Newbie and pal Phal need help! - Orchid Board

Annie T · #1 06-08-2008, 02:09 AM

Hi there. I'm ashamed to admit that I'm a brown thumb with more than a few casualties in my past. In mid-March, I was entrusted with the life of a beautiful white Phalaenopsis. (Like every proud Mama, I have pictures. Check out my Intro forum posting for the "glam" shots.) My little baby seemed to be doing so well… until recently. It appears the brown thumb has struck again. I've spent most of the day scouring websites, and I loved the Orchid Board. As I said in my intro: Obi-Wan, you're our only hope.

When she came to me, Phal had 10 flowers on a single arched spike, plus 9 leaves with the largest span being 19 inches. She stands about 20 inches tall. All of the flowers are still blooming today; however, a little while ago, I noticed some brown curling at the tip of one bottom leaf.

Upon close inspection during my weekly watering this morning, I noticed a variety of things on various parts of the plant. I've posted some pix of my Phal's ailing parts to aid in identifying the crimes I’ve probably committed to this poor unsuspecting creature.

I can't begin to make a judgment call on what’s wrong and how to fix it -- probably multiple things. Here's a quick summary of what I found:
1) Light brown & yellow spots and pitting on some leaves, and a lightening of the green colour at outer edges.
2) A blackish line surrounding a triangular opening in the stem (leaf node?) between two leaves; the line continues up the stem and onto the underside of the leaf just above.
3) A small crusty looking patch on the underside of another leaf very close to the stem.
4) Powdery patches with very small dark spots like dirt on the outside/underside of the base of some leaves, and at the tip of another leaf.
5) On the labellum of the six topmost flowers, the two long thin pieces that curl up on either side of the labellum are starting to turn black/dry up. (What are those long tendrils called, by the way?) The bottom four flowers still look fine.
6) On the dorsal sepal of one flower and a lateral sepal of another flower, there are some sort of odd markings that I can’t begin to describe. (I guess that’s what pix are for!)

I read somewhere that it’s good to mist orchids, so when I water her every Saturday morning with tepid tap water, I also mist leaves and flowers using a spray bottle. I leave her in the kitchen sink to drain for a few hours before sliding the pot back into the metal-lined decorative container that came with the plant. I normally keep her on the dining room table. I just measured: she’s about 6 feet from the east facing sliding glass door. I haven’t been drawing the sheers closed. In the past 2.5 months, I have never fertilized. And I haven't ventured beneath the moss layer that covers the top of the pot.

Today, I read that getting water on leaves can cause problems! Then, I read somewhere else that you should mist the leaves every time you water but make sure you don’t mist the flowers! Should I stop misting one or both? Should I pull the dining room sheers closed? Am I responsible for a fungal infection like crown rot? Or is it scale? Or mealybug (although I didn't see any little fluffy critters). Too much light, too little? Not enought air circulation, or too much draft from central air vents, etc.? Too sudden a transition to summer sun? Help!!

I think I'll ditch the decorative outer pot and stand the plastic planter pot on a dish of stones filled with enough water for humidity but not so much that it touches the planter pot. I read this on a few websites today. What do you think? And I guess I better start checking under the moss hood to see if she really does need water every Saturday morning like I was told she would.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Sleepless first-time parent in Toronto.

Annie