Phal. Naples Night's leaves slightly limp

[arleneg]

The other day, when I touched the leaves of my Phal. Naples Night, they felt slightly limp. I've been keeping the potting medium (coir/perlite/charcoal) moist, room 75F - 82F (depends on the day's temp), and humidity in the 55% - 60% (bought an evaporative cooler earlier this week). My Naples get filtered morning sun.

I'm stumped as to why the leaves are slightly limp. Does anyone have any ideas??

[patlee]

I have about five leaves on my Naples Night and four of them are stiff and perfectly fine. One almost seems to have a broken mid-rib except that it is only in one place. The section of leaf before and after the floppy/break seems to be normal. I have no idea what is causing this as I am treating it just like all my other phals and 99.9% of the plant seems to be fine. It's just that one section of leaf and my cultural conditions sound very similar to yours.

The only thing I am going to do is pour some H202 in the pot and just keep treating it like everybody else in my phal family. Cross my fingers and hope for the best for all of us...

[arleneg]

Pat,

I'm also treating mine like the other phals I have. The leaves on my Naples Night were nice and firm until a few days ago. So...

[mayres]

Sounds like you have yours planted just like mine - except you are very fortunate to be a little bit warmer. Mine looks like the day I took it out of the box still!

[arleneg]

Mike,

Whenever I repot a moisture loving orchid, I pot it in my coir/perlite/charcoal mix.

Have you tried potting any of your Oncidium alliance ones?

[mayres]

I have yet to decide if I like my coir mix on other genera yet.
I've tried it on some miltoniopsis plants I have - AFTER they were not doing well - so can't tell if the coir had anything to do with their continuing to not do well or not - I've concluded for whatever reason that in general this is not a good genera for me.
I've actually tried it on a young catt seedling that was also struggling and it seemed to do well in it. Everyone in my orchid society uses medium bark with perlite and some also charcoal, so I'm a little afraid to stick my healthy catts in coir.
I have now put two paphs in coir that had absolutely ZERO roots and have re-rooted them and this has been exciting.
I've tried mixing it with bark with Cymbidiums and zygos - seems to work OK. Actually I've mixed it with fine bark with a few oncidiums too - not sure yet how well they are adapting to it - was hoping to use it to keep them a little wetter than usual and see if this would keep their pseudobulbs from shriveling.
Needless to say - I'm still in the learning stage. I may NEVER get out of the learning - testing phase?
Have you found it works well for your oncidiums?

[arleneg]

Mike,

I found that it works rather well with my Miltonias. Recently, I repotted a mini Oncidium (sorry...forgot the name) and won't know for another few weeks. However, I have an Onc. Rosy Sunset which I repotted several weeks ago and the new pbulbs are plump and new roots developing. Also, I have potted my (relatively new) Osmoglossom in the coir mix, too. It's doing rather well...have a new growth.

I think the trick is to let the coir mix go slightly dry before watering, but not to the point of wet...just moist...and have air movement.

[articuno75]

Arlene~ I had mine in coir and the leaves felt limp too. I checked the roots and had some bad spots. I did a repot due to this and placed the plant into different medium. My temps were about like yours, and the humidity around about the same. The coir (Aussie Mix) clumped in spots and made areas of the mix wetter than intended.

[patticake]

I potted mine in Schultz's mix with a little sphag thrown in. It's doing o.k. a tiny bit of spike(I think) is on the stem base. It gets morning sun,(dappled) and other than that, I water it a few times a week- I spray it on other days. The humidity is low here, so take that into consideration.

[arleneg]

Jenny -- What potting medium do you have yours in now?

Patti -- I have low humidity, too. However, since I bought an evaporative cooler for the orchid room earlier last week, the humidity is now a bit higher. So I decreased my watering/misting a few days ago.

I hope I'm not getting root rot.

[articuno75]

Arlene~ I have it in very small bark/perlite/charcoal with medium sized hydroton (6-9 pieces) on bottom. I just did my damage control here about 3-4 days ago. My nub/spike is still there, actually bigger and everything looks good, so far....

[myorchid]

My Naples Nights leaves are also limp. I had repotted when I got it into a fine bark mix. When I noticed the limp leaves I took it out of the pot and saw that the roots had some bad spots. I cut those off and repotted.

I was gone for a week and when I came back this weekend the Phal did not seem better. I took it out of the pot and it looked like I was getting a root, but it was so wobbly in the pot that I repotted in a smaller pot. I had gotten some worm tea, (my first) and watered it with that. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

I am getting a new one from Jerry and some grapewood. I may try to mount it.

[Sharyn]

Mine was in sphag moss when received. Roots were good and I repotted into coir mix in a small 3" plastic pot with slits. These little pots seem to help the coir dry out a little quicker, which has been good for me during this cool weather.

I'm growing on a windowsill (filtered West) and occassionally under grow lights if it's gloomy. The leaves are firm but I haven't noticed any growth yet.

[PhalPal]

I would check the roots (especially since you have told me before that you like to water) and see if they are having a problem. Mounting may be the best option for you with Phals. I have mine mounted on cork bark in about 600 fc and it seems happy with firm leaves.
You might be giving it too much sun also. I don't give Phals ANY sun unless it is far back from the window. If the leaves are even slightly warm, it's too much.

[arleneg]

April -- Now I don't feel so bad about my somewhat limpy Phal leaves.

Sharyn -- I, too, potted mine in a 3" clear, slotted pot so the coir mix will dry a bit quicker.

Connie -- Actually, I don't like to water (lazy here...have to force myself...LOL). Right now, I water my 'chids in the orchid room twice a week, or when needed. My Phal is about 3 ft. away from the window (give or take a few inches), and get dappled morning sun.


