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Old 17-03-2003, 11:42 PM
 
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Default Phal: Healthy roots, dying leaves

In article , Karen
wrote:

wrote:
I have had a phal (further ID unknown) for about a year now, and the
roots are thriving, thick, green, and happy. They are, in fact,
filling a five-inch pot. The leaves, however, are not happy. Over the
past SIX MONTHS, the lower leaves have, one by one, begun yellowing at
the tip and then falling off. Currently, it is down to one yellow leaf
and one new, small, medium-green leaf that looks very healthy. What am
I doing wrong?

Two months ago, I repotted the plant in a clear plastic orchid pot with
medium bark and rocks in the bottom for good drainage (no change in
leaf health, but the roots continued to thrive). It sits in an
east-facing sunroom window. My temperatures (NE USA) run 80-65 degrees.
Three fans are running at all times. I use a very dilute fertilizer. I
squirt it daily so the roots are always a little moist--and I keep
water out of the crown (no crown rot). I've sprayed the leaves with
fungicide and pesticide. I've examined the leaves with a jeweler's
loupe, and I can't see any bugs. The phal next to it has perfectly
healthy leaves and is blooming, so what is wrong with this plant? How
can the roots be so healthy when the leaves are so unhealthy? If all
the leaves drop off, should I keep watering the roots and hope for more
leaves?

Thanks for any insight.


The crown of the plant is ok, in that you are not suffering any crown rot?
Karen


Not a bit of crown rot. The junction of the remaining two leaves is
solid green, and the "stem" below them, which is about two inches long
(after the other leaves died), is green and healthy. "Death" of the
leaves typically starts at the leaf tip and then works back to the
center, until the entire leaf is yellow and drops off.