Phal species leaf problems
 

Hi all,

I'm having a bit of trouble with my species phals. I have one bellina that has some discoloring on one of it's leaves and I don't know what the problem is, or how to treat it. The same leaf also had brown on the end of it, so I cut the dead end off.

My other phal, a bellina var. alba had a lot of keikis when I bought it and now all but one of the keikis have turned yellow and have died. Recently the mother plant has been yellowing as well, leaving only one keiki left. It looked so healthy a month ago... I don't know what's wrong with this one either, and I'm worried the plant will die :(.

Both plants were bought in November and currently they are in my mini green house, the temperature is 68F and humidity stay between 45-55%.

This is my first time owning a species phal. All help and advice is greatly appreciated and thanks in advanced.

My first thought is that your temps are too low for a plant that normally grows around 75-85f all year round. I have a few amboinensis ( also require warmer temps ) and I have to grow under lights to increase temps in the day to around 82f. My home is heated to 70f. Even then these "tread water" in Winter.

Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk

Thank you for your input. Even if I do get a heat source for them would they survive, or are they too far gone?

Welcome to the Orchid Board! You can never tell if they will recover until you try.

Many other Phals tolerate your temperature range, so don't give up. Read about what they need before you get the next one.

What light are they getting? The second one looks like it's "blanching", chlorosis.

I don't think 68°F is too low (my species and hybrids are getting lower 60's).

Move them directly under a light (go to the "growing under lights" section of the board) or closer to a window.

I supplement with various LEDs in standard fixtures. 10.5W-800 lumens, 14W-1500 lumens, Ray's array, etc.

What are you feeding them? At what dose?

Did you buy the plants mail order in November? They may have been chilled in the post and this could be the problem. My bellina is kept around 68F max and 61F min in the winter, not ideal, growth slows right down, but doesn't cause any damage, keeping it at a higher temp would be more ideal though, especially as your plants appear stressed. You can buy seedling heat mats that would provide local warmth.

OK, that makes sense. I used to keep them on a windowsill to get direct sunlight and now they are a distance away from the window. I feed them Grow More 20-10-20 Urea Free, 1/4th of the recomended dose weekly.

I bought them directly from different sellers at an orchid show, they had about an hour car ride home. I plan on getting a little heat mats for them today.

no harm in trying - as has been said. Your humidity seems ideal and hopefully it stays high with higher ambient temps. Though colder draughts may become an issue if your growing area is not protected.

This site is a useful reference for phal ( and other ) species:
IOSPE PHOTOS

I always advise novice growers to stick to hybrids until they are sure they can meet the fairly exacting requirements of the various species. If you still want to try, take a look at Phal Samera which is a primary hybrid of bellina and violacea, very fragrant and blooms are just as attractive. I can grow this very well on a windowsill, no heating mat and the plant is generally more resilient.

Thanks for the advice, I've been growing phal hybrids for about 2 years now and wanted to try some species. It may have been a little bit of a jump, but hopefully they will recover.

Normally, low light causes leaves to darken but too low will mess with photosynthesis (think green and white asparagus). To me, your plants don't look like cold damage but an imbalance of light to nutrients.

Your N dose is okay. Check your fertilizer for iron and magnesium. Their lack often causes chlorosis.

I've looked up nutrient deficiencies in phals and the leaves look very similar to mine! I've placed my needy children right in the bay window to relieve more light, and I've given them a heat mat and a little plastic dome. Hopefully these conditions will ease thier stress a little. The fertilizer i ues does contain trace elements like iron, copper and magnesium.

Good luck!

Make sure the move isn't too sudden/drastic a change in light. The dome should protect it some but how much?

Consider adding supplements. I'm not familiar with what forms can be used by plants (I use a cal/mag formula from the hydroponics store). If someone here doesn't pitch in, do some googling.

The plants were moved about 10ft closer to window, where they were before the gloomy winter weather started. The sun is much less intense now and the dome is slightly opaque.