My orchid has lost its leaves 😭
A few days ago, its leaves were very thick and strong, but yesterday they already looked a bit limp and thin. Today, both leaves fell off 😕. The orchid's stem doesn't look rotten. The roots have slightly disintegrated, and one looks a bit dried out 😓. Is my little orchid still salvageable?
If so, how? #newplantmom #orchidlovers
If so, how? #newplantmom #orchidlovers
2” pot without drainage
Last watered 2 months ago
19
I'm not sure, but the stump does look a bit rotted to me. What did the soil feel like right before watering? They don't like to dry out but can still develop root rot from sitting in damp soil too long. Orchids do best in a very chunky soil medium like orchid bark mixed with large perlite and some horticultural charcoal. Regular soil can compact itself around the roots, cutting off oxygen and suffocating them.
@PetTutu5 the problem isn't specifically due to the soil, but more so about watering. This type of soil might be retaining too much moisture and not drying out quickly enough. Also, a year means it's past the point of needing repotting into fresh medium. After about a year, all the nutrients in the soil have been leeched out, and you don't know how long it was in this soil before you bought it.
Changing to a chunkier soil is definitely a move in the right direction, however there's no way of knowing whether it will survive. It depends how much, if any, healthy tissue remains. First thing to do is remove any rotted or damaged roots and stem so you can see what you're working with. Feel free to post pictures here, we can take a look and try to guide you on next steps.
By the way, make sure you tag anyone you're responding to, otherwise we won't see it 😉
Changing to a chunkier soil is definitely a move in the right direction, however there's no way of knowing whether it will survive. It depends how much, if any, healthy tissue remains. First thing to do is remove any rotted or damaged roots and stem so you can see what you're working with. Feel free to post pictures here, we can take a look and try to guide you on next steps.
By the way, make sure you tag anyone you're responding to, otherwise we won't see it 😉
Hi, Rosacookie, sadly I would say it's the same issue as in your other post. Leaves falling off in quick succession almost always is a very very bad sign. It's normal for phalaenopses to drop one, max. two leaves in times of stress, growth, or when those leaves are simply too old, but even then that fits only for the bottom leaves, and it looks like they are yellowing from the tips inward, getting visible weaker slowly.
Leaves dropping from anywhere else but the bottom, without them yellowing first, or yellowing from the stem outward, or even if it's more than two, is always very bad news.
As for the cause, my best guess - again - would be stem rot. But whatever the cause was, in the end it's the same problem as with your other orchid: the crown (where it would grow the next leaves, on top) is completely destroyed at this point. There is also no healthy/viable stem left to produce a keiki (an offshoot). And even if there were, there would be no way for the plant to produce and store enough energy to grow anything new like that a keiki or leaf, since there just isn't enough tissue with chlorophyll left.
So, whatever the cause was (going by the leaves I would say that it was an already slightly weakened orchid due to dehydration, that had some unnoticed standing water near the stem, causing stem rot to take hold): I'm sorry to say, in my experience, that orchid isn't going to survive.
But: once you get stem rot, survival chances are very very slim at best, really. It acts incredibly fast, goes unnoticed, most of the times, until the first leaves drop. and there is no real recourse to take. Prevention is all we can do. So please don't nt beat yourself up about it, or give up on orchids in general. even if you had noticed the problem a bit earlier, there wouldn't have been a lot you could do.
Just remember that in the future not getting water anywhere but the roots is the best prevention and that wrinkly leaves are a sign that they need to be watered a bit more frequently (I find is best to go by the look of the roots in the pot to see when to water, if im unsure. Green and plump: no water needed. Silvery/greyish and matte, they can be watered). With those two main rules, phals really are very easy going plants. So don't give up and better luck for the orchids you might meet in the future.
Leaves dropping from anywhere else but the bottom, without them yellowing first, or yellowing from the stem outward, or even if it's more than two, is always very bad news.
As for the cause, my best guess - again - would be stem rot. But whatever the cause was, in the end it's the same problem as with your other orchid: the crown (where it would grow the next leaves, on top) is completely destroyed at this point. There is also no healthy/viable stem left to produce a keiki (an offshoot). And even if there were, there would be no way for the plant to produce and store enough energy to grow anything new like that a keiki or leaf, since there just isn't enough tissue with chlorophyll left.
