Why are my leaves yellow?
0ft to light, indirect
3” pot with drainage
Last watered 1 month ago
6
On a closer look the bottling on the greenish leaf is a bit weird either way. Some deficiencies can show up like that (which would correspond to the small leaf size of the newer leaves. Do you fertilize?)
If that's not the case, two other way worse scenarios come to mind: some viruses show up on older leaves and can lead to weird spots like this. That would be very bad, but I don't think it's likely, given them normally yellow leaf. (In any case i would be more careful with tools and water and surrounding plants for now. Sterilizing and no sharing of water etc)
Of the spots are irrelevant, the other theory would be equally bad for this plant at least. If the leaves were yellowing from the stem towards the outside, they are yellowing quickly, or other leaves show similar signs of yellowing, then you might be dealing with stem rot.
Whatever it is, your plant has been stressed/ unhappy for a while now. Phal leaves should grow continually bigger one after the other until they plateau at their biggest size. A setback like your first tiny leaf already shows that something had happened. The following ones show it had not become better after that. That could have many reasons like sickness, stress, too few nutrients or too little water etc
If that's not the case, two other way worse scenarios come to mind: some viruses show up on older leaves and can lead to weird spots like this. That would be very bad, but I don't think it's likely, given them normally yellow leaf. (In any case i would be more careful with tools and water and surrounding plants for now. Sterilizing and no sharing of water etc)
Of the spots are irrelevant, the other theory would be equally bad for this plant at least. If the leaves were yellowing from the stem towards the outside, they are yellowing quickly, or other leaves show similar signs of yellowing, then you might be dealing with stem rot.
Whatever it is, your plant has been stressed/ unhappy for a while now. Phal leaves should grow continually bigger one after the other until they plateau at their biggest size. A setback like your first tiny leaf already shows that something had happened. The following ones show it had not become better after that. That could have many reasons like sickness, stress, too few nutrients or too little water etc
@MusicalRedmint What does it mean if the yellowing leaf started from the outside going inward? I got a rescue that had an older leaf that had one like that. The roots look good aside from a couple of smaller mushy roots that I removed and replaced the bark and Sphag. Probably wasn't supposed to but I trimmed off the yellow and it hasn't started yellowing again. Yes I used sterilized scissors when doing so.
@princesspitstop good morning Heidi.
If it was a bottom leaf, it probably was just dropping it. Especially in a rescue. Leaves are not a effective when they get older. When the orchid is e.g. stressed, it focuses on new growth and one, max two old leaves "make room" for that. They are not worth the upkeep anymore and some of the stored goodies can be recovered, I think (dint quote me on the last one, haven't read any sciency sources on it yet, but it seems to make sense). Not in your case but in general, at a certain point a mature orchid is "maxed out" on the leaves it can efficiently support @motheroforchids did an interesting little experiment a while back and assumes the final number of leaves is, among other factors, heavily connected to the relative humidity, which would also make a lot of sense to me). When new leaves grow, less efficient older leaves are dropped and the cycle continues.
This means: if the bottom leaf starts to yellow "normally" (from outside inward, slowly, looking like it's slowly just losing energy and dessicating) that 100% normal most of the time. In the case of maybe the two bottom leaves, one after the other from the bottom, that can also happen, though sometimes it's a sign that there could also be some stress involved.
More than that? You should probably at least monitor. If it still looks like that normal slow outside inward yellowing, I'd take a look at the roots and - if those are okay - generally check if it's missing something from my care (light, nutrients, water, warmth) or if there are other signs or causes of stress (pests, infections, draughts).
Anything else like
- fast yellowing,
- inside out yellowing
- several leaves yellowing at the same time
- another leaf (not the bottom leaf) yellowing
- wet spots
- sunken in tissue
and I'm getting nervous. Any progressing yellowing stemming from an infection near the stem is concerning and should be dealt with before it reaches it. So yes, in that case, I would also cut. Every single one of the first three (sometimes the fourth as well depending on how it yellows) points toward possible stem rot. In the overwhelming number of cases that orchids is beyond saving.
