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Old 02-02-2003, 11:33 PM
Allan Risk
 
Posts: n/a
Default Ailing Phalaenopsis

I have a small phalaneopsis that I received as a gift about a year ago. It
bloomed nicely on a single flower spike last winter, and just before the
holidays, the spike branched in two places and produced some new flower
buds. However, the leaves are not looking very healthy ... they look
shriveled and are very limp. Also, the tip of the flower spike is shriveling
a little as well. I water it regularly (daily in the dry winter environment
of my house), and it sits on a dish of gravel and water, so it's getting
decent humidity.

I had to repot the plant in the late fall, because the pot it was in broke.
There were a number of dead roots, which I trimmed away; there weren't a lot
of new green healthy roots, but it seemed like there were enough to support
the plant. I repotted it using a mix of fir bark and charcoal.

Any thoughts on what the source of the problem might be? I wondered whether
the new potting mix is TOO porous, and not enough moisture is being retained
for the rather underdeveloped root system?

Any suggestions would be welcome ...