Orchids going yellow
 

We have some orchids we keep in our living room right by a south facing
window. We water them every two weeks by placing the pots in water for
twenty minutes only.

One of them has started going yellow and brown on the tips of most of the
leaves. Could any one advise on what is going on here please? Thanks.

Orchids going yellow
 

On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:16:27 GMT, "johngood_____"
wrote:

We have some orchids we keep in our living room right by a south facing
window. We water them every two weeks by placing the pots in water for
twenty minutes only.

One of them has started going yellow and brown on the tips of most of the
leaves. Could any one advise on what is going on here please? Thanks.


What variety are they?
You say "tips of the leaves" which makes me think they are Cymbidium
and if so, brown tips suggests dry air. Do you have central heating?
That can make the air dry.
I spray mine several times a week. You might try it, or move them to
a cooler room.
Watering method is similar to mine.

Pam in Bristol

Orchids going yellow
 

"johngood wrote ...
We have some orchids we keep in our living room right by a south facing
window. We water them every two weeks by placing the pots in water for
twenty minutes only.

One of them has started going yellow and brown on the tips of most of the
leaves. Could any one advise on what is going on here please? Thanks.
Presumably these are Phalaenopsis Orchids (Moth Orchids).

Difficult to say without seeing them, their position and growing conditions
but......

We have a number of these growing well in a similar position (front bedroom
and kitchen) but the first thing I did was repot them in new larger clear
plastic pots in 50/50 bark chippings and fresh sphagnum moss (as used in
hanging baskets), their roots always respond to the moss by growing superbly
which I've always found to be the key to success with these plants. I water
about every week at the moment with rainwater (brought up to room temp of
course) with half strength liquid feed and flood the pots so there is no
build up of salts and then let them drain, but as the sun gets hotter I will
need to water more often and probably move them to another window (or two)
idc.

They do not like too much direct sunlight as naturally they are epiphytes on
trees so grow under the canopy and only get dappled light, net curtains are
good for providing the necessary shade on sunny days this time of year. Too
much light and the plants will respond by turning a dark green with a red
tint.

Watering every 2 weeks without fail is also asking for disaster, if the suns
out for a few days they probably need water every week or more, if it's cold
and overcast they probably need less. Do the roots have green ends? Or are
they all grey? (I hope they aren't all brown and shrivelled)

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK