I am a novice, is this sunburn?

[ula]

Hi,
your photo does look like slight sunburned leaf to me (I could show you some of mine ). Phals in general- I don't know about the hybrids- like it more on the shady side. The way I figured out which window they liked best is trial & error; when the foliage gets a reddish tinge to it (max light) or you get a sunburned leaf (too much light), just move the plant to another window and see how it likes it. BTW, welcome to OB, and good growing!
P.S.Never had much luck growing Phals in sphag ...

[astrid]

Originally Posted by dmagnan

I'm familiar with sphagnum moss and watering schedules because I grow venus flytraps. I've got hundreds of them, some in pure LF sphagnum. So I'm not too worried about growing in pure sphagnum, but several posts suggest making sure that it's less dense than what comes home from the store. So I took out about 30-40% and made it nice and fluffy. Thanks!

Oh good! I just try to cover all bases because I have no idea what people know or don't know when they're new to the forum. I was very clueless when I started.

My only carnivorous plant is a pinguicula, who has faithfully destroyed hundreds of fungus gnats for me! I think its blooms always crumple up and dry before opening because I am too lazy to go get it DI or RO water- hah!

---------- Post added at 06:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:04 PM ----------

Originally Posted by PaphMadMan

Not all yellow leaf edges are created equal. I suggested the mechanical damage because the plant was recently purchased, and such plants have been through a lot of rough handling along the way - and it looked like characteristic edge damage.

Astrid - I agree your plant does not look like mechanical damage. Slight nutrient deficiency coming on perhaps.

Thanks for posting the perfect example of sunburn, and the comment on how easily it can happen. Leaf temperature is the key. The leaves should never feel distinctly warm to the touch when in the sun. Good air movement goes a long way in keeping them cool, something those commercial operations that grow in brighter light always have.

Good idea!
I am still doubtful that it is a nutrient deficiency because I give my orchids all the same fertilizing treatment once per month with a balanced fertilizer and some maxicrop mixed in.
But of course they all have their own personalities and respond somewhat differently to everything!

That sunburn came on lightning fast! It's that sneaky spring sun that poses the most danger. Usually I leave the blinds all the way down, but with each individual "blade" parallel with the ground so lots of light comes in but none is direct... but not that day! Grr!

I have seen some mangled leaves in the store for sure! Mechanical damage is a bummer. It looked less jagged to me and more like something that came from within, which is why I had my initial disagreement of opinion with yours!
Have a nice day.

[PaphMadMan]

Another time to watch closely for sunburn is fall, in south facing windows. As the sun gets lower in the sky the light falls directly on plants further from the window.

[LovePhals]

I purchased a phal with some yellow edging all this time I thought it may be virus. It has grown well new roots and now has a new leaf with no yellow on it. We will see if it flowers this year. I have had it a year, no flowers.

[RosieC]

Not sunburn.

I think it could be a first sign of something not quite right, but may be nothing serious (like a virus or something). I've had ones do that which I know had root problems and like LovePhals when the plant roots recovered new leaves had no edge lines.

[dmagnan]

Thanks everyone for the replies. A couple weeks later, It's decided to stop developing that flower stalk, and a couple of the smallest buds died off, but no developed flowers have dropped and the leaves are unchanged/fine. Probably pretty good for what it's been through, but I'll have to follow it and see how it grows. Not that I'd really be able to tell if it's growing slowly anyway?

It's at least doing better than my wife's. I told her to hold off on re-potting and loosening the soil until I knew what would happen with mine in terms of health and flower stalk. She re-potted a week and a half after I did, but at that point the roots had started rotting, and the flower stalks aren't looking so great. It was supposed to be a quasi-experiment to see which would be better for the health of the plant and flowering in the short term--dangerously dense potting medium or stress from re-potting. I guess this is the result.