hi all:

I bought a healthy phal the other day from an orchid show. Now after a few
days in my house, I am noticing that the older leaves at the bottom are
turning yellow and dying. is it normal for them to do that or am I doing
something wrong? I have put them under fluorescent light along with the
other phals. The plant had perfect green leaves all throughout when it was
bought.

thanks

Rick

Phals drop a lower leaf from time to time as they grow a new one at the
top. Stress will make them loose more than one leaf. The stress can be
temperature extremes, lower humidity, under watering, loss of roots,
light changes perhaps.
The change from greenhouse conditions to home conditions is enough to
loose a couple of leaves. Who knows what kind of stress it might have
experienced on the way to the show. Check to make sure it has good
roots. If it only had 5 leaves and is dropping 3, that's pretty bad. If
it had 7 leaves and is dropping 2, that's not too bad. You get the idea.

Steve



rick wrote:
hi all:

I bought a healthy phal the other day from an orchid show. Now after a few
days in my house, I am noticing that the older leaves at the bottom are
turning yellow and dying. is it normal for them to do that or am I doing
something wrong? I have put them under fluorescent light along with the
other phals. The plant had perfect green leaves all throughout when it was
bought.

thanks

Rick

The only "if" I'd throw in is related to the honesty of the vendor: some
have been known to select plants in dire need of repotting and "dump" them
at shows so they don't have to do so. That often means the root systems are
in miserable shape, and the plants are quite stressed. Moving them to a
home environment could make it worse.

What's the condition of the medium look like?

--

Ray Barkalow First Rays Orchids
http://www.firstrays.com
Secure Online Ordering & Lots of Free Info!


"Steve" wrote in message ...
Phals drop a lower leaf from time to time as they grow a new one at the
top. Stress will make them loose more than one leaf. The stress can be
temperature extremes, lower humidity, under watering, loss of roots,
light changes perhaps.
The change from greenhouse conditions to home conditions is enough to
loose a couple of leaves. Who knows what kind of stress it might have
experienced on the way to the show. Check to make sure it has good
roots. If it only had 5 leaves and is dropping 3, that's pretty bad. If
it had 7 leaves and is dropping 2, that's not too bad. You get the idea.

Steve



rick wrote:
hi all:

I bought a healthy phal the other day from an orchid show. Now after a
few
days in my house, I am noticing that the older leaves at the bottom are
turning yellow and dying. is it normal for them to do that or am I doing
something wrong? I have put them under fluorescent light along with the
other phals. The plant had perfect green leaves all throughout when it
was
bought.

thanks

Rick

the roots look OK to me.........but to be on the safe side, I think I'll go
ahead and repot them in fresh media.

Rick

"Ray @ First Rays Orchids" wrote in message
...
The only "if" I'd throw in is related to the honesty of the vendor: some
have been known to select plants in dire need of repotting and "dump" them
at shows so they don't have to do so. That often means the root systems
are
in miserable shape, and the plants are quite stressed. Moving them to a
home environment could make it worse.

What's the condition of the medium look like?

--

Ray Barkalow First Rays Orchids
http://www.firstrays.com
Secure Online Ordering & Lots of Free Info!


"Steve" wrote in message
...
Phals drop a lower leaf from time to time as they grow a new one at the
top. Stress will make them loose more than one leaf. The stress can be
temperature extremes, lower humidity, under watering, loss of roots,
light changes perhaps.
The change from greenhouse conditions to home conditions is enough to
loose a couple of leaves. Who knows what kind of stress it might have
experienced on the way to the show. Check to make sure it has good
roots. If it only had 5 leaves and is dropping 3, that's pretty bad. If
it had 7 leaves and is dropping 2, that's not too bad. You get the idea.

Steve



rick wrote:
hi all:

I bought a healthy phal the other day from an orchid show. Now after a
few
days in my house, I am noticing that the older leaves at the bottom
are
turning yellow and dying. is it normal for them to do that or am I
doing
something wrong? I have put them under fluorescent light along with
the
other phals. The plant had perfect green leaves all throughout when it
was
bought.

thanks

Rick

On Sat, 22 Mar 2003 16:20:54 -0500, rick wrote:

the roots look OK to me.........but to be on the safe side, I think I'll
go ahead and repot them in fresh media.

Rick


If the roots are fine leave it be. Phals lose bottom leaves now and then.

rick wrote:
the roots look OK to me.........but to be on the safe side, I think I'll go
ahead and repot them in fresh media.


Couldn't hurt, unless the current medium looks really fresh, in which
case it's a waste of time. Phals don't seem to suffer from repotting, so
you will not be adding significant new stress.

Steve