First timer, orchid leaves yellowing, dropping, HELP???

[Waterlily]

Im really worried about my new orchids. Its my first time having them. I ordered two of them off of ebay, which Im starting to think was a mistake.

Before he shipped them, he put the two orchids through some kind of drying out process for a week so they would not rot during shipping. They arrived bare root and pretty dry. I got them a little over a week ago. One is stated as being: Phalaenopsis I-Hsin Gold Coin
and the other is stated as: X419 Dendrobium Ammerron

Now the spike on the dendrobium looks like the teeny buds growing on it are starting to dry up. On the same plant, I have lost 4 bottom leaves since it arrived. They are turning yellow, drying and falling off.

The other orchid, the gold coin phal, seemed fine until today, when I noticed a bottom leaf is turning yellow. This plant only has about 6 leaves! I dont want to loose it! Can I stop it from loosing this leaf? What is going on??? Are they still too dry? THey are potted in orchid bark and planted in orchid pots (the kind with holes in the side) and I water them about every other day until I see water run into the saucer at the bottom. There is never any standing water.

Its in a room that stays about 60 with kind of low light. Ive been trying to keep the bedroom light on and the window shade open for them, but I dont really know if its enough or not.

Im really worried. I dont want to loose anymore leaves....and Im dissapointed about the spike. I was looking forward to some flowers but I dont think that is gonna happen.

Also, I have been watering with room temperature water, as suggested by a friend. Other people have mentioned misting with water to help with humidity ( I did that today) and also some people have told me they think its not enough light or its too cold. I have only had them a little over a week. I didnt think that was enough time for something like light or humidity to take a toll on it, but obviously I dont know much about this at all.


I live in VA, so it gets pretty cool here. I can move the orchids upstairs in the plant room so that they can have more light. I only have a north facing window up there. I dont have any south facing windows (as suggested by a friend also.) What kind of light is best? It may be cooler upstairs, in the 60's or so unless I can put the plants under a clamp light. Is this ok? I can filter the light with something if I have to. I have a thin fleece blanket that would let some light and warmth through. Should I use a plant light instead or should I just rely on the window and not worry about getting it warmer than 60? The only way I can keep the plant warmer than that is if I use a clamp light. Suggestions?

I know Ive asked around but I figured you all are probably the experts. I would be so greatful for any advice!

I REALLY want to save the leaf on the phal if possible. It just started turning yellow, maybe last night. If anyone knows why this is happening I would be soooo greatfull.

Thanks so much for your time.

-Gia

[Ellen]

First of all, orchids are shipped in pots every day and do not rot! I'm not sure why the e-bay vendor shipped bare root, or why he dried them out. This is not standard practice. I am sure that the stress of having the roots dried out for an extended period of time stressed the plants. It is not surprising that the dendrobium is losing its spike and the phal is losing a leaf. If your phal has 6 leaves, it can afford to lose one or a few as it recovers from the vendor's "care" and adapts to its new surroundings. The den should be fine, too, although it probably won't bloom until next year. When you get bare-root plants with dried out roots, it's always a good idea to soak the roots overnight (or longer) in water with a little SuperThrive before potting. The plants should be OK at 60 degrees, but it's a little on the low side for phals. With the low temperatures, you don't want to water too much. Every other day is probably too much even at warmer temperatures. I know there have been postings on this forum about using bamboo skewers to gauge when to water, so you might want to search for that thread and read it. It's better to underwater than overwater, especially right after repotting. Indirect light is fine for the phal year round. The den will need a bit more light to bloom, so you might want to think about putting it outside next summer. It should be OK where it is for now. If your phal has a spike, you may lose it, too, or you may want to remove it so that the plant can put all its energy into recovering and getting a good root system established. Good luck with your new orchids and welcome to the forum!

[Waterlily]

Thank you so much for your quick response! I was worried about him drying it out like that, but he is a commercial orchid grower so I thought he probably knew what he was doing. Im very new to orchids so I trusted that a man who runs an orchid operation must know what he's doing. I guess my worries were justified.

Ok, so I wont water so much. I was just so worried about them drying out that I thought they might need to be rehydrated, and the orchid bark doesnt seem like it holds any moisture whatsoever. Is it supposed to? I think Ill bring them into my plant room where I can keep them warmer with a clamp light. Should I cover the light with something so its not so bright? This is the only way I can give them more heat. Also, do you advise setting them in a pan of water for humidity? I can do this easily without getting it on the plant.

Thank you sooo very much.

[Aniko]

The new bark has to be kept soaked at least 24 ours before use, to be able to hold moisture.

In cool temperature extra air humidity doesn't make any good, just encourages fungus infection.
About the artificial lighting you can find reference searching the topic in earlier posts, I'm not qualified in that.Sorry.

Aniko.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Hi Gia and welcome. First, your method of watering will not work for bark. The water runs thru the bark in random fashion missing most of the bark. You need to take the plants to the sink and run copious amounts of water thru the pot until the bark is as wet as it can get. Tho every one else insists on presoaking the bark, I never did when I was using it, just made sure it was well soaked every time I watered. However, the bark should have been pressed into the pot very well so as to make good contact to the roots and to itself, assuring a bit of wicking thru the pot. If potted properly, you should be able to lift the pot by holding only onto the plant. After the thorough watering, drain the plant and just wait until the moisture in the pot (skewer method) reaches the right stage, then water at the sink again.

Dendrobiums tend to loose some leaves at this season. Generally, older bulbs have no leaves, and how many years they hold leaves depends on the particular Den's genetics. So you can expect a few leaves lost on all canes and maybe all the leaves on one cane. So don't worry about the Den. The bud loss may be an adjustment problem or your watering method may have been depriving the plant from the water it needed.

The Phal may be loosing the leaf from the adjustment period or it may just be time to loose a leaf or two. 6 leaves is quite a bit. I generally only have 3 or 4 (not a big Phal grower tho). The plant I currently have in bloom has only 2 leaves, tho very large ones. If your tap water is pretty cold, you can adjust the temperature before watering. Phals can be damaged by running very cold water on the leaves, which will result in collapsed tissue.

Humidity is usually not a problem once a plant has adjusted to your environment. I wouldn't worry too much about that, and if you like misting, fine, but only do it in the early part of the day so the leaves are dry by the time the temp starts to fall. 60F is fine for Phals and Dens.

The brightest indirect light is fine for the Phal, but I think you need to supplement the light for the Den. These are high light plants like Cattleyas and Vandas. Incandescent lights can be too hot, so check the temp of the Den leaves by feeling them. Luke warm or a little warmer is OK, but hot to the touch is not. Happy to answer any other questions.

[Waterlily]

Thank you so much! I am so glad to find such knowledgable people! I will take your suggestions on the watering method.

I just looked at my phal, it actually has eight leaves.

I think I will take them upstairs tonight and put them near the window. It hardly gets any light through that window so I bought a clamp light to help with heat and extra light. I also got some thin sheet-like white fabric to help soften the light a bit. I hope that sounds ok.

Thanks again so much. I really hope I didnt get in over my head.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

The best light for giving the plants the extra light they need is flourescent, as it will not make the plant too warm. If your lamp normally takes incandescent light bulbs, get the brightest spiral replacement flourescent bulb instead, altho the smaller ones might fit better inside the reflector. The Den can be very close to flourescent tubes, and the Phal something like a foot or or two away. Since I don't grow under lights, I haven't worked out the distance for Phals, but high light plants as mentioned above need to be pretty close. Growing under lights also requires a timer, as you should try to set the day length to something similar to the current day length plus an hour or so to cheat a little.