what do i do

[dragonflylady]

i went on vacation for five days, my orchids leaves turned yellow while i was away. i watered it before i left, but i moved it a few feet away from the window. the blooms are fine but the leaves look bad, is there anything i can do, or is it too far gone?

[mayres]

looks like a bad case of sunburn to me - best to buy another plant. Even if it did send up another shoot it would take literally years to recover. mike

[Willc73]

Looks like dehydration. Soak in superthrive

[arleneg]

It looks like it still has a chance since the blooms look healthy. I'd try Will's suggestion.

[dragonflylady]

I have schultz take root, will that work? should i cut the stem off? how should i soak it?

[jumbojimmy]

i don't think it's the result of dehydration.

I water my phal every 7 days and still looking beautiful - and you said that you just went on a vacation for 5 days.

but on a second thought when i exaine the photo closer your soil does look really dry. do you water it throughly, and how hot is where you located? Could be sun burnt.

Oh..and you grown yours in a terracotta pot? I grow mines in a plastic pots with plenty of drainage holes and i use a terracotta pot for the design look rather than potting my plant into it....that's because i never like 1 drainage hole with terracotta pot...don't understand why they invent one hole for those type of pot.

BTW what is super thrive? is that a fertilser?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

May be the plant got over heated, tho it would have to have been pretty warm since Phals like some heat. Maybe it was heat + being dry. The flower spike will have to be cut off. Your plant will have a hard time surviving, let alone maintain those flowers. I would bet that the root system is OK, and if so, there is a good chance of survival, especially since I see a little green in the crown area.

Super Thrive is a stew of plant hormones, a good thing to use on a stressed plant, even on some not so stressed plants. It is sold in small bottles that look like snake oil, but it works. Cynthia

[dragonflylady]

where can i get the superthrive?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Home Depot, most nurseries and hardware stores. I haven't checked the garden section of Lowes yet, as we don't have one up in Prescott, and only rarely get to one when I visit Phoenix. Cynthia

[dragonflylady]

thanks, ill look today, how should i soak it?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

You could just mist and water with it at maximum recommended strength. I have never soaked plants, but if others have had good luck that way, you may want to look for a container large enough. Well, that plant looks large enough to give you trouble trying to soak it all at once. Watering the moss will be as good as soaking the roots. How about some how supporting the pot upside down and soaking each leaf in a pie pan of Super Thrive solution? Willc73 will have to recommend how long. Cynthia

[mayres]

If you didn't find it yet you can even find superthrive at Walmart! Give us an update in a few months how this plant is doing - it will be interesting. mike

[jerrymeola]

Schultz rooting formula is just as good as SuperThrive

As to your plant, unfortunately there is not much more you can do except give it the rooting hormones and wait.

This seems to be a new plant and if so what you did is not necessarily the reason for the deterioration. Changing conditions is a factor and it is possible it was damaged before you bought it.

I have had too many orchids of all families just bloom beautifully this summer and die in days. It is still a small percentage of the thousands of plants I grow but it sometimes beyond our control.

[esmithlp]

It looks like sun burn to me as well. I made the grave mistake of placing my first Orchid in direct sun one day becuse I thought it needed it~~~ It did survive and today is still going strong with 9 blooms on it as we speak. It took some time to get over but I just learned my lesson and kept going with them. Just take care of it as usual and it should be fine. If not give it a proper burial and continue with the others.