested lots into flowering.

The most important to preventing a deficiency is making sure you feed with the right ph. Over 7 is too high long term. PH should be 5.8-6.5

You can think of adding some phosphorus or a general bloom booster to replenish its reserves

It could also be calcium but calcium is fairly easy to determine, you just check the nutrient bottle, the calcium content should always equal your nitrogen amount so if you have 12% Nitrogen your Calcium should be roughly the same like 10%. If so then it is not going to be calcium related but if your fertilizer does not mention calcium or much lower content than the N in the bottle then your calcium is too low

Have a read through this article:

https://www.aos.org/AOS/media/Conten...psisPart_2.pdf

It mentions the best ratio for growing phals is 4-1-8

So something like 200ppm N, 50ppm P and 400ppm K has been found to be ideal.

As we can see phals like a lot of K according to latest research

I found this most interesting re-reading that article:

All phalaenopsis planted in a bark
mix and lacking potassium eventually
died.

Continuous application of nitrogen
ensures flower longevity, but does not
increase flower count after the spikes
have reached 10 inches (25 cm) in
length

Potassium at 200 to 300 ppm
ensures high flower count and maximizes
flower size.

[estación seca]

This looks like calcium deficiency. Leaf spray isn't enough for orchids. Use a fertilizer you mix with water. Many people fertilize Phals monthly in winter and weekly in summer. If the water you use for your plants has very little calcium you will also need to use a calcium supplement.

[Kateryna]

Thank you very much. Will be reading and fertilizing

---------- Post added at 03:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:07 PM ----------

Thank you very much. Will implement