Prune old leaves?

Hi guys,

Silly question, but I thought I'd ask: I have these crazy phals that send roots above existing leaves and it drives me nuts - are they trying to tell me that the leaves below them aren't necessary anymore? They are older leaves - at least a year or two old. Should I get rid of them? Will it invigorate more growth at the new leaves?

I tried to post a picture, but the system doesn't appear to be letting us post images...I'll try again later.

Thanks, and happy saturday!!!
~Becky :-)

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Watermelon juice rocks my world. Try it!!

Hi Becky! Be sure to re-size your photos before trying to post them here. They need to be under 700 pixels each way before it will let you load them. Old leaves are necessary for the continued well being of the plant. I think the reason the roots grow up into the air is because most phals "in the wild" grow facing downward, with the roots growing up. Your plant is just trying to get back to what is "normal" for it.

I wouldn't cut any healthy leaves, personally.

Leave the old leaves alone. They will die off eventually, when you see them turning yellow you can remove them.

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It always rains after a dry spell !:

I agree with the above. Please try to post up the photo again. The only reason you would not be allowed to post it would be if the photo is over 700 pix each way and 72 dpi as noted above.

cheers,
B D

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We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box. ...Hmmm? .

Sorry about that - here's a pic...I think my compy was just acting up yesterday.

I'll leave these leaves (LOL) alone until they turn yellow - thanks for the advice!!

~Becky

Attached Images

 

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Watermelon juice rocks my world. Try it!!

Becky, If you have phals long enough, sooner or later you will have one with a root growing THROUGH a leaf. It looks really weird, but doesn't seem to bother the plant all that much.

Yeah, you're right - I was looking through some pics of older phals, and they have 8-10 leaves and roots all over the place!! I guess mine are just being normal -thanks for the advice!

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Watermelon juice rocks my world. Try it!!

Becky, My Phals roots are growing upward too. It also appears that they grow fast too.

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