I think I have a problem

[HeatherAnnn]

I have a NOID Den. and a NOID Phal and I believe they are both sick. Might just be a coinsidence but...who knows. I have noticed that my phal's leaves have been getting wrinkily so I boosted the watering, checked it today and ALL of the roots were black! I maybe have 3 or 4 good ones! AH! And for the Den, I have had two bottom leaves fall off, one on each of my canes. I pulled that one out also and I think the roots are okay....the ones on the top near the canes are green and white, the further down they are a whitish-grey color. All of my others seem just fine though, but have not checked those roots because the plants look fine. I took a picture of the Dens leaf that is about to fall, I might just pull it off.

[orchidlover55]

Is your phals getting a lot of straight sunlight? I think that is what it looks like . Keep watching and see if they get straight sunlight and if so move them so they just get light from the window. I hope I have helped you others will comment before long

[kmarch]

You've stumbled upon one of the trickier aspects of diagnosing plant problems. When phalaenopsis leaves are droopy or wilting it is very common for people to think the plant is not getting enough water so they do exactly what you did and increase watering. But, while it is true that droopy, wilted leaves can be a sign of under watering, they can also be a sign of over watering. Yes underwatering and over watering have the same symptoms. Why is that? Because over watering (or other problems like decaying or tightly packed mix) causes roots to die and rot. A plant with few or no roots can't take enough water into the plant to meet its needs and so the result is that the plant looks dehydrated. If you think about it, it makes sense. In both instances the result is the same, not enough water is making it into the plant. It's just in one case there's roots but no water to take in and in the other case there's water but no roots to pull the water in. The worst part of it is that when we see dehydrated leaves and increase watering, we're making the problem worse.

But if you have 3 or 4 good roots left, that's very good news. Repot your phal in a nice fresh bark mix or perhaps better yet mayres' phalaenopsis mix which is supposed to be quite good (his phals are very healthy). Get a good culture sheet oh phals form AOS | Members Only Area or from the orchid care of this forum. Read it and let us know fi you have any questions.

Good luck!

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by orchidlover55

Is your phals getting a lot of straight sunlight? I think that is what it looks like .

The pictures posted are not of phals orchidlover, they're of her dendrobium.

[HeatherAnnn]

Thank you kmarch, you seem to know your stuff pretty well. And yes, that is a picture of my Dens leaf. I also figured that I was over watering, the thing with this phal is that I was told it was "dying" because there is a "baby" plant growing out of the "mother" plant. I am scared to repot it, I know it might not sound good but I have it in a pot, without anything in it right now, and its in the bathroom where all the humidity is in the house. I will try to find a smaller pot to put it in since it has no more root. I also cut the stem down because I figured the enormous stem was sucking all of the energy out of the plant, and I want it to grow roots, not get taller and grow more flowers.

[Julez]

Hi HeatherAnnn

Never give up on a phal! I was told by the Wiseones on this forum. I too have a noid phal that was not a happy chappy and I thought it was going to the big compost bin in the sky but after following Mehitabel's advice, I now have a very happy noid. I don't know how to do a link to that page but I am sure you will find it.

FYI, Whitey is now growing in Spagh moss and in a 80mm pot with 7 new roots a new leaf and maybe the Sp*&e Dont want to jinx it. All of this has occurred in just 3 weeks so hang in there.

Kmarch always gives great advise too and if you follow it your chids will be happy in no time.

[HeatherAnnn]

The leaf on the den came off today. Plant looks much better without it. As far as the phal is concerned he's still in the bathroom, and I think the leaves are getting less wrinkily, if that makes sense....I'm treating it as if its in the rainforest, it's out in the open and I spritis the roots in the morning and lock it up in the bathroom where all the humidity is.

[orchidaddict789]

Sometimes leaves on older canes of dens will fall off. Don't worry if the lower 1-2 leaves fall off occasionally. The other leaves look fine. Keep an eye on it--if it starts developing more spots or yellow leaves, then there may be cause for concern. But for now, the plant looks fine.

[HeatherAnnn]

Ok, I repotted the sicko plal in s/h moss. Yes I broke down and bought it, I hope it works to the benifit of the plant. I think the den is fine, I do think it was just an older leaf on both canes. We shall see