I think the solution is to move and place it under lights, since it's near the edge of the table and no where else to go but under lights.

I'll post another update in a week or so.

[patlee]

What a difference a few states--well, okay, a continent can make Ohio sun is nothing like California's!! My phals are mostly on a bakers rack that sits in the middle of a bay window. They get light from all three sides and in the late afternoon they get lots of filtered light because I can angle the blinds. My Naples Night is there. It's one leaf was sort of limp. You know how those leaves stand up? Well, the middle of the leaf took a decided dip/dive, but that was before I put it with the other phals. Now it seems to have firmed up, though the leaf is still pointing downward I think it likes being with the other phals

[arleneg]

Well, my Phal. Naples Night didn't make it. It went to orchid heaven last week. Due to this, I'm out of this project.

I really like this Phal....different from the standard green leaves. Oh well.

If any of yours bloom, I'll just enjoy it thru you.

[articuno75]

I'm so sorry. Was it to root rot?

[patticake]

I feel bad... I'm sorry. This sucks.

[mayres]

BUMMER BUMMER - like Jenny I'm curious if you've been able to determine a likely cause? Except for one additional leaf my STILL looks like the day it came out of the box!

[articuno75]

Well when mine started to get soft leaves I gave it more light and it firmed up again, also putting out more leaves. I'm wondering if it was lack of light that caused the demise.

[patticake]

Mine grows in a south window just behind a Catt.- my other Phals don't like it that bright- Maybe you're on to something, Jenny!

[myorchid]

Mine also grows in a South window and is putting out new leaves. I agree that these do like the brighter light!

[jay]

I am sorry to hear that Arlene.

Very interesting that so many growers found this one likes higher light. What an advantage to doing a great project like this. So much can be learned from trying different conditions.

[jerrymeola]

I mentioned in some other Naples nights threads that this Phal seems to love lots of water.

Letting my control plants go dry for less than a week had all the leaves go limp. They recovered when they were watered heavily.

I can not comment on the light levels since most of mine grow near burn level.

I did have some last year that spent the year under my oak tree and liked it with daily watering from my sprinkler system.

[butt0n]

That sucks Arlene! The Naples Nights is such a beautiful phal too...one of my other phals is having this problem, but its had it ever since I got it....hasn't improved much either since I put it in coir, so I'm not sure what the issue is.

As for growing other things in coir, I've put nobile Den keikis as well as a mini catt in coir, both having little to no roots established. Both of them love the coir and are producing even more roots and growths! I'm not sure if I want to remove them either...

[PhalPal]

I'm not sure about this little phal needing higher light levels. I have mine on the periphery of Home Depot T12 shop lights, not strong at all. It is mounted on cork bark with moss and gets watered every day. No spikes yet, but the leaves have never been soft and I have some new leaves and lots of roots.

It's just a lovely to look at plant; I really don't care if it ever blooms but I'm sure it will. I'm putting my money on a double spike for this one!

[kid a]

Arleneg, I so sorry you lost your Naples Nights.

PhalPhal:
I have mine under 2 desk lamps with 14watt compact fluorescent bulbs. This was enough light to discolor my other phals, which I had to move, the edges were turning dark red/black. Mine is growing like crazy, it's on it's second new leaf since I got it. I potted mine in a small pot with a cior/fine chunks of coconut husk/ tiny charcoal pieces/ and pearlite. It dries out quick since it's in such as small pot. I think having it in higher light is why it is growing so fast I also top spray the medium and new roots every night. I haven't had any limp leaves either yet.

[Bird Song Farm]

Sorry to hear your Naples Night moved on Arlene.
Mine are doing "o.k.". They are on Cork and have been outside all summer with East/North East lighting. I've moved them inside now with South/East light. Both have new leaves but I'd have to say they are not "taking off". I think i will increase the light level.

AL

[PhalPal]

Arlene I don't think I offered my condolences!! So.......lots of condolences! I think you deserve another shot at this one; she's worth it.

Knowing that our friend Arlene hates watering, maybe frequent watering could be the trick and light is not really the determining factor?

Mike how about you????

[Sharyn]

Connie: I think you're right - may not be so much the light as the watering. The only time I noticed a somewhat-limp leaf was a time when it needed more water! Quickly after a good drink, the phal perked up, I never changed the light, just the water. This is the only phal I have that drinks, drinks, and drinks!

[arleneg]

I had it potted in coir/perlite mix which stayed moist. When the weather got warmer, I watered in every other day, except weekends. No roots rotted. My Phal received morning sun.

At any rate, when I checked the roots, they were hollow. I'm surprised...thought I was watering enough/thorougly.

Oh well.

[mayres]

Connie - My Naples Night has been planted in coir during its entire stay with me - so far so good. I have NEVER watered a phal every other day in coir - at least in my environment that would most certainly lead to rotted roots. Admittedly the young plants in small 1 3/4" pots could use water a little sooner than the weekly regimen that I use this time of year for the majority of my phals - but I'd never be able to water much sooner than every 4-5 days for even those. Some of my larger plants go two weeks even in the warmer weather - depends upon how much the media is packed into the pot and the media to root ratio along with the size of pot. Mine is also under cheapie T12 shoplights instead of in a natural light window environment. I'll post an update with picture sometime in the next month or so........

[arleneg]

Mike,

My coir mix was packed down, but not tightly packed. I think my Naples Night struggled when the temp in the orchid room was consistently 88-90F (sometimes 94F!). Plus, I'm in a drier environment. On hot days, I'm in the room misting the 'chids in the morning.

Oh, well...something learned.