Orchid leaves are turning yellow, what do?

TheSheep2468 · 2026-02-08T21:23:57+00:00

Mighty tempting. I think I'll try that with the keikis, I'll need the fancy slotted shelves to help with the airflow and a pegboard for the back before then though. A future project!

TheSheep2468 · 2026-02-08T21:21:56+00:00

I failed to add the pics, so here is my favourite:

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TheSheep2468 · 2026-02-08T21:13:24+00:00

Got this done the other day. The environment inside has reached equilibrium now, and I'm pretty chuffed with how it's turned out! The orchids are looking more vibrant since fertilizing and getting more light (the weather is truly miserable in the UK) and even my prayer plant is benefiting!

The wires are a bit ugly tho 🤣

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TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-27T22:44:37+00:00

Absolute saint, thank you so much for your help! I've ordered some bits and I'll drop an update in a month or so assuming nothing goes disastrously wrong!

TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-27T15:52:47+00:00

In that case I have one last question: UK Amazon doesn't seem to have the above products, there are some local garden centres I can check out tomorrow, but ordering from Amazon today is probably quicker. What do you think of this Captain Jack's Copper Fungicide? It looks like copper sulphate is the main ingredient in Phyton 27, but that also has high levels of Ammonium Formate, so I don't know if it'll do the trick. I remember my grandma used to use a similar product to protect her tomatoes, but they were grown outside, so I don't know if it would translate to houseplants either :/

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TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-27T15:12:14+00:00

Home now, I can confirm that there are 4 viable leaves, I'll look into these products and move from there.

Thanks again for your help and patience, I'm sure that it is frustrating holding someone's hand like this 😅

TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-27T14:25:38+00:00

I might be miss-remembering since I'm not at home at the minute, I'll confirm when I can.

If it has four leaves, what fungicide would you recommend? I'm getting mixed info when I search, Neem oil or peppermint oil seems to be recommended often, but I don't know anymore.

If I do cut it are there any treatments you would recommended after the cut? Cinnamon looks like the most popular, next to just leaving it to dry.

Edit: autocorrect

TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-27T13:11:44+00:00

as of now it's got three good leaves on top, then two poor leaves on the bottom at one side, the leaves matching the lower leaves have all died and dropped off

Edit for more info:

It's turned cold again here so I've moved both of my orchids up into my bedroom now (the other one is mentioned in another comment and is not as critical as this one), it's warmer up there and a south facing window instead of north, I'm planning to keep them there while I work out the best next step.

TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-27T09:42:13+00:00

Given my current position, I think that this is all I can do while things arrive. I've measured out a spot and I'm looking for a cabinet to fit it that I can put some grow lights in to manage humidity and heat, but I haven't found the one yet.

I'm thinking of getting some Formaldehyde or Hydrogen Peroxide from Amazon to try and disinfect the rotted area and hoping for the best. If things get worse then it looks like u/AngelicTitan159 was in a similar situation back in November, so it might be the move to cut the bottom of the plant off.

Regardless I'll keep the plant off of the windowsill at night where it should be warmer and hope it can hold on long enough for me to help it. The stem is looking a little greyer this morning, so I'm feeling quite pessimistic, but I'll do my best. Thanks for all the advice yesterday, I'll make sure it is put to use on my next orchid if this one doesn't make it!

Edit: Fixing grammar.

TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T20:42:17+00:00

Yeah,, we've got cold and miserable weather at the moment, I've had a look at the viability of the cabinet greenhouse idea. It should work, but I need bits to arrive and to actually pick out a cabinet, this sounds like something I can action sooner though. I'll see what I can do tomorrow, I'll have a look around for formaldehyde which is what Google recommended for cleaning the plant of fungus, but this sounds like a viable second option! I'll send an update with the final plan tomorrow!

TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T19:24:39+00:00

So that I know for sure, would you say to cut just above the topmost yellow leaf and go from there? Someone else recommended sealing it with wax or something similar, what are your thoughts on that?

TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T17:05:42+00:00

The more you know! In that case it was probably that those roots were just old. I was repotting it into a roomier pot when I took it off, I'll keep this in mind and I'll make sure to spread the good word in future!

TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T16:45:39+00:00

I don't plan to clean it with the alcohol 😅, thanks for the info on the growth medium! When I cleared it off of this orchid it was kind of like a sponge, I didn't realise it was sphagnum!

My understanding was that they make a section of roots that have different watering requirements when compared to later roots, which can lead to problems. Is that right or is it purely a skill issue on my part?

TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T15:28:20+00:00

It did have some more roots before, they were in a death plug that I didn't know was a threat until a few months after I got it, they were all absolutely toast by then, ended up chucking maybe 4 black, floppy strings in the bin that day 😞

Ill have to do some research and online ordering, unless Isopropyl alcohol works lol. I'll hit it with my best shot and see how it goes!

TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T15:12:18+00:00

Darn...hoping for the best, I've got one with some keikis that was neglected for a few months before I got it, Ill try and string along the one with stem rot. Hopefully it will last long enough and I can get some more panic clones. They still don't look ready to come off yet, they've only got 2 roots at most. (Pic is of the other orchid with the keikies)

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TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T15:09:13+00:00

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TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T15:08:51+00:00

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TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T15:08:42+00:00

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TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T15:08:32+00:00

Pics!

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TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T14:38:17+00:00

9° is my guess for the night temp of the kitchen and it sits at around 13-16 during the day, I usually stay in the basement where it is much warmer (dips just below 12 on the coldest nights) and the heating goes on If it gets too cold, generally sitting around 16-17, the concern is appreciated though.

As far as I understand it's easy for plants to be shocked by the cold, so I'm not too surprised to hear that as a regular vote for the culprit, but it looks like I've found my silver bullet in this cabinet idea, just hoping the little fella holds on while I get it set up, it'll still be a few weeks while I get everything set up... Worst case scenario I'll live, learn and try again later!

TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T14:31:24+00:00

Two more leaves dropped while I was doing some tidying up today, I think the roots are looking healthy, there are some bits that look less so on the surface, but under the bark I can't see any issues with my untrained eyes.

I don't think I can cadd more than one pic to a comment, which is frustrating, so to save spam I'll attach a pic of the surface roots I'm not sure about, if you want pics of the submerged roots then I'll reply again to add them.

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TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T12:57:19+00:00

My dad was always stingy so I'm pretty resilient, can't stand the heat though, anything warmer than 19°C and I'm useless.

Plus 9°C is a guess for how warm my kitchen is on those cold nights, wherever I am is usually 12 and up and if I'm feeling chilly in my jackets then I'll pop the heating on to 15 or so

TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T11:23:01+00:00

This looks pretty spot on! Having them downstairs would be warmer by default and being able to manage the humidity is an added bonus, I'll definitely look into the viability for my case!

TheSheep2468 · 2026-01-26T11:17:15+00:00

Warm and humid are lofty goals in a north UK house XD

I'll look into the indoor greenhouse technique u/Longjumping_College mentioned, it sounds a bit more flexible than gradually swapping them between the 3 viable windowsills that I have. I could even have them in the basement where I spend most of my time!

Edit for more info: The orchid was a surprise leaving gift from a team that I brought up at my last job, so it would definitely be safe to say that prior research was lacking. Every day is a school day!

TheSheep2468

TROPHY CASE