(If I still feel like rambling, I'll post a very fresh example below 😅 it's one of these days).
Sooo. After all this digressing back to your specific case 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️:
It's a stressed orchid by your own description. Under normal circumstances, one yellowing bottom leaf, outward in, is highly likely normal, in this case even more so.
Repotting is great. Trimming as well. Sphagnum and bark is also great since you can adjust the ratio to your conditions and how you water. Just keep in mind what the roots were used to before (as a rescue, was it severely over or under watered?) and try to match those conditions for a while. (If the medium clearly was too compact and wet, water more frequently at first than you normally would and phase that out slowly etc). If the shift in medium/care is very drastic, it pays off to go back in in 3-4 weeks to see if more roots have died and prune those as well so they don't immediately spoil the fresh medium ).
As for the leaf itself:
I wouldn't have trimmed it unless I saw signs of a progressing infection. for several reasons:
- Especially on a weakened orchid, the wound is another thing it needs to deal with now (close it, protect it from pathogens etc).
- Even with sterilized tools there is still the increased chance of infection in the cut, especially if it is already struggling or there are spores nearby.
- the orchid has a nifty natural way to deal with it itself without creating a wound. It has an abscission point where the leaf meets the stem. Once the leaf is dead and useless, it just drops cleanly from there, no harm done.
- that nagging theory that the orchid reabsorbes nutrients etc from older leaves before it drops them (again, source here is mainly "trust me, bro". Truly need to read up on that).
Did you try to seal the wound afterward? That can also be helpful to prevent infections.
Other than that? No notes (apart from the stuff further up for future considerations). Whew that was fun. Hope your orchid recovers fast and rewards you with beautiful blooms
If it was a bottom leaf, it probably was just dropping it. Especially in a rescue. Leaves are not a effective when they get older. When the orchid is e.g. stressed, it focuses on new growth and one, max two old leaves "make room" for that. They are not worth the upkeep anymore and some of the stored goodies can be recovered, I think (dint quote me on the last one, haven't read any sciency sources on it yet, but it seems to make sense). Not in your case but in general, at a certain point a mature orchid is "maxed out" on the leaves it can efficiently support @motheroforchids did an interesting little experiment a while back and assumes the final number of leaves is, among other factors, heavily connected to the relative humidity, which would also make a lot of sense to me). When new leaves grow, less efficient older leaves are dropped and the cycle continues.
This means: if the bottom leaf starts to yellow "normally" (from outside inward, slowly, looking like it's slowly just losing energy and dessicating) that 100% normal most of the time. In the case of maybe the two bottom leaves, one after the other from the bottom, that can also happen, though sometimes it's a sign that there could also be some stress involved.
More than that? You should probably at least monitor. If it still looks like that normal slow outside inward yellowing, I'd take a look at the roots and - if those are okay - generally check if it's missing something from my care (light, nutrients, water, warmth) or if there are other signs or causes of stress (pests, infections, draughts).
Anything else like
- fast yellowing,
- inside out yellowing
- several leaves yellowing at the same time
- another leaf (not the bottom leaf) yellowing
- wet spots
- sunken in tissue
and I'm getting nervous. Any progressing yellowing stemming from an infection near the stem is concerning and should be dealt with before it reaches it. So yes, in that case, I would also cut. Every single one of the first three (sometimes the fourth as well depending on how it yellows) points toward possible stem rot. In the overwhelming number of cases that orchids is beyond saving.
(If I still feel like rambling, I'll post a very fresh example below 😅 it's one of these days).
Sooo. After all this digressing back to your specific case 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️:
It's a stressed orchid by your own description. Under normal circumstances, one yellowing bottom leaf, outward in, is highly likely normal, in this case even more so.
