According to Rob"s Rules, for orchids (applied to newbies) there always room
for one more.

These are good rules.

Older leaves that a re yellowing slowly are doing more than just dying.
Many nutrients/minerals are not fixed in plant cells and as a leaf dies the
moveable ones are translocated to younger leaf, root and stem tissue where
they can be reused. When the plant has finished moving all the usable
material out the leaf will generally come off with a light tug.

Old psuedobulbs work the same way, except more so: because they ARE storage
units.

A well fed, well cared for plant will still loose old bulbs and leaves, but
not as fast as one that is starved for nutrients, light water, etc... A
good grower needs to learn the difference. And that is done though
observation, time and patents...and probably a high orchid kill ratio for
many of us, but not necessarily.

"Susan Erickson" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 00:05:07 +0200, Niek Hanckmann
wrote:

My general rule for orchids: Don't cut anything off unless:

1. You are going to bring the plant in for a show/jury
2. What you are planning to cut off is completely dead and dried (it
will probably come off by itself)
3. It is rotting or spreading diseases.

Old pseudobulbs and mottled leaves are still useful for a plant as a
backup supply.

Grtz. Niek

Very good advice. Many Dendrobiums do not bloom on new growth.
Many more will bloom on several back canes at the same time they
bloom on the newest ones. These get more spectacular every year.
I never cut old canes except rot until they powder apart in my
hands because they are so dried out.

Poor Phal. I have one the neighbor sunburned. Sometimes it will
cause the plant to loose an extra leaf or two. Again... no
cutting unless rot or 'show' needs. If you are visiting an
orchid society (I recommend joining others in your area to grow
well) and taking the plant for show and tell table or display -
Make it look good. No bad foliage.. But to grow strong... every
bit of green helps and old leaves will eventually separate on
their own.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php