Please help...it's dying!!!
 

Hello friends!

Please help...my phal is dying and I don't know what's wrong....He is in SH and currently on a heating pad...I did have to take quite a few roots when I repotted but there were a couple left and I repotted a month ago. This just started happening in the last few days...the yellow is taking over :(

HELP :(

I don't understand. Were living roots cut off the plant?

So, there are only two roots left?

If that's the case, the pot's much too large.

May not be able to be helped at all, sorry. I think it's too late.

No the ones I took off were rotted and mushy...should I try repotting it in a smaller one or is it a goner once the yellow starts? :(

It's not a goner once the yellow starts.

It's a goner when the chlorosis (yellowing) has progressed as far as it has with the Phal you've pictured.

It's time to sing it's eulogy. :(

For future reference...what should I have done when I first noticed it??

It looks like the 2nd leaf is turning a bit yellow too. Why is it on a heating pad? Is it in a cold room? If not, maybe it is too hot and dry for the plant. If there are any healthy roots left, I would take it off the heating pad (assuming it is normal room temp) and try re-potting it in some loose sphagnum and bark mix. Possibly using a rooting hormone to develop more roots faster too. No harm in trying if you love the plant. You may need to mist the plant in the mornings to help it absorb moisture until roots develop. Make sure you don't mist so much that water sits in the crown. Good luck.

I put it on the heating pad because I thought that would help it develop roots?? Is that not right, I have another one on the heating pad hoping to help it grow more roots but it's not yellowing

It starts with selecting a healthy specimen to purchase.

Don't look at the flowers. Flowers are pretty, but they don't say much about the health of the plant.

Healthy plant genitalia (aka flowers), doesn't necessarily cry out healthy plant.

Look at roots first. Then leaves.

Healthy, strong, and vigorous root systems, is a strong plant. Which may mean looking for a plant with the ugliest and scraggliest looking, tangled mess of healthy, plump, green roots possible. Ideally, the root mass should look like a writhing leviathan of roots.

Leaves should be green, and have no signs of yellow on the newer leaves. The older bottom leaves may be yellow, and it might be okay because the old leaves may be on their way out. Preferably look for a plant with a new leaf emerging from the crown. The emerging leaf should not be damaged. If it is, pass it up.

Flowers are last! Newly opened flowers shouldn't have blemishes. Look for yellowing or limp buds, and avoid these - they're stressed. Flowers that show signs of irregular streaks from virus shouldn't be purchased at all. In fact, if there's a sign of viral infections in one plant out of the bunch, don't buy any of the others, no exceptions!

Learn to discipline yourself with proper selection techniques, and you'll win half the battle.

It depends on temperature. If the plant was at 60 and you bring it to 80, you will increase metabolism, but you still probably want to cycle it day/night. If it was at 70 and you push it to 90, the leaves may be metabolizing faster than the roots can provide.

I may be an odd duck on this one, but I usually try to slow the metabolism a bit (cooler, shadier spot) when a plant is in recovery. Once it starts to grow new roots, then you can push it a little, but sometimes it seems to take a while to get that first growth going.

SOmetimes it takes a little experimentation to see what works for you. At least we learn from the unfortunate experiments too.

Good luck

Did the phal have some new roots before you repotted in s/h?
Joann

I don't think it had new roots yet...It was my first repot and I didn't really know what I was doing :(

It happens.

Are you saying I should be turning the heat pad off once a day to create this cycle?

Plants need a day/night cycle, just like everything else in this world.

It's not just the lighting, but the temperature as well with plants.

Some plants (such as Bulbophyllums) will not bloom if there is no temperature difference between day and night.

It's not natural to have even temperatures throughout the day all throughout the year. Even in the equatorial regions of the tropics, there is a little bit of variation between day and night, as well as seasons.

What kind of light is the plant getting?

It's getting quite a bit of indirect light...no direct.

The pale yellow with a slight reddish tint might also mean too much light for a phal, especially one that is recovering. In my opinion, the higher you push its metabolism, the more of a root system it needs. Maybe try moving it back away from the window a bit.