Member
Phal Equestris Alba have "yellowish" leaves
Hello everyone, I need some opinions. My three equestris are doing pretty fine, they are shooting out buds. But I notice that all of have rather "pale" or "yellowish" leaves compared to the NoIDs, is that normal? I will post some pictures to show the difference in colors.
Any help is greatly appreciated
The FIRST pic is equestris, the SECOND NoID, the THIRD equestris, and the last both together (hopefully the slight color contrast is more recognizeable on the last pic)
Senior Member
I wouldn't worry about it. I don't have any Equestris orchids, but I have a ton of NoIDs, and I'm building a collection of species phals too, and I've had the same experience as you with my species phals; the leaves are all lighter in color than my NoIDs. In fact, when my first Bellina arrived in the mail I was actually really worried because the leaves were so much lighter than all my other phals. But it turned out to be fine. And I've found the same to be true of all the other species phals I've ordered since. I'd say, as long as your plants are growing happily and have healthy roots, you're doing just fine. Be sure to post pics of that Equestris when it blooms! I've been contemplating getting one for a while now, but the violacea variations stole my heart first! LOL!
Best of luck!
Member
Thank you so much JennI was worried that they do not like the amount of sunlight they got although I put them quite under the shades, thank you for sharing your experience
! I will surely post pics of my babies, I think I am in love with Equestris because they are known to be floriferious and produce lots of keiki
I hope mine will grow as beautiful as the pics I found on internet
Senior Member
Looking good, as Jenn pointed out!
Not at all sick yellow, rather a healthy light green in my opinion.
To my knowledge P. equestris tend to produce keikis on old flower stem when grown warm. But as usual this can differ between different clones.
/M
Senior Member
Don't worry...you'll know they're getting too much sun if the leaves start developing a reddish hue. Red leaves=too much sun. I've heard a lot of people say that a good general rule is to give your orchid as much sun as it can handle without burning. I've been surprised at how close my phals can be to a sunny window with no problems at all. They're tough cookies. And if you do start seeing signs of damage, (red leaves, or if it's really bad sunburn...black spots), just move the plant back away from the window and it will recover. You might have to remove a leaf it is damaged with severe black sunburn, but you seem pretty vigilant...I doubt you'd allow your orchid to bake to a crisp in front of you without doing anything. So the likelihood of that happening is pretty slim, if you ask me. LOLOriginally Posted by Arvensis
Thank you so much Jenn
Oh, and if your plant's leaves start getting limp and actually start looking "sickly yellow" as Magnus stated, that's usually a sign of a problem with the roots. Whenever I've had a leaf go limp and yellow and fall off, it's either been because it was a bottom leaf and the plant was done with it (which is normal as plants grow over the years), it had sustained some damage somehow (my son is notorious for knocking over my orchids), or there was root rot somewhere. If more than one leaf on your plant ever starts going "sickly yellow," pull that baby out of the pot and inspect those roots asap.
But as far as getting too much sun...nah...you're doing fine! Can't wait to see pics!
Senior Member
Ohh, be a little carefull with "light until red spots appear" as not all Phals have anthocyanins in their leafs to produce these! The leaf instead turn very pale greenish yellow or white when exposed to to much light (the green photosystems are bleached). Instead, sunburn on Phals often come from overheating. The leafs are cooked and soft mushy part appear that turn black when they dry. Easiest test is to tuch your leaf and if they feel hot they are starting to overheat and you should move them to "lower" light.
/M
Member
((Magnus : Yay thanks for your input! It really gives me more convidence that I treat my plants right
((Jenn : I'll keep an eagle eye on them
Senior Member
Ooh...thanks Magnus!! I'd never heard that before! Every time I was on a thread that had to do with lighting issues, the answers were usually "watch for red on the leaves," and "give as much sun as they can handle without burning." Thanks for clarifying that.
Ironically, I am a huge gardener, and with all my other plants I can always tell when they're getting too much sun because the leaves get bleached. It's the classic sign of over-sunning a plant. Which is why I was surprised when I first got into orchids and they said too much sun caused red coloring, not yellow.
And then one time I had a phal that was close to a sunny window and developing some red on its newest leaf, so I quickly moved it away...then someone said that red on a NEW leaf is common, and it doesn't necessarily mean too much sun. Needless to say, I was rather confused. Now I was being told red is okay...but only on a new leaf?
So I suppose the lesson to take home here is: just don't get them too close to the window in the first place! That's my plan from now on anyway...
Thanks for clarifying, Magnus. Getting the right info can be confusing with so many different people's experiences in the mix...and the internet is rather unreliable on its own.
I'm so glad you weighed in on this! I learned something today!
Happy orchid growing to you both!
Senior Member
On this issue you can take a look at my Dendrobium kingianum:Ooh...thanks Magnus!! I'd never heard that before! Every time I was on a thread that had to do with lighting issues, the answers were usually "watch for red on the leaves," and "give as much sun as they can handle without burning." Thanks for clarifying that.
Ironically, I am a huge gardener, and with all my other plants I can always tell when they're getting too much sun because the leaves get bleached. It's the classic sign of over-sunning a plant. Which is why I was surprised when I first got into orchids and they said too much sun caused red coloring, not yellow.
And then one time I had a phal that was close to a sunny window and developing some red on its newest leaf, so I quickly moved it away...then someone said that red on a NEW leaf is common, and it doesn't necessarily mean too much sun. Needless to say, I was rather confused. Now I was being told red is okay...but only on a new leaf?
So I suppose the lesson to take home here is: just don't get them too close to the window in the first place! That's my plan from now on anyway...
Thanks for clarifying, Magnus. Getting the right info can be confusing with so many different people's experiences in the mix...and the internet is rather unreliable on its own.
I'm so glad you weighed in on this! I learned something today!
Happy orchid growing to you both!
http://www.rv-orchidworks.com/orchid...hocyanins.html
/M
Senior Member
Hmmm...very interesting. I noticed that the yellowing one in your photos is an "alba" variety. Do you happen to know if it's just the "alba" variations that are missing the red pigment? It would sort of make sense, as in the human and animal world there is a condition called albinism, which is characterized by the lack of any color pigment in the body. These people's skin, hair, etc, appears white. (Many people call them "albinos," but this is an offensive term to them...I'm just using it here to make sure you know what condition I'm referring to.)
Anyway, "Alba" means "white," so it would make sense that the "alba" varieties of plants would be missing pigment, just like people and animals with "albinism" are missing pigment. It would be a pretty neat discovery if we learned that we only need to worry about bleaching on "alba" varieties of orchids, and we can use the "red leaves are bad" rule for everything else. Just curious.
Thoughts? Anyone?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote