The luxurious royal look of a blooming orchid gives people the joy of contemplating the beautiful. Sorrow is caused by drooping sluggish leaves of a flower. The question arises: the orchid leaves have lost turgor and wrinkle what to do?
The main causes of loss of turgor
External signs of loss of leaf turgor:
- lethargy;
- puckering;
- discoloration.
Phalaenopsis Orchid Blooms
With the development of this process, the leaf is discarded, regardless of its location on the stem and age. More often this trouble catches up with beginner gardeners, but is also found among experienced lovers of an exotic flower.
When an orchid loses turgor leaves what to do? It is necessary to find the reason for the appearance of shriveled leaves, then to restore the flower.
This may result in:
- rotting of the root system and its death due to excessive watering;
- insufficient watering, which affects the metabolic processes of the plant;
- infections, fungal and bacterial;
- transplantation is not made after purchase - high density of soil in the transportation tank;
- placing a pot with an orchid near heating appliances or on a highly lit window sill.
Humidity
Orchid is very sensitive to the amount and regularity of moisture. Inexperienced gardeners begin to water the orchid, like an ordinary indoor flower, which often leads to its death.
Important! Orchid does not grow in ordinary soil, but in a substrate, consisting mainly of wood bark, which does not accumulate moisture and dries quickly. For beginners, this is an erroneous signal for the next irrigation, which leads to waterlogging.
The degree of humidity of the substrate in the pot and the ambient air in the room should be maintained at a constant level favorable for Phalaenopsis.
Dry air will lead to yellowing and loss of turgor in the orchid.
In the case when the substrate remains dry for a long time, the root system loses its ability to absorb moisture and supply the entire plant with it. This leads to disruption of metabolic processes inside the cells, their cytoplasm volume decreases, and pressure on the cell walls decreases. This primarily affects the leaves: they turn yellow, lose their elasticity, i.e. turgor.
The appearance of the orchid is influenced by excessive soil moisture, which leads to rotting of the roots, as a result, the plant itself becomes sick.
The result of waterlogging is rotting of the roots
If, when spraying an orchid, you do not wipe the leaves and remove water that is trapped in the axils of the leaves, they begin to rot.
Dense soil
The root system provides all parts of the plant with oxygen, nutrients and moisture in the substrate. With a lack of their roots, an insufficient amount of substances also enter the leaves, and the leaves lose turgor.
It should be replanted in 2-3 years due to the compaction of the substrate. During this period, the substrate coalesces and becomes denser, its small pieces become even smaller and denser over time, which leads to moisture retention in it and a decrease in its flow to the plant, while the substrate is rotting.
Orchid leaves wither and shrink
The caked soil does not allow air to pass to the roots, their participation in the process of photosynthesis ceases, which leads to weakening of the entire plant, while the leaves look lethargic and wrinkled.
Root overheating
Direct sunlight on the pot and the location of the orchid close to radiators can lead to overheating of the substrate. When the substrate overheats, moisture quickly evaporates from it, and the roots feel a lack of moisture.
Note! For a comfortable state, the root system and the aerial part of the plant should have the same temperature. Different temperatures lead to the fact that evaporation and absorption of moisture in the roots and the aerial parts occur at different rates, this negatively affects the condition of the leaves and the whole orchid.
Additional Information. In the summer, when the flower is installed outdoors, it is advised to bury the pot in the ground or cover it with a layer of moss to prevent the substrate from overheating by sunlight.
Other
In addition to the reasons listed above, there are other factors that affect the turgor of an orchid:
- Get used to new living conditions when a plant is transferred from humid greenhouse conditions to apartment ones with drier air;
- The natural self-rejuvenation of the flower, in which there is a decrease in turgor of the lower leaves, they lose their vitality, become yellow, flabby, gradually dry out and die off;
- Excessive root removal during transplantation, which leads to the transfer of less nutrients and moisture from the substrate through the roots. Lack of nutrition affects the functioning of leaf cells;
- Violation of the rules of care and its irregularity;
- The introduction of excess and frequent feeding, which disrupt the metabolic processes. Excess fertilizers remain on pieces of substrate, the inner walls of the pot, roots, which can lead to injury and cause burns;
- Prolonged flowering, depleting the plant, when the missing nutrition for the flowers is taken from the leaves;
- The accumulation of dust on the leaves reduces the absorption of light, making photosynthesis more difficult. The top layer of the sheet dries up, and it wrinkles over time.
Note! For top dressing, it is necessary to use liquid fertilizers designed for orchids. Observe the concentration of solutions according to the attached instructions.
Additional Information. The instructions indicate the concentration for an adult plant. Excessive concentration can cause leaf lethargy, while nutrient deficiencies can be corrected by supplementary feeding.
Turgor recovery options
Orchid lost turgor leaves what to do? First, carefully examine all parts of the plant, check whether the place of placement of the flower meets the requirements for the content of orchids.
