New Phal leaf wrinkled, yellow and drooping

[natasha_moth]

Hello everyone,

I am happy to join such a knowledgable and friendly community of orchid enthusiasts. My first phalaenopsis was purchased about a year ago and after its beautiful blooms finally ended a few months later, I cut off the then-empty flowering spike. In the summer it grew a new leaf, which grew fairly quickly and appeared healthy.

Then, a few weeks ago, I went out of town for two weeks and left the orchid with a friend for caretaking, instructing not to "over-water," as the phal is in a plastic pot. Alas, I think this is what may have happened, because upon receiving the plant again, its most recent leaf was limp, droopy, and much lighter in color. Then, over the course of the next week or so, the leaf began to get more yellow beginning at the base, and more wrinkly. I finally repotted it yesterday, in orchid potting mix. The roots were yellow nearer the base and greener near the ends, but almost all had about 1/4-inch of mushy roots at the tips, which I cut off. Even though the rest of most of the roots were yellow, they were still firm and so I left them on. Repotted into a plastic pot.

A few questions:

1. based on the photos of the yellow, wrinkled and droopy leaf, does this appear to be caused by over-watering, or something else?

2. Now that I have repotted it, how long should I wait to water it again?

Thanks very much for your help!

[Neverend]

That's really weird, never seen that before...

[mehitabel]

Hi, natasha. Since it's the newest leaf that has yellowed, my guess would be water or some water-borne infection got into the crown.

I would put hydrogen peroxide into the crown just to make sure that any infection doesn't spread. You can also dust with cinnamon. You want to make sure any rot does not spread any further.

Crown rot happens easily with phals if any water gets into the crown during watering, especially if watering is in the evening or at night. You probably know that to prevent it, water in the morning, and blot up any water that gets into the crown with the rolled up corner of a paper napkin. But it's possible your friend didn't know, and allowed a little water to remain in the crown.

Here is an url to Al's Orchid Greenhouse, where he discusses, with photos, how to heal a plant with crown rot. He also shows how a plant affected with crown rot will put out a keiki in time.

Example of Stem rot or Crown rot in Phalaenopsis

The roots you describe from your repotting sound okay to me. If so, then your watering has been okay, and you should use your own judgment about when watering is needed.

Hope this helps.

[natasha_moth]

Hi Mehitabel,

Thanks very much for the information. The leaves in the photos Al's Orchid Greenhouse page provides looks very much like the yellowed, drooping leaf on my orchid. This sounds like what must have happened with my phal. Although I was tempted to gently try to tug the damaged leaf off, it looks like Al left the leaf on and treated the whole plant with Physan 20. Before reading this post, I had been especially puzzled why that newest leaf seemed to be dying so quickly, when the roots didn't seem that damaged/rotted. It sounds like Crown rot would fit this type of situation, in which the newest leaf is afflicted. (Also, in the past, my friend has done an excellent job caring for other plants, including ones that like water on their leaves and "crowns" - I did not think to point out how orchids don't prefer that.) Thanks again for the helpful information!

Natasha

[cb977]

If you catch it early enough, you can possibly save a 'chid from crown rot by pouring in a little hydrogen peroxide, let it sit for 2 or 3 minutes, then spill it out and throw in a little cinnamon. I've had to do this on one of my phals and on a paph...and they're both doing very well now.

[natasha_moth]

Thanks for your tip Susanne, I will give it a go! It is amazing how cinnamon, easy to find and inexpensive, can have such neat properties when it comes to healing plants...

Natasha

[natasha_moth]

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to give an update on the phal whose top leaf had become yellowed and wrinkled. Eventually, I pulled that leaf off, and poured hydorgen peroxide in the top, then poured that back out after a few seconds. The phal did nothing for a couple of months. However, then I noticed that new roots were growing through the old root casings that I had though were dried up, and eventually a keiki appeared from out of the soil! The mother plant still shows no sign of change, either for better or for worse, but root activity has definitely resumed, and I'm looking forward to watching the keiki.

[tuvoc]

Congrats, Natasha! Sounds like a great save. You'll have at least one plant, maybe two.

Kim

[jehane]

SO glad I found this post.....I have an orchid on got a month ago, and despite the potting mix appearing "dry" I too have a yellowing leaf. I can't tell if I've over or underwatered, as the leave are not smooth, they have that wrinkly look. I think I'm going for hydrogen peroxide and cinnamon (I like more "natural" cures) Thoughts on watering until then if the potting mix is dry dry dry?

[natasha_moth]

Hi Jehane,

I think that Mehitabel and Susanne's suggestions are right on - my orchid definitely appears to have had crown rot, and responded to the natural treatments (i.e. hydrogen peroxide, etc.) When it appeared that my orchid had been in soil that was kept too wet (in addition to having had water standing in the crown) I cut off rotted roots while repotting it. I then didn't water it for about a week, but the new potting mixture did retain moisture, as evidenced by humidity visible through the clear plastic pot the orchid was potted in. If your soil is really dry, perhaps you will want to make sure that the roots still get watered. The damage has probably already been done at the crown, but hydrogen peroxide seems to stop the infection from spreading.