Help! Leaves turning yellow on my phal...

[harveykeitel]

Hi Guys,

I am very concerned for my phal. I received it for Christmas from my boyfriend and over the course of the past three weeks the leaves have started to yellow and drop off. I noticed that there was a black spot on one of the leaves first, then a few days later the bottom leaves started to yellow and drop off. Since then two leaves have yellowed and fallen off and two more are yellowing. (the more mature leaves). I took it out of it's pot and there is some root rot. I feel like it's outgrowing it's pot too. There are still really healthy roots too. I know this could also be a fungus or too much light, but it hasn't been that sunny. I know root rot is never good though. I have some concerns about repotting. There are three flowers and one bud. A flower just bloomed last week and now it looks like another flower is about to drop off. Can I repot it before the bud blooms? Should I cut it down first? There is also another stem that has no flowering. Any suggestions?! I know this seems sort of broad...Please help.

[mayres]

Did the newest leaves yellow and drop off? If so then you might have developed crown rot - this is caused potentially be a number of things - including getting water in the crown during the time of the day when temps are going down - afternoon or evening - along with poor air movement. If this has happened it doesn't bode well for your plant. Normally the oldest bottom leaves yellow and fall off at some point during the year as new ones take their place on top. Phals like to be somewhat pot bound - too much empty space in the pots exacerbates potential root rot issues at the media may not dry out evenly. If you could take a pic of your plant and post it might help us give you some additional information. Yes, too much light could yellow the leaves and cause them to drop as well - this is actually how I sent my first phal to orchid heaven. What kind of light conditions are you giving it? Good strong indirect light is usually best - east, west, or strongly filtered south. If rotten roots were causing the problem you would most likely first notice limp leaves that start to loose their turgor - floppy and even somewhat veined looking instead of thick and plastic-like. Phals can usually be repotted any time without much problem - remove all mushy, black, dried, root material and keep only the plump tan, grey or green ones that are firm to the touch. Good luck!

[BunnytheOrchid]

I've always been told that it is better to stop the plant from flowering if it's suffering; if your phal has some root rot and losing leaves, it's best for it not to be putting energy into flowering and put that energy into surviving. A picture might be helpful, but in my (very modest) opinion, you might save it if you remove the rotten roots and flowers. If it still has some leaves that are not yellowing, that's a good sign! And if the crown of the plant is not black and rotting, that's another good sign!

[dipasquo]

Phals reputedly like to be pot bound; it's probably not the case that your plant is unhappy because it has outgrown it's pot. With the lack of sun and extra humidity you might have accidentally overwatered. What medium is your phal potted in? You could have also fallen victim to a bad potting job by the folks that it came from. I've not had much luck stopping yellowing leaves from eventually falling off. But if there are black spots and/or gray depressions in the leaves that appear to be getting bigger I would consider cutting that part out. This means I would consider cutting the leaf off above the damage, or even just cut a circle around the trouble spot, leaving a leaf with a hole in it but still more surface area overall to catch the sun. Repotting is something of a dillema: my guess is if you repot you run the risk of traumatizing the plant and dropping your flowers or buds, but if you don't repot now the problem could get worse.

I've rescued a few phals from stores that were poorly potted or maintained and often suffering from root rot. By that I mean there are a lot of black, gray, yellow, and mushy or broken roots rather than nice plump green ones. I pull the plant out of the pot and use sterile shears to remove any roots that don't look healthy. I re-pot into medium or large bark and in some cases I go to a smaller pot because there is less root mass. Once the plant is repotted some people say to refrain from watering for two weeks or more to encourage root growth, but I tend to think that if the plant is suffering then witholding water doesn't help; I usually water the repotted plant right away and go with a regular watering schedule which for me is about once a week. I just did this today for a phal that was on the goner rack at a local shop, sitting in soaked sphag moss.

If you have pictures that might help too.

[harveykeitel]

One of the leaves that's yellowed is a mature leaf. It's the third one from the top in the right side. On the left side there is a top leaf and a bottom leaf only and they are both green. There have been no new leaves growing in place of the ones that have dropped off. There is also yellowing near the center of the plant where the leaves grow from. There is good air circulation and I have it in an west facing window. It is a bay window so it's a lot of light, but i keep the blinds closed. Maybe it's too close to the window? I considered moving it to the coffee table. If it is crown rot what should I do?

[articuno75]

Use peroxide. Here the link for the tread on crown rot. Hope this helps.