Floppy Green Leaves on my Phal

[leen]

Hi,

There are 6 leaves on my phal and they all look pretty good. but then recently i noticed 2 of them have become a bit floppy, but still in nice medium green color. the other 3 leaves are stiffer. I am just wondering if the floppy leaves could be a sign of something? I checked the roots 2 days ago and they look okay, firm and grey color. They are grown in spagh moss and I water it once a week. I am new to growing phals and I would like to keep my phal alive for as long as I can. How can I ensure the leaves become nice and stiff?

thanks!

[Yiu Lin]

Hi Leen, welcome to Orchidgeeks.
Floppy leaves means that you have a watering problem - either too little or too much. Have you checked your roots inside the medium? You may want to pull them out and check for rotten roots.
If your roots are firm, then you are probably underwatering your phal.

This happened to me on one of my phals just last week. The top leaf went completely floppy. My problem was insufficient watering. After that I soaked the whole pot in water for 5 mins. In the next 2-3 days, the leaves went back to normal. But as I water heavily, I now need to wait until the medium is almost dry again - takes longer than before.

You should check out the skewer method (http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/orc...f-orchids.html), which can help you get the watering right.

On another note - question to some of the experienced forum users. How do I post another url here, without putting out the whole address? I often see others will have the words "Skewer method" which then links directly?

[FLBob]

Floppy/limp leaves are a symptom of a lack of water.
You say you water once a week, but how do you water?

I grow in sphagnum and will run a gallon or more of water through the pot and over the plant when I water. I do have good drainage. If your plant has a good root system that matches the size of your pot and you have good air flow on your plants the sphagnum will go from wet to moist in a day or two. When I've watered, the roots that I see are dark green and will transition to gray as the moss drys.

[mayres]

When you say you checked the roots did you totally unpot your plant and check ALL of the roots? Some on the outside can appear very healthy and you could still have a mess (rot) in the middle of your root ball/pot.
More often than not the leaves get floppy with compromised root systems due to watering problems - to a lesser extent underwatering.
As has been noted, the frequency needed to water will depend upon a lot of factors including environmental (temp & humidity especially) and media type and quality. Have you repotted this plant and if so - how long ago?

[trinigirl]

Hello and welcome!

Looks like you got some good advice already, you should be fine.

[leen]

Thanks Yiu Lin, FLBob and mayres! I checked the roots 2 days ago by pulling out the entire orchid and they were nice and firm with the exception of one soft one, which I cut off. I don't pack down the sphag moss so there should be sufficient air flow. I try to water it more each time I water but I had a tendency to over water my past plants (which i ended up killing at the end) so now I give my phal maybe half a cup each time by pouring from the top, away from the crown. Is that not enough? There are drainage holes on the bottom of my plastic pot so I shouldn't have anything to worry about since excess water will drain out right? Also, there are about 3 roots that are growing upwards, on top of the moss which are always grey in color. Should i cover them with more moss to keep them moist? but in that case, moss will cover the crown and I read that it's not good to keep the crown moist. What should I do?

I will look into the skewer method. Thanks!

Yiu Lin: You want something like this? Your Link
Do this: < a href="http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/orc...f-orchids.html">Name< /a> but remove the spaces after the "<". I only did that so the tags will appear.

[11Orchid126]

As Yiu Lin and FLBob say, the problem sounds like underwatering. They say you can't water an orchid enough, but you can water them too often. What that means is that when you water, water thoroughly. A half cup of water won't do it. But after you water well, let them almost dry out before watering again. Sphagnum moss is very difficult to read as to whether or not it needs water. As Yiu Lin suggests, check out the skewer method. This method is accurate and fool proof. It will tell you how the medium is in the center of the pot. The top may be crispy and dry while the center may still be sopping wet.

[Plucky Purcell]

I have phals in sphag and except in the middle of summer I don't ever water more than once a week. During the winter I will let mine go 2-3 weeks, it all depends on the weight for me. Mine are in clear plastic pots and I wait until the velamen turn white on all visible roots and the pot is very light.

[Plucky Purcell]

Forgot to mention: When I water mine I soak 'em down. Half gallon at least. Unless I'm fertilizing, then I'll put it in a small cup and fill to the brim. Let sit for 5 minutes then let drain. Good luck!

[leen]

it has been 2 days since i ran a pint of water into my phal and i haven't noticed any progress with my floppy leaves. they are still droopy, altho i *don't* think they are getting worse. does this mean it's not a watering problem or am i just being too impatient?

also, one of the aerial roots coming out of the pot started to shrivel after i moisten it. should i not moisten that root? could this wrinkling mean something else? and i checked the roots inside the pot today again and they all seem to be firm, altho the ones inside don't look as healthy as the top ones. the ones inside are dark brown color while the ones closer to the top are green when moist. what does this mean?

thanks!

[NancyG]

Usually dark brown ones are not good. You want green when watered and gray when they dry. Can you stick your finger in the center of the pot by the plant and feel if it is moist? Could be the center is holding water and the sides where the more active roots are is dry. That happened to a couple of mine and I try to water the sides more. I've added hydro rock to the center so it can dry better. As soon as it is done blooming I'll repot.

[dorothea]

I'm not an expert, but some of mine phals did that as soon as they stopped flowering, almost as if they were programed to to that. roots also rapidly started to dry or rot, on the same plant. I managed to save some of them, but not all