Please help me with my phal. problems

[danliz]

Hi everyone,
I am a newbie in this forum also newbie in growing orchid; therefore, I am very confused about orchid. Could someone tell me what is going on with my orchids.

I just bought these two orchids so I don't know how to start.

There is some black things like dust around the base of the two orchids. What are they? Are they harmful? Also, the leaves seems getting yellow/ yellow spot. Is it too much of water? or sunburn? Leaves and the root system seem not healthy. Also, in the second orchid, the leaves got black spots. Again, this is caused by sunburn? fungus? damaged by moving around? Also, the leaves seem very long (the denbobrium, too). Why? Is it because of lacking of sun? But when I put them out to the area where they have light (not direct sun, since the roof are covered by hard plastic, and they are enjoyed bit of sun-set), they seem dying because of too much sun). I do water them whenever I see them dry or too dry. Again, the leaves and the root system seem not healthy. But I can't re pot them since they are blooming now.

Also, the leaves seems purple, isn't? At the bottom of the leaves, also around the edge (my other seeding phal.orchid)

Please someone helps me!!! I'm so worry and over thinking them. Thank you so much in advance for your helps!!

[raybark]

Welcome to the forum.

The first thing is that you need to understand that epiphytic orchids, like your phalaenopsis plants, do the majority of their gas exchange processes through their roots, so it's essential that there be lots of air flow to them. The plastic pots and densely-packed sphagnum, when watered, are likely suffocating them. If you simply moved them into bigger pots and loosened-up the moss, it would be an improvement, but frankly, the moss looks pretty old, so I would repot into fresh material.

The black stuff is likely mold, probably associated with the aging moss. The purple coloration is normal in some plants, and may be indicative of the flower color, to some degree.

[danliz]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I understand that I have to repot them. I just bought them one day before I posted the problems, and they are still blooming so I have to wait until the flowers drop. The mold can be cured? Are they harmful to my other orchids? And the black spots on the leaves, are they sunburn or fungus?

[Carolla]

You may not want to wait to re-pot them, if the media is breaking down and harms the roots you could lose the plant. You are more likely to have healthy plants and to keep the flowers by giving the roots room to breathe. I don't see sunburn, unless it is the tips of the leaves on the bottom picture - that looks like the result of some sort of physical damage, including maybe sunburn. The purple coloration you mention is probably normal pigment on a darker colored flower. I agree with Ray the black stuff along the bases of the leaves looks like mold. Personally, I'd re-pot them and, while they are out of the pots, treat for fungal infections and even let them dry out for a day or two (flowers and all, just be careful not to break the spikes). Cut off any spongy icky roots before treating for fungus. Be sure to soak the new media (I like fairly coarse bark mixed with a little sphagnum moss for my Phals, they need air and moisture) for a few hours before using it.

There is a great tutorial/video on this site for repotting Phals somewhere, I think its in the articles section.

Good luck! I hope your new plants do well for you. Oh, and don't worry or fuss and go a little dry rather than too wet with them. They'll survive getting thirsty, but can rot pretty easily. That's easier when you have too many of them like I do!

[clintdawley]

At this point I would repot that and treat it with Phyan or something similar. Also, you want to watch getting the leaves and crown of Phals wet this time of year, they rot very quickly if water settles in dark cracks and crevices. It needs fresh media that's for sure. I'd also trim off the dead roots.

[Carolla]

Oh, I'm assuming you just watered them in the pictures. Try not to get water on the leaves, or wipe it off when you do. I agree with clintdawley that water in the crowns, esp. at night, can rot them out pretty quickly. I water my Phals less often and give them a good soak in my kitchen sink when I do (usually). Now that I have a lot of orchids, I don't always have time for that, but it works well for me. I keep the tops dry and wipe the leaves with a damp paper towel every so often to keep them clean and pretty. Obviously I don't have a green house, just a couple dozen house plants.