Janet,

I see this all the time on Phals and other orchids that put out a burst of
growth. This is the time of year where some of these plants grow really
fast but the new growth isn't turgid enough to hold itself up.

Be careful with it at this point because it's tender and subject to damage
by clumsy gardeners, curious pets, and hungry insects.

I have been successful with putting a small bamboo stake in the pot near the
floppy growth and lean the leaf against the stake. This gives it a bit of
support until the leaf matures. BE CAREFUL....you can damage the leaf if
you handle it too much.

Left alone it will mature and probably look great but sometimes these fast
growing leaved get cockeyed on the plant and look a bit funny. That's why I
like to encourage them to grow the way I want them to grow. I'm so picky!

Good Growing,
Gene




"janet_a" wrote in message
om...
ok, so i've got this golden peoker daughter that i bought in bloom in
april; it's currently blooming off the 2d spike, fat, green, happy,
looks screamingly healthy, and grew a new leaf--which is falling over.
the leaf is not soft, yellow, mushy, black or any of the other things
that indicate some sort of rot--it's clear green at the base and
darker green towards the body, and looks lovely--except it wants to
flop over sideways. (and i mean WAY over sideways. like, i'm afraid it
will actually break off.) the plant is in a plastic pot in sphag with
peanuts in the bottom; when i dunked the pot and got it all very wet
last sunday, the leaf stood itself back up within about 36 hours.
last night when i came home from work, it had flopped itself over
again. clearly, there's a hysdrostatic pressure issue here--but my
concern is that if i keep the sphag (which is still wet to the touch
on the surface) wet enough to keep this leaf happy, it will cause the
roots to rot.

thoughts?? repot? stake the leaf and leave it be? this is my current
favorite plant and i don't know much about this sphag business (my
other plants are in bark and clay pots) and i don't want to kill it.


thx in advance...

--j_a