phal with yellowing leaves!

[yorkie]

I am new to the world of orchids and bought a phal moth orchid for mothers day. I have had no problems up til now but in the past 2 days 2 of the leaves are turning yellow and I don't know what to do!!! Please help....

[atcrosby]

How often are you watering them? It is sounding like they are getting too much water. There is an easy to see if the mix is moist and that's using bamboo skewers. Stick one in the pot being careful on inserting it halfway down. Leave it in there for about 5 mins and then pull it out. If it is damp, you don't need to water your plant.

What do you do when you water? How often do you feed the plant and what do you use?

One of my biggest mistakes early on is to overwater resulting in the leaves dying.

[mayres]

Possibly you could post a picture of your plant that might help in others giving you some additional information? One thing to consider is that the natural life cycle of phals is for the bottom leaf or two to yellow and fall off each year and it will also grow another leaf or two - in this way they essentially remain the same general shape and size over time. The size and vigor of the plant as a while may increase or decrease depending upon how "happy" it is to its growing enviroment, but the plant shape in terms of overall leaves will remain somewhat constant. Has it grown any new leaves and how many total?
Overwatering as Tom suggested is indeed one of the most common ways to hurt your phal - so as noted be careful in this regard.
Additional information you might provide that would help others give you additional information would be what kind of media it is planted in, how often you water and fertilize and in what manner, what kind of light are you giving it, etc. mike

[jerrymeola]

More important than the yellowing leaves is whether you have any new growth. New growth would be a good sign but yellowing leaves without new growth probably shows root damage.

[dianna bell]

i live in australia and have just bought my first orchid and i have no idea where to put it in the garden. how much light do i need and what is the best position. dianna

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Yorkie, since you are new to orchids, I don't want you to get the wrong idea when we talk about overwatering. Always, when you water, drench the heck out of the pot. THEN, let it go for a long enough time for the mix to very nearly dry out for a Phal. DON'T just dribble a little bit of water into the pot.

Dianna, we will need to know what kind of orchid you have. There are high light orchids, dappled sun, and low light orchids, full shade. And how cold does it get in your garden in winter? Cynthia