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#1
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phal growing only small leaves
Hello,
I got a Phal that keeps growing small leaves one after the other. I bought the plant well established with two flowering spikes. After the flowers die it started losing leaves while growing some new ones. The original leaves were 5 to 6 inch long. The new leaves got to about 1 inch and then a new leaf would start growing. I have repotted the plant and the roots looked OK. After repotting the last two large leaves rotted and I cut them and dusted with cinnamon. At the moment the crown looks clean and there is no rot. There are six 1 inch leaves and a new one is on its way. There are few new roots and in general everything looks OK apart to the fact that the plant does not want to grow a normal size leaf. Please comment. Gal |
#2
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phal growing only small leaves
Can you describe the growing conditions and your feeding regimen?
-- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info! .. . . . . . . . . . . "gal" wrote in message om... Hello, I got a Phal that keeps growing small leaves one after the other. I bought the plant well established with two flowering spikes. After the flowers die it started losing leaves while growing some new ones. The original leaves were 5 to 6 inch long. The new leaves got to about 1 inch and then a new leaf would start growing. I have repotted the plant and the roots looked OK. After repotting the last two large leaves rotted and I cut them and dusted with cinnamon. At the moment the crown looks clean and there is no rot. There are six 1 inch leaves and a new one is on its way. There are few new roots and in general everything looks OK apart to the fact that the plant does not want to grow a normal size leaf. Please comment. Gal |
#3
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phal growing only small leaves
Hi Ray,
Humidity is 50 to 60% and never less than 40%. Temperature is 70F to 85F and never less than 50F. I water once a week. I feed every third week. The plants get late indirect afternoon sun. The thing is that I have three other Phal under the same conditions that grow normally Regards Gal |
#4
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phal growing only small leaves
Sounds like it must be that particular plant, then, suggesting there's
nothing you can do about it... Does anyone out there know if there's any kind of fungus or other pathogen that causes such stunting? -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info! .. . . . . . . . . . . "gal" wrote in message om... Hi Ray, Humidity is 50 to 60% and never less than 40%. Temperature is 70F to 85F and never less than 50F. I water once a week. I feed every third week. The plants get late indirect afternoon sun. The thing is that I have three other Phal under the same conditions that grow normally Regards Gal |
#5
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phal growing only small leaves
No, it just doesn't like its conditions.
It had large long leaves, then Gal got it and it hates her. *G* (I'm kidding! But that's the way it feels sometimes!) Now we have to figure out how to make it like her. You say the roots look good. What size/ kind of medium did you repot it in Gal? When my phals do that to me (believe me, they do that to me!) its because they are not getting the water and food I think I'm giving them. In my case I tried potting my phals in paper pots that dry out really fast with medium bark - that dries out really fast too. Don't ask me why I did that. I really don't know. So. While I *think* I'm watering and fertilizing well, my phals are actually drying out way too fast becasue the medium is too 'open' and the pot breathes too much. Water evaporates way too fast. Roots dry out. They are gasping. Leading to a slow steady decline. (ie small leaves) Bottom leaves drop like crazy. And yes, I have some phals that just love these conditions. Others hate my guts. So, what's a mother to do? Try a finer medium, or a plastic pot or something that will hold just a *touch* more moisture around the roots. Your habits and condtions are good, so don't change them. Just change your medium, or teh pot. Or both. Or place just a top dressing of sphagnum moss over the medium in order to hold just a tad more moisture at the growth zone (where the roots start). Write back and tell me if I'm full of it. K Barrett "Ray" wrote in message ... Sounds like it must be that particular plant, then, suggesting there's nothing you can do about it... Does anyone out there know if there's any kind of fungus or other pathogen that causes such stunting? -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info! . . . . . . . . . . . "gal" wrote in message om... Hi Ray, Humidity is 50 to 60% and never less than 40%. Temperature is 70F to 85F and never less than 50F. I water once a week. I feed every third week. The plants get late indirect afternoon sun. The thing is that I have three other Phal under the same conditions that grow normally Regards Gal |
#6
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phal growing only small leaves