So, whatever the cause was (going by the leaves I would say that it was an already slightly weakened orchid due to dehydration, that had some unnoticed standing water near the stem, causing stem rot to take hold): I'm sorry to say, in my experience, that orchid isn't going to survive.
But: once you get stem rot, survival chances are very very slim at best, really. It acts incredibly fast, goes unnoticed, most of the times, until the first leaves drop. and there is no real recourse to take. Prevention is all we can do. So please don't nt beat yourself up about it, or give up on orchids in general. even if you had noticed the problem a bit earlier, there wouldn't have been a lot you could do.
Just remember that in the future not getting water anywhere but the roots is the best prevention and that wrinkly leaves are a sign that they need to be watered a bit more frequently (I find is best to go by the look of the roots in the pot to see when to water, if im unsure. Green and plump: no water needed. Silvery/greyish and matte, they can be watered). With those two main rules, phals really are very easy going plants. So don't give up and better luck for the orchids you might meet in the future.
Also, as for soil, I wholeheartedly agree with @stephonicle. That medium looks very very dense and old. Which isn't great, especially if you aren't yet sure what to look out for. There are three problems with that:
1. Suffocation. When we say orchids are "overwatered" we rather mean, "they are suffocating". older organic medium, rots and gets denser over time, almost like soil. Which, as stephonicle mentioned, is terrible for orchids: it means fewer nooks to have air bubbles and more capacity to store water like a sponge. Phals are originally epiphytes, grow on trees with lots of air around the roots. The less air, the higher the danger of them dying from "overwatering".
What's more,
2. the pH level is lower in old (rotting) medium. The acid pH attacks the roots after a certain point, damaging them, and opening gateways for bacteria and fungi, which also thrive in the more moisture, less air, lower pH environment. More roots die and more medium rots, which supercharges the rotting process, once it has started. Especially if the medium is kept consistently too moist. (Which happens more easily in older medium. )
3.: at least in the case of never before repotted orchids, there often is a very dense plug in the center of the rootsystem that can cause a lot of problems if you don't know it is there. Nurseries use those plugs on younger plants because it works well for their very specialized way to care for the plants. but they often just leave them there and they are terrible in our normal homes. Those plugs act like a sponge around the central part of the roots and the stem. It stores way too much water, supercharging the rotting process described above close to the stem.
Btw: In some cases, stem rot can also start from there. It creates a perfect area for pathogens attacking the buried stem. Once they get in, they can "feed" their way through the inner part of the stem without us unnoticing, killing even huge phalaenopses in just days.
All of this is why it's best to repot our orchids regularly, especially if they are in an organic medium. And especially if it is a new plant. When you buy them, most phals are in a medium that is several years old already. Additionally chances are high they might have been overwatered in the shop, and that a plant plug (as described in 3.) is left in there. Basically the problem with older medium is less of a nutrient problem (there are great orchid fertilizers for that), but more of a suffocation, acid and infection risk that is getting higher and higher, the older it gets.
So it's always good to repot any orchid after its first bloom is done, and then (depending on how you usually water it and what you use as a medium) every 1-3 years after that or when the medium smells or looks "off".
I love a simple mix of bark and sphagnum moss (if you live in the EU, I can point you to - or you can just google - great orchid nurseries where you can order both those ingredients or complete mixes in great quality.
You can also get mixes in normal shops, but in that case you should be aware that those often are already quite dense (with added peat or coco coir) and you might need to pay more attention on how often you water. But, like stephonicle said, mixing in horticultural charcoal (which where I live at least is quite expensive) or perlite into it (way more affordable, but it crumbles more easily and to much raises the pH too much) can help a bit with that.
Phew, sorry for the long winded text, I hope any of that was at least new or helpful additional information. Keep us updated, however you decide to continue. 🤞 fingers crossed in any case
1. Suffocation. When we say orchids are "overwatered" we rather mean, "they are suffocating". older organic medium, rots and gets denser over time, almost like soil. Which, as stephonicle mentioned, is terrible for orchids: it means fewer nooks to have air bubbles and more capacity to store water like a sponge. Phals are originally epiphytes, grow on trees with lots of air around the roots. The less air, the higher the danger of them dying from "overwatering".
What's more,
2. the pH level is lower in old (rotting) medium. The acid pH attacks the roots after a certain point, damaging them, and opening gateways for bacteria and fungi, which also thrive in the more moisture, less air, lower pH environment. More roots die and more medium rots, which supercharges the rotting process, once it has started. Especially if the medium is kept consistently too moist. (Which happens more easily in older medium. )
3.: at least in the case of never before repotted orchids, there often is a very dense plug in the center of the rootsystem that can cause a lot of problems if you don't know it is there. Nurseries use those plugs on younger plants because it works well for their very specialized way to care for the plants. but they often just leave them there and they are terrible in our normal homes. Those plugs act like a sponge around the central part of the roots and the stem. It stores way too much water, supercharging the rotting process described above close to the stem.
Btw: In some cases, stem rot can also start from there. It creates a perfect area for pathogens attacking the buried stem. Once they get in, they can "feed" their way through the inner part of the stem without us unnoticing, killing even huge phalaenopses in just days.
All of this is why it's best to repot our orchids regularly, especially if they are in an organic medium. And especially if it is a new plant. When you buy them, most phals are in a medium that is several years old already. Additionally chances are high they might have been overwatered in the shop, and that a plant plug (as described in 3.) is left in there. Basically the problem with older medium is less of a nutrient problem (there are great orchid fertilizers for that), but more of a suffocation, acid and infection risk that is getting higher and higher, the older it gets.
So it's always good to repot any orchid after its first bloom is done, and then (depending on how you usually water it and what you use as a medium) every 1-3 years after that or when the medium smells or looks "off".
I love a simple mix of bark and sphagnum moss (if you live in the EU, I can point you to - or you can just google - great orchid nurseries where you can order both those ingredients or complete mixes in great quality.
You can also get mixes in normal shops, but in that case you should be aware that those often are already quite dense (with added peat or coco coir) and you might need to pay more attention on how often you water. But, like stephonicle said, mixing in horticultural charcoal (which where I live at least is quite expensive) or perlite into it (way more affordable, but it crumbles more easily and to much raises the pH too much) can help a bit with that.
Phew, sorry for the long winded text, I hope any of that was at least new or helpful additional information. Keep us updated, however you decide to continue. 🤞 fingers crossed in any case
The leaves fall off like that when you rot the crown, so you likely repeatedly got water stuck in the crown where the leaves emerge from… if you get water in the crown, it can be a quick death sentence for an indoor orchid — especially in a cooler temperature environment. It also looks like it’s in a potting medium that is inappropriate for orchids, so it was likely already struggling. There is a tiny chance you could get it to put out a Keiki (baby clone of itself) if you put it in some live moss in a tall container, but everything in your post tells me you are a novice orchid grower and I do not think it’s worth it for you to attempt that.
Orchids are wonderful plants, please consider getting a new one.
Orchids are wonderful plants, please consider getting a new one.
@stephonicle please NEVER recommend that anyone puts orchids in any kind of soil, nobody asking questions in a place like this is going to be growing a terrestrial orchid and that is clearly a phalaenopsis, which is epiphytic. As an epiphytic orchid, it needs to be in a biologically appropriate medium like sphagnum moss or bark.
To follow up on the recommendation that you try another orchid, the kind of generic phalaenopsis you had tends to be very easy to grow and tolerant of a lot of light conditions (as an experiment, I left one in a bathroom for 6 weeks with terrible lighting and no water other than the ambient humidity of the bathroom and it was happy as a clam), but if you have any interest in trying other types that have fragrant flowers, two kinds that I think are super easy growers are oncidium twinkle (tiny powdery vanilla flowers, water when medium is dry or pseudobulbs start to shrivel) and neofinetia falcata (flowers usually have a jasmine-type fragrance, water when medium is dry, very tolerant of a wide range of growing conditions). Neos can get very expensive for named cultivars ($40-hundreds), but you can get little generic ones like this for super cheap (neos will often have more than one plant in a tiny pot)… both of these were around $10 each (impulse purchases) and are tiny blooming size plants (except the one tiny baby neo), and they have a tendency to multiply over time.
@smushface ok, even though I listed out the specific ingredients (orchid bark, large perlite, horticultural charcoal), I'll go back and remove the word "soil" so as to not confuse anyone lol