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Hi friends. A leaf on my Paph is turning yellow. Picture on left is… | The Orchid Oasis | Planta community

Amy

Hi friends. A leaf on my Paph is turning yellow. Picture on left is today at watering time and pic on right was in March. That’s the only leaf that is yellow. It’s in bloom at the moment (about 2 weeks now since the flower opened) so I’m worried about disturbing it and taking it out of the pot to look at the roots. It’s in orchid bark mix. There’s one layer of moss at the top of the pot. What should I check? How worried should I be? This is my first Paph. I’ve had it since late February, but I haven’t yet repotted because I got it with a bloom spike and didn’t want to shock the plant. Any advice would be great.

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10 comments

  1. Jen

    1- that’s a beautiful Maudiae. 2- first check the base of that fan to be sure that there is no stem discoloration. If the leaf DOES have a potential infection, you don’t want it traveling into the axis of that fan. 3- from the photos it looks like that leaf is on the older fan. In that case, it’s less of a concern as those can wither away as the blooming fan creates a new one at the base. Just like phalaenopsis may yellow and drop older lower leaves from time to time, old fans on paphs will do the same. 4- I have 6 paphs right now growing strong, but the one that I did lose, went FAST. I noticed a discolored leaf- and it was actually more purple than yellow, and within days I lost the oldest fan, and eventually the entire plant just fell to pieces. That was clearly a bacterial situation, where this may not be. Keep us posted, I’d be interested to hear how it’s going. 5- good luck!

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    • Amy

      Thank you. I think there’s no other discoloration at the base of the fan, but I admit I don’t know what to look for other than brown/black mushy areas which I take to mean something bad is happening. Thx for your advice. Very helpful

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  2. laura 🩷🪴

    Since the rest of it looks so healthy, I would guess that this is just an older leaf dying off 😊 in this case, I wouldn’t worry unless other leaves were yellowing, too.

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  3. Amy

    I took some pictures of the base of the plant. I don’t see anything that looks mushy and maybe something that looks like a tiny new root or maybe a new leaflet starting? Is that what you are seeing? I smelled the plant (Lol) and it doesn’t smell “off”. Hopefully these are good signs

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    • Jen

      I don’t see any problems either. But good to take those pics then compare them to the plant in a couple days. See if there’s any change. Be aware that the roots that start to pop out will need to be covered by or at least in contact with the potting media- these aren’t like epiphytic roots- if they experience too much air and dryness, they’ll just cease and desist their growing.

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    • Amy

      Thank you! I took the top layer of moss off so I could take pics but I put it back since there are roots really close to the top of the pot.

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  4. Michelle’s Hobby

    Sure are pretty leaves! Never seen a orchid like that.

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    • Amy

      I admit I bought it for the leaves. I had no idea what the flower would look like and now I know they don’t flower yearly either.

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  5. Michelle’s Hobby

    I love the unexpected things a orchid can do!

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  6. Amy

    Update on the yellow leaf… I temporarily removed the top layer of media to check the stem and so far no other leaves have turned yellow and the stem looks Okay.

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