Inpending Doom?

[tom499]

i've been watching this phal for past few days, that red stuff has spread.

on top of that i have another orchid ( i believe phal, showing similiar signs

some form of red colour on the new growing leaves, starting at the edges and moving in. what do i do??

[Fabolusus]

This is a normal reaction to light. As long as there aren't any burns, then it should be fine.

[tom499]

it is?

thankyou so much i was gettin so scared. all the posts about viruses get me so paranoid about my plants

and thankyou so much for your fast reponse, 20 minutes and i get an answer

[mayres]

Just as Fabolusus noted - when the leaves start turning red you are approaching the upper limit of how much light your plant can tolerate - so far it looks excellent. Be careful not to give it any more light or it will probably burn. If that happens the leaf will yellow and fall off. I left my first phal in a noterh east window over the weekend in my office. By monday every leaf was yellow! My second phal I put off to the side a few feet from the window and only burned off two leaves! Hopefully I have now learned my lesson - keep phals out of the direct sunshine! They can take some early or late sun if they are slowly aclimated and/or have really good air movement to move the heat off the leaves. If they feel warm they will burn.

[new_keiki]

that's exactly my confusion: my phal has dark green leaves (i.e. not enough light) but at the same time it has red spots like Tom499's picture shows (i.e. reaching the light limit). So does my phal need more or less light?? Thanks for your help!?

swl

[mayres]

Plants that are maroon to medium pink tend to have their leaves turn reddish faster than plants that are white or some other color. Typically the younger leaves will start to turn red first. Keep an eye on your plant and if the leaves continue to get redder and redder at some point you probably want to back off on the light. Feel the leaves in the heat of the day and see if they are warm - this will burn them if they get too hot. Good air movement will help to move the heat away. In general they will only tolerate very early or very late sunshine directly on the leaves for a short period - INDIRECT light is safest.

[Ellen]

A little blush on the leaves is fine. As the others said, don't put the plant in a place where it will get direct sun all day long. Some morning and/or afternoon sun is OK as long as the leaves don't get too hot. This time of year the sun is moving in the sky, so be alert for sun shining into places it didn't reach during the winter. I've burned plants by not paying attention to how the sun was shifting as the seasons changed.

[kmarch]

I have a dark red/purple Phal I-Hsin Gem which I grow in a fairly shaded window. It gets no direct sunlight at all and only a few hours of what I'd describe as bright indirect light. Its leaves are always a dark green with a reddish blush (similar to your leaves on the undersides of the leaves. The blush is heavier on new leaves and fades as the leaves age. It has bloomed 3 times in the last 2 years. If you are adhering to the points of good Phal culture (filtered sunlight or better yet indirect sunlight, no direct sun, always gently and evenly moist mix, good air circulation, and appropriate temperatures) I believe your plant will be fine as some of these dark-flowered Phals have these darker pigments in their leaves as well (like mine does).

Happy Growing!

[Maddy]

I have a dark pink phal whose leaves come out blushed, too, and a new maroon one whose leaves are almost purple underneath.

Speaking of red, I had to move my brassavola back from the south window just a bit because all the leaves were turning quite red - I set it behind the asparagus fern. It's to the point where I'm afraid it'll start sunburning, and we have about a month to go before the trees will start to leaf out.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

There are too many variables with leaf color. I think it was a bad idea for someone to originally have suggested you can tell if a plant is not getting enough, or too much, light by leaf color. A very experienced person might, but not the newbie, or even some with more experience.

[mayres]

How red is too red is certainly a good question for many of us to ask - and it probably does vary from one type of plant to another. At least for me, as they get redder and redder the yellow light initially comes on and as the color intensifies the "red" light comes on! Yikes. Time for a move.........
On a couple of plants I have found that the next color after intense red is "brown" - as in cooked. mike

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

In plants that have red flowers, and just starting to see this in Phals, red pigmentation is normal and has nothing to do with light.