A diseased Phal!

[yorkie]

I have a phal and it has a main stem and 2 off shoots with flowers. One of the off shoots has started to turn red and is very waxy to the touch! Does anyone know if this is normal? Any advice would be very much appreciated..
Yorkie

[jerrymeola]

I have to guess a little to determine what you mean.

A main stem with two offshoots with flowers sounds like a normal plant with two flower stems. Flower stems will die after the flowers are done. They do not remain like leaves remain.

So it sounds normal.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Sounds more to me like a single flower spike with two branches. Fun to guess, isn't it. You said waxy. Could it be sticky? Large areas of sticky, as opposed to a drop here and there, could be a sign of sucking insects, some of which are microscopic, and can only be infered by the symptoms, unless you have a microscope like I do. Cynthia

[mayres]

Yes, it is sort of interesting to guess! Many of my orchids secrete sticky drops of dew - which may have the appearance of water droplets along the flower spike or sometimes just a sticky spike. I don't know what causes this but from my perspective "NORMAL" would be my guess too.

[yorkie]

It is a single flower spike with two branches. One of the branches has turned to a red sort of colour and is sort of waxy to the touch. I don't know if this is an indication of time to cut back and leave in a cool room for next year or not. Most of the flowers have now died off, only 2 or 3 remain on each branch so I don't know what to do!!!
I

[yorkie]

It is a single flower spike with two branches. One of the branches has turned to a red sort of colour and is sort of waxy to the touch. I don't know if this is an indication of time to cut back and leave in a cool room for next year or not. Most of the flowers have now died off, only 2 or 3 remain on each branch so I don't know what to do!!!
I still only water my phal about an egg cup full every 2 or 3 days, is this right?
I see what you mean about small secretions on my Dendrobium which has very small droplets along the flower spikes.

[mayres]

I still think you are talking about a normal situation. With most orchids they recommend that you get the entire media well watered when you water - an egg cup full sounds like not much. Also, unless you are in a very dry hot environment the frequency is shorter than normal. A more common frequency would be once per week or even every other week during cooler periods. What kind of media are you growing your phal in? Every few months you should flush out the entire media well to reduce the excess mineral salts as well.