What causes Phalaenopsis leaves to go soft, and can I spray them with hormone water?

Now that the Lunar New Year season has passed, has everyone been growing Phalaenopsis? This orchid comes in rich colors, and once the flower opens, the petals curl slightly, giving it a playful feel, so it easily stands out in a crowd of flowers. However, although it looks especially impressive at home, problems will arise if the later care environment always has poor ventilation, temperatures that are high by day and low by day, insufficient light, or excessive watering.

When it comes to care, everyone can run into all kinds of different problems, and the most common one is that its leaves develop wrinkles. This is not a question from readers in the background, so today I will reply with the possible causes. First, when Phalaenopsis leaves go limp or develop wrinkles, there are usually 5 major causes. First, it may have root rot, which is like a person whose foundation is unstable and who then falls ill. Phalaenopsis is the same: once its roots have problems, it naturally loses energy, goes limp, and develops wrinkles.

The second cause is environmental change. The most common case is just after it has been taken out of a greenhouse, when the new environment does not have enough humidity. Growers generally keep them in a greenhouse with suitable humidity, but once they arrive at a hobbyist's home, by comparison it becomes very dry. At this point the leaves quickly transport water to the roots, and the leaves look as if their water has been wrung out, appearing listless.

There is also the cause of lack of water. Phalaenopsis itself is a tropical rainforest plant, and it is used to a high-humidity environment. Once it lacks water, the change to limp leaves and wrinkles becomes very obvious, just like a person who has not drunk water for a long time suddenly wilting. Another cause is that some hobbyists spray Phalaenopsis with hormones over the long term, which can also make its leaves go limp for no apparent reason, similar to a growing person who takes the wrong medicine at night and whose body develops problems.

The next situation is that the leaves are very firm but still develop wrinkles. In this case, consider that the leaves may have mutated, like the crystal-type patterns in Chinese cymbidiums, which are a rather special change. The final cause may be caused by chemicals. For example, spraying a fungicide that is too concentrated and too strong is like giving the flower something unsuitable to "eat," making it become abnormal.