Phal - Curved Leaves?

[atcrosby]

I saw this very pretty Phalaenopsis at the store today. It had one purple flower which was an unusually dark shade of purple. The leaves looked dehydrated and one top leaf was starting to curl in. I bargained it down to $5.00 and brought it home.

My question is this. Can the Phal be revived or is it already too late? It's planted in moss instead of bark but at this point, it might be too much to move it to new planting medium. I have soaked it for an hour in a weak plantfood / superthrive mixture since the planting medium was totally dried out.

Am I wasting my time or is there anything else that I can do?

[jerrymeola]

I would not do anything else. The fertilizer SuperThrive mixture works wonders to revive dried roots.

The best thing now is to give it time. Be conservative in watering. The roots are not rotted but the effect is the same. The plant does not take in the water and the roots thereby stay too wet. There is no root rot so don't go and start any now.

In time new growth should develop. The fact that the new leaf is there, even if it is slightly deformed from abuse, is good. I have had all the new leaves fall off from crown rot (worst case) and it still recovered (but slowly).

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I don't like the sound of a curled leaf. I would keep this plant isolated from you other plants for a while. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[atcrosby]

Thanks for the advice. The Phal is doing great and it appears that a bud may be emerging on the branch but not sure yet. If it gets bigger, I'll take a picture and share it with you.

On another note, my cat (bllss his evil little heart) decided that he liked Orchids too. He jumped up on the table and knocked out my Oncidium from the pot. I had just repotted it this weekend so it was not very well settled. In the action, the longer roots were broken off and the main bunch (what's the correct term) has minimal roots now. Adding insult, the plant probably laid on the carpet most of the day.

I immediately put it back in the pot and soaked it in a water mixture of fertilizer and Superthrive. Do I need to do anything else (besides dealing with the cat) or will nature take it's course.

[atcrosby]

This is my rescue. When I bought it, it has a "bump" at the end of the spike but being an amature orchid lover I left it alone. The plant has responded and that developed into a beautiful flower and the plant has sprouted a new leaf. Guess it loves the SuperThrive / Dynagro mixture.

The label states "DTPS. Strawberry" which seems to be mix of several orchid varieties. Any ideas on what makes it different.

Thanks for the advice.

Tom

[jerrymeola]

Dtps is a Phalaenopsis Doritis hybrid. Doritis are very closely related to Phals. Strawberry is the growers name for the cross.

It is becoming a very common cross with some excellant results.

[desertgal]

My new phal has 2 leaves that are curling. Maybe rolling is a better description, they are rolling lenghwise like you would roll a sheet of paper. When I watered it for the first time a tiny spider popped out. It had a round body and long legs. It is not sitting with my other orchids at this time. Is the spider a common pest for orchids? I just saw the one. The plant is full of bloom and buds.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

If the spider was large enough to see his body and legs, he is a normal spider and is not harmful to orchids. Cynthia, Prescottm AZ

[desertgal]

Thank you! I'm so new to growing orchids that I don't know about pests.

[Ellen]

Actually, spiders in general are good for orchids because they eat insect pests that otherwise would be eating the orchid. I'm always amazed at the spiders that set up shop among my orchids - it seems that there's a different kind of spider living on each orchid, as well as the jumping spiders that patrol the whole area. I've got a whole little ecosystem going in which the spiders keep the insects under control. Now if they would only eat slugs...