Phael Questions for a Newbie
 

I bought my first mini the night before Thanksgiving. It is doing well, blooming and seemingly having it's own little party. The blooms are a beautiful deep golden yellow with fuchsia/purple lines radiating from the center. That's about as close to an ID as you'll get...LOL Here is the problem with this little guy, I think I overwatered when I first got it or the window may have been too cold. I have since moved it away from the window, and put a skewer in the pot with it. I will not water again until the skewer comes out dry. Issue - leaves yellowed only the bottom two, I am thinking it was more of a too cool situation then overwatering though since my roots are a beautiful green and solid, not mushy and no discoloration.

Then I bought a second phael, yes I am a glutton for punishment and beauty. Again, beautiful big healthy blooms, excellent roots, lots of correctly colored air roots as well, but it has a split leaf. The leaf is healthy and thriving, just not pretty. Oh, and this was obviously a dyed specimen, I know it won't rebloom the color it is now, that's fine, call it beginners rose colored glasses...:lol: Either or do, I leave the split leaf or cut it off?

The final question is on some of the phaels I notice ribbing in the leaves, what causes this? Their media is damp leading me to believe that it is not lack of water. All roots look great and viable. Could there not be enough humidity?

I think that is about all I have as far as questions right now. Certainly glad that I found this forum to help me along and keep me from killing anything..:)

Rose

For your first orchid, probably the roots inside the pot got a little damaged/rotted from too much water when your first got it. If you can, take it out of the pot and take a look for any squishy brown roots, chop those off then repot it. Using the skewer will definitely help with knowing when to water. On the opposite side of that, since you say it's the bottom leaves, it could be that the roots are fine and the plant simply no longer needed those two leaves. Best to check the roots just to be sure.

I'd leave the leaf if I were you. If it truly bothers you, and it has plenty of other leaves, you may be able to cut it off but honestly unless it turns yellow, I would leave it.

Ribbing in the leaves is caused by insufficient water. This can be because it stays too dry too long OR because the medium stayed too wet thus causing the roots to rot. Taking a look at the roots inside the pot that aren't visible unless unpotted would be a good idea.

I am a reformed root rotter, so I understand the frustration when just starting to grow orchids of getting the watering just right. What helped me was cutting holes into the sides of the pots to increase airflow. You may need to keep a close eye on things when you first do this as the medium will dry faster, but this is very good for people who tend to rot their roots.

Happy growing :)

Thank you Mrs. H...I have gone through all the roots on every plant inspecting them...all healthy and green. I am going to get a humidifier for the area where they grow to see if that helps. The leaves that were turning on the other plant are actually greening back up, so I will see in couple days where everything it at.

Will also leave the split leaf as long as it sin't going to hurt the plant. If it starts to yellow or go south then it will be removed immediately as close to the base as possible.

Thank you so much for your help.

Rose

Great! Glad there were no rotten roots! Phals really are pretty low maintenance in my opinion, once you understand how to care for them. I don't think the humidifier is necessary unless it's really dry in your house. I kept 25 of them without a humidifier just fine, and have only recently gotten one for myself because I was told by my voice instructor that I was dehydrated. LOL! But it definitely isn't a bad thing to have one if you truly desire it :) I'd love to see pictures of your plants, will you post one here?

Will definitely post one as soon as I have enough posts. I am going to go with the humidifier because the house sits around 30%Rh and I am seeing signs that they could use a bit more humidity. Anything for the plants..LOL

Rose

My collection is 95% Phals, so I know a thing or two about them and MrsH530 is spot on in my opinion. So I will go back to the house chores :-)