Repotting is great. Trimming as well. Sphagnum and bark is also great since you can adjust the ratio to your conditions and how you water. Just keep in mind what the roots were used to before (as a rescue, was it severely over or under watered?) and try to match those conditions for a while. (If the medium clearly was too compact and wet, water more frequently at first than you normally would and phase that out slowly etc). If the shift in medium/care is very drastic, it pays off to go back in in 3-4 weeks to see if more roots have died and prune those as well so they don't immediately spoil the fresh medium ).
As for the leaf itself:
I wouldn't have trimmed it unless I saw signs of a progressing infection. for several reasons:
- Especially on a weakened orchid, the wound is another thing it needs to deal with now (close it, protect it from pathogens etc).
- Even with sterilized tools there is still the increased chance of infection in the cut, especially if it is already struggling or there are spores nearby.
- the orchid has a nifty natural way to deal with it itself without creating a wound. It has an abscission point where the leaf meets the stem. Once the leaf is dead and useless, it just drops cleanly from there, no harm done.
- that nagging theory that the orchid reabsorbes nutrients etc from older leaves before it drops them (again, source here is mainly "trust me, bro". Truly need to read up on that).
Did you try to seal the wound afterward? That can also be helpful to prevent infections.
Other than that? No notes (apart from the stuff further up for future considerations). Whew that was fun. Hope your orchid recovers fast and rewards you with beautiful blooms
Oh, want to see yesterday's dramatic example? My mother's 5 months old huge orchid was left mainly to my father's care for most of the time. He is doing his best, but,... well, it's his best. Two phals in the same pot, a beast of an orchid, blooming since June. Extremely healthy when I saw it last 2 months ago. My mother was away for a week. Last she saw it was then. She didn't check it thoroughly, but I know she always checks up on it a bit, at the very least to admire it. She didn't see anything overtly wrong then. Yesterday she saw just the probably affected crown on the one plant. (2 leaves dropping from the top 😬 bad. ). She immediately checked. The whole plant crumbled in her hand, leaves just dropping left and right.
Then she checks on the bigger sister plant that on first glance still looks glorious and notices only slight yellowing on almost all leaves near the stem. I know it's a bit off-topic, but see the yellowing there? That's all was the only indicator that something was very, very wrong on that plant.
As expected, on closer inspection, they all just fell off as well, apart from the top two (those held on for another hour, then they were gone as well). Roots were fine of course. Really, there was almost no way to tell. Stem rot is one of the major reasons that people are often claiming "orchids are difficult" and stay away from them after one bad experience. One - very easily avoidable - misstep (sadly one that beginners often just don't know to avoid, otherwise they would) and the whole plant can die off in record time. I mean, I know stem rot can move fast, but dang, this one blew me away yesterday. The picture with blooms was taken a few months ago, but they have been blooming just like that ever since. A beast of a plant, as I said. Which is why I always go into over protective anxious mode, when I hear people ask about "a bit of yellowing" where it shouldn't be.
Then she checks on the bigger sister plant that on first glance still looks glorious and notices only slight yellowing on almost all leaves near the stem. I know it's a bit off-topic, but see the yellowing there? That's all was the only indicator that something was very, very wrong on that plant.
As expected, on closer inspection, they all just fell off as well, apart from the top two (those held on for another hour, then they were gone as well). Roots were fine of course. Really, there was almost no way to tell. Stem rot is one of the major reasons that people are often claiming "orchids are difficult" and stay away from them after one bad experience. One - very easily avoidable - misstep (sadly one that beginners often just don't know to avoid, otherwise they would) and the whole plant can die off in record time. I mean, I know stem rot can move fast, but dang, this one blew me away yesterday. The picture with blooms was taken a few months ago, but they have been blooming just like that ever since. A beast of a plant, as I said. Which is why I always go into over protective anxious mode, when I hear people ask about "a bit of yellowing" where it shouldn't be.
