Death Rack Phals

Here are 4 that I bought a couple months ago at Lowes.........the 2 that I was not sure would make it I mounted together on a piece of cork. The one on the right of the pic I'm still not sure of, but the one on the left has a new leaf since I mounted it. The other 2 look really good, I think. The 2 that are together only had a couple of decent roots on them after I cut out the mush and dead. Gee, Lowes people, maybe if you paid ATTENTION and saw that those dumb clay pots the plastic pots are in have NO drain holes.

The blooming one I did NOT get off the death rack, but I had an orchid person tell me last summer it was going to die. Bad call, I'd say.

Way to go, Anna! They do look good, and the bloomer is gorgeous!

I'd like to suggest a little magnesium for the one with the reddish tint to the leaves. I've recently learned from Ursula (RUK) that it works magic to "green up" the plants with that reddish look. Something about the magnesium being needed for the production of chlorophyll in the leaves. See the thread on "something wrong here" a few weeks back.

I just used some regular Epsom Salts I had at the rate of a tablespoon per gallon of water, and doused the plants with that once a week for a couple of weeks. Here's the before and after.

Wow............what a difference. I usually have some of that on hand, if not I'll go to WM and get some.

I use epsom salts on my plants. It will green plants quickly but be aware that it is normal for many orchids to have a reddish tinge because of their genetics and not because they are having a chlorophyll production problem. Phals that produce pink to purple flowers will have reddish leaves when receiving maximum or too much light. Understanding the difference between healthy coloration and near burn is part of the learning process. Your plants look like they could benefit most from less sun exposure.

Were you speaking to me or dizzypixxy? LOL

By all means, heed Laurel's sage advice. She is The Authority. But I'd definitely give them some epsom salts as well if you haven't already. Can't hurt. If they are sunburnt, they won't turn back to green, but if they are Mg. deficient, they will green up miraculously.

I've got a dozen or so phals (see pic) that have had various degrees of too much light, (this being spring in FL the morning sun keeps finding them) but I've never had one that was the color of that one in your 3rd picture. Not a whole lot of green in those leaves, and say what you will, a plant needs chlorophyll to feed itself.

I do have a few with purple on the reverse of the leaves, but the leaf tops are rich green. I'm betting when you get some more chlorophyll into those leaves they might have purple backs, too. (instead of red)

Keep us posted in a few weeks!

This message was edited Apr 16, 2013 11:55 PM

This message was edited Apr 16, 2013 11:57 PM

I am hardly "The Authority" Elaine. Google red plant leaves or red orchid leaves or even red Phalaenopsis leaves. The most common cause of reddish tinged leaves is over exposure according to those who are authorities.

Anna your plants look happy in their orchid hammocks(?).

All my red and pinkish phals have solid green leaves, so I guess I don't have any of the variety you're talking about.

Here's my one with the reddish purple leaf reverse, but it has white flowers. Go figger.

Pic is a bit washed out because of the bright sunlight, but you can see the top of the leaf is dark green with silver stripes.

Doritas are crossed with Phals to make Doritaenopsis. These smaller flowered pink and magenta crosses commonly have red tinged leaves. As for your white Phal with red leaves, Elaine, the parent lineage probably includes a non-white.

The Ascocentrum I posted earlier has pale green leaves but the leaf margins have red edges and the leaves are speckled with red freckles. This is typical of Ascocentrums when they get high light. I've actually reduced the light on this orchid since it was looking very washed out. The freckles let me know I'm going to get good flowering.

No kidding! Is that similar to the red freckling I'm getting on some of my Brassavolas?

Several of them had a red tinge to the leaves that has gone completely since I gave them the epsom salts treatment but the red freckles stayed.

Hard to tell, Elaine. I'd think the streaks would be evenly distributed on all leaves if it was sun related.

Just an update on the death rack phals....................ONE OF THEM HAS A BLOOM SPIKE!!!!! It's about 4 inches long. Couldn't believe it when I saw it this morning. I moved them outside and have them hanging in a tree. I went to water them and Wa-La...........I'm still not 100% sure that the one that only had 1 decent root is going to make it; jury is still out on that one. LOL

Fantastic, Anna. Did you give them the magnesium treatment? If so, did they green up for you?

Pictures! We need pictures!

Yes, I did. Twice. I put them in a less sunny area of the greenhouse so maybe that helped some. I don't know. Yes , I took a pic.....will get it posted soon.

Here is the phal with the emerging spike.

This is a shelving rack that nobody needed, so I thought it would be a good thing to hang the cork-mounted phals on.

They look great, Anna. Can't wait to see the flowers!

btw, the nice big Vanda in the lower left of your picture likes a lot more light than the Phals.

It has been getting more in the g'house. I just put it there for now.