Question
QUESTION: What causes the Phal. Orchid leaves to get wrinkled and soft? Is it Too much water, not enough? I live in  Eastern North carolina and the orchids are in my greenhouse until bloom, then come inside.  Help would be great!

ANSWER: Hello Sandi,

Actually the answer is that it could be either too much or too little water.  The only way to be certain is to take a look at the roots within the pot.  If the roots are mostly soft, mushy and rotten it was caused by too much water.  But, if most of the roots are shriveled and dry looking it is too little water.  

One other possibility is an insect infestation such as mealybugs or worse - scale.  Look on the underside of the leafs for white wooly looking patches, if there are quite a few, you have mealybugs.  If there are brown or white spots that look sort of like turtle shells, you have scale.  Both insects feed on the leaf, sucking out the moisture and cause a slow death of the leaf and eventually the entire orchid plant.  To get rid of them you should repot the orchid with fresh orchid potting media and treat it with a systemic insecticide.  

By the way, if there were insects on it, you should check your other orchids and plants in the greenhouse for them too.  

Hope this helped.

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks, don't see any sign of bugs. Most often when I buy orchids they have moss on top of the bark mixture. Is this just for shipping or is it beneficial to pot using moss?Seems to me it may cause retention of too much water. I have some both ways and don't really know which is best.

Answer
Hi again Sandi,

Some vendors use moss because it retains a lot of water over a long time which means they do not have to water as often.  The problem is that most people buying the orchids do not know this and go merrily watering and watering without waiting until the moss becomes barely moist.  Kept continually wet and the roots will soon become soft and mushy then rot.  But if you are the type of person who remembers to water the orchids once in a while, the moss might be the better choice.  

I rarely buy any orchid potted in moss but the few I do, as soon as I get them home I repot into my orchid bark mix.  

Hope this helped.

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.