Phal has droopy leaves!

[neon]

So I have two orchids grown in the exact same conditions. One has gone crazy with growth, new roots popping out everywhere and a flower spike -- in the middle of the hottest summer I've seen in a while and without any fertilizer change.

The other is a bit of a sourpuss. It has not grown too much, just put out another leaf and some healthy, white roots. Now I'm noticing that the leaves are floppy and thin and a kind of nauseating shade of green. The new leaf is thick and healthy.

So I'm wondering, has the problem been fixed because the new growth is healthy? I use the 'weekly, weakly' fertilizer method so when I watered it today I soaked it for a bit, and there was a yellow cloud of... stuff left in the tub after. Am I overfertilizing (although my other orchid recieved the same amount)? Or is it just a generally weaker plant?

I cannot remember where I got it, it has the same pot as the other orchid and is not labelled so it might not be a trustworthy vendor. I hope I don't need to inspect the roots; whenever I do it is a lost cause.

I'll attach an image. I hope you guys can help!

[jrodpad]

When the old leaves get droopy like this and those little ridges start to stand out I find it's almost always because the phal isn't getting enough water into the leaves. The causes could be over watering which causes the roots to rot, under watering which causes the roots to shrivel, excessive heat or some combination thereof.

The first thing I would do upon noticing the lack of turgor and ridging in the leaves is to examine the roots. Sorry. That will tell you how far along the damage is. The good news is, if you react quickly enough, it's completely reversible. I've had droopy ridged phal leaves perk right back up once I adjusted the watering schedule. Once you check out the roots, you'll see if they're mushy, shriveled and cracked or fine - and that should give you the answer.

If the roots are a complete mess and there's little to nothing left (which doesn't seem likely given the health of the new leaf), you can always sphag and bag and treat with rooting hormone to try and turn things around.

Good luck!

- J