HELP!!! Phalaenopsis leaves look ill.

[cmcmonigle]

I recently repotted my fairly young phalaenopsis orchid about a week ago (June 26th) and cut the spike down since the blooms had fallen off. I went to water it yesterday and three of my leaves are looking awefull!. One is completely brown and soft to touch while two of the smaller ones have dry, brown tips on them. My roots do not look bad ;although, they are a bit darker than I want them to be but still firm and not rotted. It sits in a east facing window with low light and while it was in bloom I used bloom booster fertilizer every 4th watering and for the last five months my orchid has been very healthy. I do not keep other plants and I am almost positive it is not a pest, virus, fungus, or bacterial disease. I water it every Tuesday or Wednesday (whenever the mulch feels mostly dry) and let it drain completely before putting it back on my table. I am thinking maybe it is a watering/lighting issue I am attaching some pictures so please let me know what you guys think.

[silken]

I'm not sure I can say what that is but I would cut the brown leaf off. It is no good and could spread. Do you leave water in the crown of the leaves (very centre where they meet)? Crown rot can occur and then the leaves and stem of the plant will die. Basically the whole plant. You could try wiping the whole plant down with a fungicide. A home remedy is regular brown Listerine if you don't have Physan or something similar.

One thing that could cause trouble, although I don't think it would so fast, is that your pot looks too big for the plant. This will often lead to root rot since it stays wet down in the bottom and centre for too long. Usually they are put in a pot that will only just contain the roots and a wee bit of room for growth.

You also don't need to use bloom booster once the plant is blooming. That is really to use to get it to bloom and is used a couple months before you expect to see a bloom spike starting. That too won't cause the brown leaves, but just a tip.

Hopefully others will chime in and maybe someone has ran into this condition before. But I would at least use Listerine or some hydrogen peroxide or something as a precaution on the leaves.

[cmcmonigle]

I am very careful not get water on the leaves or base of the plant while I water it. The roots sit in the middle of the pot and are about 3-4 inches from the bottom of the pot. I have had the plant in that pot for the past five months I've had it since it was a gift and the container it was in was garbage. Could changing the mulch and cutting the spike in the same day stress the plant to do this? Also, should I treat the cut part of the leaf after I cut it? I used cinnamon on the cut spike since I read it was an effective fungicide. Thank you so much for your input. This plant has special meaning to me and I would love to keep it for many years to come.

[james mickelso]

That looks distressingly like it has been too wet for too long. How do you know your roots are ok now? I would take it out of the pot, gently of course, and inspect the roots. When root rot starts it starts on the lowest leaf and progresses from there. It starts at the base of the affected leaf and turns the leaf to moosh. You may be able to save it by taking it out of the overly large pot with way too much media, allowing it to dry out, and then misting the leaves, especially the undersides of the leaves a couple times a day. After a week or so you can start misting the leaves and roots. After you feel that the plant has stabilized, repot it in pine bark and nothing else. It has to dry out and start to photosynthesize again before it will produce new roots or leaves.The soggy mooshy leaf will dry out and turn a leathery brown. Let us know how you do.

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[silken]

Well, maybe your watering routine is OK for such a big pot. It looks like just bark so maybe it dries out fast enough. But that large of a pot is usually a recipe for root rot, so just be careful to not over-water. Cutting the spike and re-potting wouldn't do this to a plant. especially if it had some healthy roots to begin with. Yes, you can treat the cut ends of the leaf with cinnamon which should seal the cut and help disinfect. sorry, not sure what to say. If it hasn't changed location to a much sunnier place, sunburn is ruled out. I would still get some brown Listerine or hydrogen peroxide and just use a cotton ball or tissue and wipe the leaves. Just in case it is some form of bacteria. It won't harm the plant and could help.

Edit, I see James is posting at the same time as me!

[Leafmite]

I like to use isopropyl alcohol to disinfect. Remove the sick leaf and treat everything but the roots, twice a day for a few days, with alcohol to prevent the spread. It probably is a good idea to check the roots. Using styrofoam in the bottom and middle of the pot (or putting a small net pot upside-down in the middle) can prevent that wet inner pocket. Sometimes, during repotting, the roots can be damaged and if you don't let them dry for a few days (so they can heal), infection sets in. Peroxide won't harm the roots so you can use it on them.
Hopefully all will go well with your little orchid. : )

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by cmcmonigle

I am very careful not get water on the leaves or base of the plant while I water it. The roots sit in the middle of the pot and are about 3-4 inches from the bottom of the pot.

The pot is way too big. 3" - 4" of space below the roots is still too much space. There should be as little space as possible not only around the circumference of the roots, but below the roots as well. The pot should contain mostly roots with some potting media to hold in moisture.

