Phal won't grow new leaves
 

Hi everyone!
I live in the northeast and have been growing orchids for about 6 years. I have them in a west window without any direct sun hitting them. I have Noid phals and a few oncidiums and a Maxilaria Tenufolia. 9 in total. So far they are all thriving except for one. It happens to be the first one that I bought.
It's a phal that I have had for about 6 years. Since I bought it it has never grown a new leaf. Once a year it puts out a short spike but only gives me one flower. The color of the leaves indicate to me that it gets good light, it has a good root system, no rotting roots. I fertilize every other watering. Any ideas what could be the problem with him?
Thanks sooooo much!

Six years and never a new leaf? I can see why you are concerned. How warm is your home? Some of the Phals need temperatures above 80'F to grow (it really depends on the ancestry) and if your home is cooler due to air conditioning, it will just happily sit there, doing nothing. If it does get the warm temperatures, try a little more light.

Well, our house is about 76 degrees, we don't run the ac very often at all. I will try to find a way to get it more light and see what happens. Do you think the fact that it only gives me one flower is a clue that something is wrong? When I first bought it it had a nice long spike with lots of blooms. Thanks again for taking the time to respond!

It looks like it's getting enough light. Phals are shade plants, so that is not the problem. I would not risk burning it by giving it more light.

76 F / 24C is not warm from the perspective of a Phal. I would also vote for temperature as the issue. Many houses in the US are not warm enough for phals to be truly happy in the summer if they are air conditioned. Many houses in the winter are so cold, the phals just barely survive. Some hybrids may need more warmth than others.

How often do you water, how much fertilizer do you use per-gallon, and what is the formula?

I water each orchid as needed, usually once a week to every 10 days. I'm using the Better-Gro Orchid Plus,
20-14-13. I use the fertilizer every other watering at the suggested amount of 1 tbls per gallon. I would love to see this little guy start growing! :yawn:

1 Tablespoon per gallon / 15ml powder per 3.78 liters is a huge amount of fertilizer for a Phalaenopsis. A lot of people use between 1/8 and 1/4 teaspoon per gallon. You're using 12-24 times as much. Many people fertilize somewhere between weekly and monthly during warm weather. I don't know that this is why your plant isn't growing leaves, but it's certainly not underfertilized.

That is so strange! Our phalaenopsis orchids never go above 78 and never drop below 65 or so. They send out tons of blooms every year, good roots, and new leaves. From what you've said, I'd think it would be thriving. We have about 20 phals.
P.s. About fertilizer
We fertilize ours weekly or every other week with a full tablespoon per gallon. It seems to work, not sure on the standard. A local orchid hybridizer fertilizes once week no matter what (except in winter of course)

Too strong on fertilizer, and too often. I would get rid of the green reindeer moss. Is the plant potted in bark (generally, bark is good)? I see some live roots, a good sign. Leaves look dehydrated, I would water more often, whenever the roots appear silvery. Do so at the sink, running water through the bark in the pot.

If where you live in the USA has warm summers, and growing outdoors IN THE SHADE is an option, try doing that. Summer outdoors is a great way to raise the temperature.

[QUOTE=Orchid Whisperer;808091] Is the plant potted in bark (generally, bark is good)? I see some live roots, a good sign.

yes I prefer bark as well for my phals. This orchid actually has really good root growth and some are growing now. Do you think I have it over potted?

Oh, one more question, why should I take the reindeer moss off? I only have a few pieces on top for looks and I thought it might help slow down drying after watering. But if it could cause harm I don't want it!

You're feeding your plants almost 800 ppm N alone. Echoing comments above, that's about 10x what I'd recommend.

How often and how much do you recommend? What happens when they get to much? Thanks again for all of your help everyone!

Did you ever see the movie Idiocracy? They watered their crops with Gatorade because "it's got electrolytes!" The world was starving because of crop failure.

Epiphytic orchids aren't adapted to water with a high mineral content. It causes leaf browning and root dieback. People have varying opinions on how to fertilize Phals. My previous message mentions some possibilities. You can read a lot about fertilizing on Ray's web site. I can't do cut-and-paste with my phone, but look up First Ray's and click on Free Information.

I have that same fertilizer and it says teaspoon not tablespoon per gallon!!!

I was under the impression that Phals only spiked above (or is it below?) a new leaf. If you had a particularly good growth year and developed three new leaves, you could hope to get three spikes. If they only spike on new leaves, then the fact that this one blooms, must mean that new leaves are developing.

Well, I fertalize every 14 to 21 days, EVERY OTHER watering. According to the bag I have it says ONE TABLESPOON to one gallon.
The one teaspoon per gallon is if you want to fertalize once a week, or with every watering.

Here is a photo. See how last years spike is actually higher up then the current spike?

Hmmmmmm...
 

:dunno:How odd that yours says that...I've looked on my bag several times to make sure I didn't read it wrong or missed some other set of directions, but my bag for sure is one teaspoon/gallon. Nevertheless, if you've had success with it good for you :). I just bought mine so they might have changed the formula a bit from your batch to mine or vice versa. Either way good luck, hope it works out and you get the leaf you are looking for!!!

First we all have to recognize that manufacturers are trying to sell you fertilizer, not have you grow better plants.

I try to take cues from nature whenever possible. In a forest environment, they plants get fed a minuscule amount of food (measured as 15-25 ppm total dissolved solids in several places), every time it rains, which can be daily, or more often. That suggests to me - as it has others posting earlier - that the plants have evolved to expect such low doses, and not the much higher levels that are more common for terrestrial plants.

At a tablespoon per gallon, the N-P-K alone of that formula is almost 1500 ppm, and if we include whatever other minerals are in it, and what's already dissolved in your water, you're probably pushing 2000 ppm, or 100x what they'd see in nature.

Also, if you consider their metabolic processes, for an orchid to gain one pound of mass, it must actually absorb and process about 25 gallons of water, but less than a teaspoon of fertilizer nutrients.

I would bet that if it was in a very open medium, and was watered more frequently, with only a little bit of fertilizer, it would grow and bloom much better.

:rofl: I have always said if you ask 10 different people an orchid related question, you get at least 12 different answers, all with possible merit as it relates to your situation!

So, not to be left out, here is my recommendation: Repot it in something different-new pot and different mix. Firstly, it will rid the existing media of stored salts and secondly, as what you are currently doing is not working, even though your fertilizer is waaay off, I suspect those roots are not as firm as you think they are in looking at it in the photo. When was the last time you repotted it? If you said when, I lost it in all the posts. Looking though a clear plastic pot at roots is not the best way to judge root condition or the condition of the media.

I have always found the best solution to most orchids is to plant them in fresh mix, sometimes the same type media appropriate for the genera, and sometimes a blend of several. Shocks them into growth every time for me.