severely burnt phal.

[Joyorchid]

I don't know if this would be the same for phals as it would be for vandas, but heres what I did this summer...

Left my vanda outside for about 3 weeks but the last week was really hot and I pushed the time limit of its sun bath well into midday. 3 leaves were sunburned and one was especially bad. It turned white, but unlike the other two sunburned leaves it got soft... Then brown. I cut out the brown part because I was worried about infection.

I guess I would be worried about that with your phal. A watch and wait approach would be best.

[hanzy08]

Originally Posted by Silje

I also agree with Ben. Looks like we've all toasted a phal once or twice in our orchid career.



You think you're doing a good deed and then whopsi, the poor plant is 'well done'.

I've come to a point where I'm no longer very stressed regarding sunburn on phals, but I'll give it to your friend: This is one of the worst ones that I've seen so far.

It looks unappealing and it makes the plant look shabby for years, but as long as the growth point is intact and the roots are there, they do recover from it.

Regarding cutting or leaving... I think I'd leave the leaves on at the moment and keep and eye on them. Maybe they're all too far gone, but I've had several phals with sunburn and although there are cases when the whole leaf dies off, there are also times when the affected area just dries up and leaves the rest intact. You can of course do a test and try to cut of the affected area on one or two leaves, put on cinnamon on the cut edges and see if you can rescue the remaining of the leaf that way. I'm thinking a little bit of leaf is better than nothing, but I could be wrong...

yeah i think i would just leave the leaves too let it do what it wants to do. It will probably produce new leaves first before it drops the the damaged ones. the root system isn't so bad and the center or crown is still hard and undamaged.

---------- Post added at 11:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:00 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Ben Belton

Unfortunately I have done this several times. If the roots are fine and the plant was otherwise healthy, it will be OK. Don't repot it and treat it with TLC. They bounce back with new leaves fairly quickly and at some point the old ones will be kicked off.

Good luck

im really itching to repot lol cause i dont like the media and i see some dead roots...

[Ben Belton]

Originally Posted by hanzy08

im really itching to repot lol cause i dont like the media and i see some dead roots...

Yeah, that's a hard call.

---------- Post added at 11:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:04 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Silje

Looks like we've all toasted a phal once or twice in our orchid career.

That's for sure. I take my plants outside in the summer. They stay in my car port where they get direct sunlight late in the day. I have shade cloth, but I put it up most of the day or they don't get enough light. I only put it down for when the sun hits them. If I get there too late, or if I let the plants get too hot and dry, I get burns. Of course my least favorite plants do fine. It is always the nice ones that get burned.

The amount of burn is directly proportional to the value, beauty, and rarity of the plant.

[kindrag23]

When you said severely burnt you were not kidding. This is also a good thread because I let my phal have direct unfiltered sun from the west for 3 days and it got slightly burned....

---------- Post added at 08:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:12 PM ----------

Well one way to look at it is that it is not sun burned it is just tie dyed...you have a new leaf type in phal..one that nobody will be able to recreate....on purpose....

[hanzy08]

Originally Posted by kindrag23

When you said severely burnt you were not kidding. This is also a good thread because I let my phal have direct unfiltered sun from the west for 3 days and it got slightly burned....

---------- Post added at 08:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:12 PM ----------

Well one way to look at it is that it is not sun burned it is just tie dyed...you have a new leaf type in phal..one that nobody will be able to recreate....on purpose....

lol! yeah but its not the kind that anybody would want lol. I just repotted it cleaned it and soaked it in superthrive then left it in a shady spot... not even gonna bother it for two to three weeks unless i have to water.. other than that, i'd completely take my mind off it.

---------- Post added at 10:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:25 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Joyorchid

I don't know if this would be the same for phals as it would be for vandas, but heres what I did this summer...

Left my vanda outside for about 3 weeks but the last week was really hot and I pushed the time limit of its sun bath well into midday. 3 leaves were sunburned and one was especially bad. It turned white, but unlike the other two sunburned leaves it got soft... Then brown. I cut out the brown part because I was worried about infection.

I guess I would be worried about that with your phal. A watch and wait approach would be best.

I think vandas are more tolerant to direct sun unlike phals that really suffer just being left under direct sun for two hours. I repotted and soaked it in superthrive and i'll just wait and see.

[Island Girl]

Originally Posted by Ben Belton

[....] Of course my least favorite plants do fine. It is always the nice ones that get burned.

The amount of burn is directly proportional to the value, beauty, and rarity of the plant.

^ That is SO very true...

[Orchid Whisperer]

If the roots are good, not sure why you would soak it in Super thrive?? Super thrive is not a cure-all for every ailment.

At some point it will be clear what parts of the plant will stay green, and what will die. Use a sterile blade to cut off parts that are dying. Hopefully it won't be the crown & the plant will recover in time.

[hanzy08]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

If the roots are good, not sure why you would soak it in Super thrive?? Super thrive is not a cure-all for every ailment.

At some point it will be clear what parts of the plant will stay green, and what will die. Use a sterile blade to cut off parts that are dying. Hopefully it won't be the crown & the plant will recover in time.

I soaked it in superthrive to prevent further shock since i also repotted it. I also decided to et rid of all the leaves cause they started falling off.. will post picture soon.

---------- Post added at 09:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:43 AM ----------

so the bottom leaves started falling off and the top leaves were rotting so i had to remove all of it and dust some cinnamon. i don't have high hopes for it. it's not a big deal if it doesn't make it but it will be a nice experiment to see it's progress. this is how it looks now...
[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]

[kindrag23]

Yikes! I have been told sea weed extract works wonders?

[syspila]

Hmmmm...It needs to be more damp in my estimation, over the years, plus it looks to me like you could use a bit of smaller bark just sifted over the top so it will gradually "fall thru the cracks" in your medium yet still allow for air flow allowing the roots a bit more contact with moisture in the bark. Right now to me it looks a bit too dry. I sometimes use a ziploc bag to keep it in the medium a bit moist...do not put this in direct sun. and i would not stress it any more repotting it and working with it culturewise.

---------- Post added at 10:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 AM ----------

I just use rainwater and any type of plant food used very weakly and I get good growth and flowering thru the years...repotting plants helps in my culture when they are in normal groth cycles tho I rarely repot a stressed plant.