Originally Posted by cmcmonigle

I have had the plant in that pot for the past five months I've had it since it was a gift and the container it was in was garbage.

Sorry to say it like this, but it doesn't matter if you've had it in that pot for five months. You have a plant that's in distress, and we suspect it has something to do with root rot from the pot being too big for your plant. If I told you that root rot could manifest itself in a matter of 1 - 2 wks, and in some cases less; would you still be so comfortable in believing that there's nothing wrong with the plant's root system?

I highly recommend you check the roots again. It never hurts to make sure the problem is not root rot than to assume the problem has nothing to do with it.

Originally Posted by cmcmonigle

Could changing the mulch and cutting the spike in the same day stress the plant to do this?

For a Phal, changing the potting media and cutting the spike in the same day usually doesn't stress the plant out like this.

Your problem lies somewhere else.

Originally Posted by cmcmonigle

Also, should I treat the cut part of the leaf after I cut it? I used cinnamon on the cut spike since I read it was an effective fungicide. Thank you so much for your input. This plant has special meaning to me and I would love to keep it for many years to come.

Did you use sterile cutters, or were they just any old unsterilized pair of cutters you were able to find laying around? If they were unsterilized cutters, you probably transmitted a disease. It doesn't matter that you put cinnamon on the wound if you used unsterilized cutters.

Should the case be that the cutters used were unsterilized, what happened would've been that the incision was made, and the pathogen may have been transferred during the cut, and the cinnamon sealed the wound and trapped the pathogen inside.

If there are going to be any cuts made, the cutters should be sterilized using whatever method of sterilization you can think of - bleach, alcohol, heat, etc.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by cmcmonigle

My roots do not look bad; although, they are a bit darker than I want them to be but still firm and not rotted.

???

Darker? When you have a Phal with its roots, (roots that have photosynthetic abilities - in other words, they should be green when exposed to light), in an opaque pot and potting media around it, how is it possible to have "darker" roots? If anything, the roots on your plant should look lighter (lacking or low in green chlorophyll pigments, looking translucent, with hints of the underlying yellow carotenoid pigments at the actively growing root tips).

Healthy Phal roots are thick and fleshy. The outer skin layer of the roots is called velamen, and is silvery white. When exposed to light, the fleshy part of the roots under the skin is filled with green chlorophyll pigments. In the center of the fleshy cortex of the roots, consists mostly of the vascular tissues (tubes that transport nutrients and water). The actively growing root tips, when exposed to adequate light, should be green or green with brown hues.

The pic in this link should show you what healthy, living Phal roots look like:

http://www.aboutorchids.com/blog/wp-...oots_640px.jpg

Originally Posted by cmcmonigle

I am thinking maybe it is a watering/lighting issue I am attaching some pictures so please let me know what you guys think.

I'm thinking it is more of a watering issue in relation to the pot size of the pot the plant is in than it is a lighting issue.

[Oscarman]

I would get rid of the bad leaf, it looks like a fungal infection - is it soft and watery? Use a disinfectant.
Remove from pot and check the roots to make sure they are firm and white, no brown and mushy. If so trim with sterilized shears. Use a disinfectant.
Repot with new media in a substantially smaller pot. Hard to tell from the picture but what is the leaf spread of your plant (leaf tip to tip). The pot should be sized to the root mass. If the size is as I think it is, I would have that plant in a 3.5" pot, BUT depends on the root mass.

Can you show us the plant out of the pot please.

[cmcmonigle]

I put the plant in a smaller pot with less bark and I am going to let dry out for a few days to see if it helps. I also wiped the leaves with alcohol because I have read to do so on multiple sites. Also when I cut the plant I did clean the shears with alcohol and heat. After the information you guys have given me I feel like it was the pot size and the bark being too wet. I do know what healthy roots are suppose to look like and mine are not the silvery white color. They are a a medium to dark shade shade of green (definately not yellow looking) being darker towards the base of the plant with light tips and feel firm but not brown and mushy like dead ones. It sits on a table facing my sliding back doors to the east and I never let it get direct sunlight so I don't believe it is sunburn. If anything it doesn't get enough light. The tempeture is very stable in the house at a constant 75 degrees and it is not close to any air conditioning vents.
Also, when I received this plant the roots were in horrible condition probably because of the moss they were in and it had a few bloom on it but they fell off within a few days of having it. Then once I repotted it and was taking care of it I had eleven blooms that lasted for about three months until last week. Since it is a young plant I wanted to let it focus on growing instead of trying to get more blooms out of it and I only changed the bark because I read that you should change it every 6 months to a year and when the plant is not in bloom.