Doritis pulcherrima var. coerulea Yellow Leaves

[WaterWitchin]

Since I can’t post pictures on OB, I sent pics to Roberta and she's going to edit my post and insert pics for me. Gracias Roberta!

Three seedlings, have been planted since last fall. Have been doing well. Last month plus I’ve been watching them fade to this sickly yellow, chloritic-y. Roots fine and actively growing. Gets same RO water with KLite couple times a month. Same temps as everything else. What could possibly be going wrong with these? I’m stumped. Tried moving to less light, but just keeps getting worse.

Are right in with rest of phals, hybrids and species. Everything older is either spiking, blooming, or finishing. Have two Phal Summer Rose (Schubert x equestris) older showing same yellowing, younger one not. Both just finished blooming. Both sitting on same bench as doritis. Appears to me a mineral deficiency... but why on just these seedlings? Your thoughts please?

[rbarata]

The plants seem to have thick leaves so I'm tempted to discard a mite problem.

According the photos, the new leaves have those symptoms which might be a calcium deficiency.
In my experience this can also be caused by too low temps.

[estación seca]

If they're producing normally shaped leaves at a normal rate I suspect they're normal. This plant tolerates more light and cooler temperatures than other Phals. The yellowing isn't in the pattern you'd expect with magnesium, iron nor nitrogen deficiency.

As for flowering - maybe they aren't old enough.

[Dimples]

Could they perhaps be suffering from a competition-induced nutrient deficiency? Three separate plants all trying to add biomass, pulling nutrients out of a shared reservoir that only gets new fertilizer added a few times a month, maybe it’s not enough fertilizer for young plants?

[KatieM]

I am not super familiar with these but found this on an orchid society web page. Based on this maybe they're not liking the leca setup?

"Plant in its natural habitat grows under shade of trees and shrubs, it likes lot of light andgrowing it under 50 % shade net is preferable. It can withstand warmer temperatures of 32 C as in case of many tropical orchids. Watering thoroughly and allowing the media to dry before watering is ideal schedule. During the growth period, the plant prefers to be moist but not wet. Humidity levels of 55-60 % need to be maintained.

The plant prefers well drained media comprising of fine CHC, little coco peat, sand and charcoal. Once the plant starts growing the roots tend to show outward and this is also an indication for repotting. They prefer smaller clay pots and do not over pot the plants as they are small. Reptting can be taken up after the blooms. The spikes after the blooms fade, if cut back, may produce second set of blooms. Plants can be propagated by dividing the offshoots with roots."

Quoting from Orchid Society of Karnataka. Here is the link

Doritis pulcherrima – The Orchid Society of Karnataka

Super curious to know if you decide to change the media how it goes. Keep us posted!

[Paphluvr]

I grow my Doritis pulcherrima (not var. coerulea) in a bark mix and have no issues like you are encountering. Have you considered fertilizing with something other than KLite (maybe a balanced fertilizer) to see if it responds better in the leca? As ES says, I find that this Phal likes more light than I give my others.

[Roberta]

I also wonder if they want something that K-lite isn't giving them. K-lite does have calcium and magnesium, so those shouldn't be deficient.

[WaterWitchin]

rbarata... Yes, not spider mites. Leaves are about same thickness/texture of a basic phal, just as info. Don't think it's from cold either... they're in amongst a bunch of phals, some of which aren't as cold tolerant as these, and they're all fine.

ES... yes, not a normal leaf pattern for a deficiency, other than the chloritic look. I'm sure they aren't old enough to bloom... they're babies still. Tag says January 21, which I presume is when they were first potted up.

Dimples... I don't think it's a crowding issue, but I may pull one out and repot just for kicks. They were all three in the same pot because the pot was available, and when I first planted they were all two-leaf plants with very little roots. Guess I should also say, when I say fertilize every two weeks, it's a guesstimate. I water from a 55 gallon reservoir for RO water. Sometimes I add some tap water in when it gets low before completely refilling with RO, just so I can finish watering. Normally, after a couple weeks it's really low, and I completely refill with RO and dump in the fertilizer. I don't add fertilizer until there's only about an inch left. So it's around 100 ppm when I first fill reservoir. By the time I've watered and added some tap water, it's around 50-75 ppm, roughly guessing.

Katie... No, I don't think they dislike LECA. I grow in exclusively semi-hydro unless mounted and have for a long time, so my culture and environment is pretty well established for success...especially with a genus like this one.

PaphLuvr & Roberta... that's along the lines of my thought process. I agree with Estación that it looks like a deficiency, yet doesn't present that way markings-wise, thus my quandary. I'm going to water awhile with MSU to raise the phosphorus and potassium levels, and also use dilute RO+tap water to raise the cal mag level. Perhaps, as Dimples says, because they're young and in very active root growth right now they may need a bit more kick in their food intake. Kinda like growing teenagers.

Thank you for all the input. It's been driving me nuts looking at them the past couple months as they yellowed up. And of course, more or further thoughts are always welcomed.

[tmoney]

hmmmm...cleary something is going on with the media if all the others around are fine and they have been doing good up till now. altho, that leca looks fresh as a daisy. my guess is that the media has surpassed the total salt concentration that they can tolerate. have you checked the pH? no reason to suspect that if other plants are fine, but maybe worth a look if nutrient deficiency is suspect. pretty much the exact same thing happen to our speciosa after a couple months in pure leca. salts went crazy, they yellowed and died.

if it were me i think i would probly throw them in the trash, but my better half would say to change the media and hope for the best....either fresh leca or try bark. that's a total guess based on photos and description. best of luck reviving them, tho!

or perhaps its a good time to separate them from the compot and try 1 in leca, 1 in bark, and 1 mounted. whadya have to lose at this point?!

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by tmoney

hmmmm...cleary something is going on with the media if all the others around are fine and they have been doing good up till now. altho, that leca looks fresh as a daisy. my guess is that the media has surpassed the total salt concentration that they can tolerate. have you checked the pH? no reason to suspect that if other plants are fine, but maybe worth a look if nutrient deficiency is suspect. pretty much the exact same thing happen to our speciosa after a couple months in pure leca. salts went crazy, they yellowed and died.

if it were me i think i would probly throw them in the trash, but my better half would say to change the media and hope for the best....either fresh leca or try bark. that's a total guess based on photos and description. best of luck reviving them, tho!

or perhaps its a good time to separate them from the compot and try 1 in leca, 1 in bark, and 1 mounted. whadya have to lose at this point?!

The leca is fresh, way less than a year in the pot. No idea how it could have a mineral buildup with RO water and weak fertilizer. I have plants that have been in same leca for three years or more, and mineral buildup has never been an issue. I don't use bark, and do plan on mounting one sooner or later.

No offense intended, even if it sounds that way, but...
Throw in the trash?!? tmoney, that doesn't even make sense to me. Why would you throw a growing plant in the trash that has a slight problem?