Hi Barrett,
The medium is a "salad" of sphagnum moss, charcoal, medium size bark and some Styrofoam. I tend to keep the plants on the moist side. I check the moisture level around 2cm deep and if it starts to feel dry I water the plant. As I said there are other phals under the same conditions that are doing great, but on the other hand this plant was not happy since I got it a year ago. Strangely enough it has not lost any of the small leaves only the big ones. Regards Gal |
#7
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phal growing only small leaves
Yeah, ticks you off, don't it? You'd think that medium would work. Plastic
pot? or clay? If clay slip it into a plastic pot and see if that changes anything. (Don't repot, why disturb it? All you want to change is moisture retention, and slippping it into a plastic pot will rule that idea in or out.) The retention of the small leaves is what brought me in to this discussion. IMHO its pretty typical for plants that have the will to live but something in the culture just ain't *quite* right. Something just needs a tweak, not a whole going over. I have several phals that like my usual mix, and then I have a group that keeps getting smaller and smaller, no matter what. Of course these are the ones a friend named for me, so I gotta keep them alive! (Would that be 'suicide' if I killed plants named after me?) So I too am searching for the right balance of air and moisture retention in the pot for these particular phals. At least you have good roots. They say that's half the battle. K Barrett "gal" wrote in message m... Hi Barrett, The medium is a "salad" of sphagnum moss, charcoal, medium size bark and some Styrofoam. I tend to keep the plants on the moist side. I check the moisture level around 2cm deep and if it starts to feel dry I water the plant. As I said there are other phals under the same conditions that are doing great, but on the other hand this plant was not happy since I got it a year ago. Strangely enough it has not lost any of the small leaves only the big ones. Regards Gal |
#8
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phal growing only small leaves
Yeah, ticks you off, don't it? You'd think that medium would work. Plastic
pot? or clay? If clay slip it into a plastic pot and see if that changes anything. (Don't repot, why disturb it? All you want to change is moisture retention, and slippping it into a plastic pot will rule that idea in or out.) The retention of the small leaves is what brought me in to this discussion. IMHO its pretty typical for plants that have the will to live but something in the culture just ain't *quite* right. Something just needs a tweak, not a whole going over. I have several phals that like my usual mix, and then I have a group that keeps getting smaller and smaller, no matter what. Of course these are the ones a friend named for me, so I gotta keep them alive! (Would that be 'suicide' if I killed plants named after me?) So I too am searching for the right balance of air and moisture retention in the pot for these particular phals. At least you have good roots. They say that's half the battle. K Barrett "gal" wrote in message m... Hi Barrett, The medium is a "salad" of sphagnum moss, charcoal, medium size bark and some Styrofoam. I tend to keep the plants on the moist side. I check the moisture level around 2cm deep and if it starts to feel dry I water the plant. As I said there are other phals under the same conditions that are doing great, but on the other hand this plant was not happy since I got it a year ago. Strangely enough it has not lost any of the small leaves only the big ones. Regards Gal |
#9
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phal growing only small leaves
How about making some kind of mini greenhouse. Use for example an old
aquarrium. I had trouble keeping phals in general till a few months ago. When I placed them in baskets in my mini greenhouse with the higher humidity they toke off like they were attached to rokkets. I have flowers in Phal. equestris, bellina, pulchra and the pallens. The roots are coming growing well again and I use honney as extra fertilizer. It's cheap and has no negatif influence on the roots. It's just an extra boost. Just an idea, I may be a newbie but I experiment a lot and keep on looking for a better way to grow using as little space as possible and keep them alive and flowering. |
#10
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phal growing only small leaves
How about making some kind of mini greenhouse. Use for example an old
aquarrium. I had trouble keeping phals in general till a few months ago. When I placed them in baskets in my mini greenhouse with the higher humidity they toke off like they were attached to rokkets. I have flowers in Phal. equestris, bellina, pulchra and the pallens. The roots are coming growing well again and I use honney as extra fertilizer. It's cheap and has no negatif influence on the roots. It's just an extra boost. Just an idea, I may be a newbie but I experiment a lot and keep on looking for a better way to grow using as little space as possible and keep them alive and flowering. |
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