In turn, analyze all possible options for the loss of turgor:
- insufficient and untimely watering;
- lack of spraying;
- lack of nutrition;
- root system status.
How to successfully restore leaf turgor in the Phalaenopsis orchid is discussed below. The correct watering regime must be applied. If, after some time after watering, the appearance of the flower improves, then this was the reason. Spraying led to the appearance of elasticity and shine of the foliage - the factor is eliminated. After feeding, the leaves have a healthy appearance, which means that the flower lacked nutrition.
Affected Orchid Leaves
To check the roots, you will have to remove the flower from the pot, carefully examine the roots to detect and remove decayed and dried out by treating the slices with cinnamon powder or charcoal. The presence of salt deposits from fertilizers is removed in the same way. You can restore the root system faster by using a stimulant for root growth.
It is necessary to verify the proper condition of the substrate, if it does not comply, replace it with a fresh one. Change the place of installation of the flower, if it is intensively lit by the sun or is located near heating appliances.
Additional Information. During all verification operations, it is advisable to wipe the leaves with an aqueous solution of succinic acid, you can add a little to the water for irrigation.
In order to quickly return turgor and a healthy look to the flower:
- succinic acid is added to the water, a dried plant is lowered there for a while;
- the plant affected by waterlogging is dried, placed in a new substrate.
After transplant
If the purchased orchid is not transplanted immediately, this usually leads to disease and its death.
Note! The purchased blooming orchid is transplanted immediately, without waiting for the end of flowering.
Most often, the store substrate contains a peat pot or a compacted piece of sphagnum. They retain moisture well, which even without watering can cause rotting of the substrate and roots.
Although outwardly the flower will look quite healthy for some time, the fungus has already hit the roots and other tissues. Restoring it is a laborious and not always successful occupation.
If the flower was transplanted in time, and the leaves lose their elasticity and wither, it is necessary to analyze the irrigation system, check the ventilation and the drying time of the roots. Failure in the system (frequent watering) will cause gradual degeneration of the roots in the central part of the tank, as airing is worse in it.
Orchid Treatment and Care
Buying a healthy plant in the store is not so common. Typically, the purchased flower has signs of waterlogging, rotting of the roots and lower part of the stem. There are even visible signs of fungal and bacterial disease.
The presence of dark and light spots, stripes on the leaves indicates plant diseases.
Viral infections are the most dangerous and incurable, appear when using infected equipment. Bacterial - weakened specimens usually suffer, this happens quite rarely, but leads to the death of the flower due to the death of the roots.
The appearance, in addition to spots, of plaque on leaf plates indicates fungal diseases that occur more often when the temperature drops. Overmoistening leads to the rapid development of mycosis, a dangerous fungal disease, in the future bacterial infections join it.
Orchid leaf disease
With a dry content, the development of mycosis is slow, if the growth and growth of the roots goes faster than the fungus spreads, then the orchid can live for a long time. The main symptom of the disease is the rapid rate of decay of the lower leaves.
The main way to combat mycosis - preventive measures:
- after transplantation, mandatory treatment with antifungal agents;
- the exception of the use of abundant watering with stagnation of water, shower.
If the plant becomes sick, it is necessary to carry out the same operations as for prevention:
- reduce the frequency of watering;
- reduce air humidity;
- use antifungal drugs.
In such cases, the use of fungicides with the obligatory cutting of the affected areas and the processing of sections with cinnamon or charcoal will be effective.
Other means, such as copper sulfate, are used to combat bacterial infections.
The conditions in the apartment are radically different from greenhouses and greenhouses. The purchased flower should get used to and get used to in a new habitat. At this time, the orchid may lose 2 lower leaves and slightly reduce the turgor on the rest. But as fresh roots and leaves appear, the orchid takes on a healthy look.
Important! It is necessary to constantly monitor the condition of the whole plant so as not to miss the moment of the appearance of any deviations, since regular care in compliance with agricultural techniques will not take as much time as the recovery period of a diseased flower.
When transporting in winter or keeping the orchid at a temperature of + 16 ° C, it is possible to see frostbite on leaf plates in the form of mucus-like, jelly-like spots that increase in size. To preserve the plant, it is urgent to start restoring the flower.
Frostbitten leaves and flower
Leaves with such spots can not be restored. So that the stain does not go onto the trunk, remove it from the trunk as soon as possible, for this:
- make an incision at the end of the sheet;
- neatly pull the halves in different directions;
- remove them from the trunk;
- the removal site is sprinkled with wood ash.
Such removal of a frostbitten leaf plate does not leave residues that decompose under the influence of moisture, which allows you to save the orchid.
Compliance with the rules of care and the implementation of agricultural techniques will allow you to grow a flower that for a long time will decorate the interior of the house with its lushly flowering arrows.
