One of the most common causes of necrotic (dead) leaf tips and margins is over-watering. The mechanism by which this occurs arises from the fact that soggy soil reduces the oxygen essential to root function and metabolism, so roots are not efficient enough to move water to the plant's most distal parts - leaf tips and margins. The TWO most common causes of poor foliage are over-watering and a high level of solubles (salts from fertilizer and tap water) in the soil. Both of these maladies are exacerbated by heavy soils that are watered in sips to prevent root rot. Sunburn shows up as grey or silver areas on the foliage as the chlorophyll is bleached (oxidized) by the same free oxygen radicals found in hydrogen peroxide, also a powerful bleach/oxidizer. Following the short period of gray/silver blotches, foliage will turn brown, or sometimes black in plants with succulent foliage. 'Red' isn't in the realm of possibility because these oxidants would destroy the pigments that cause red coloration in plants. I use soils that require very frequent watering - usually daily in the summer months, and I can't remember the last time I had a plant with poor looking foliage. Fast soils allow me to water copiously and flush accumulating salts from the soil each time I water w/o any concern about root rot or suppressing root function because of soggy soil. I can also fertilize frequently at reduced rates with no worries about the level of soluble salts in the soil interfering with water and nutrient uptake. I wouldn't put much faith in the idea that letting your water rest for 24 hours is going to play a significant role in correcting your foliage issues - it won't. It's possible that chlorine (an element necessary for normal plant growth) and fluoride might be marginally contributory to your issues, but the fluoride in drinking water isn't volatile (doesn't dissipate) and nearly all municipal water suppliers are using a non-volatile form of chlorine as well. Almost all causes spoiled foliage issues can be found within the triangle formed by soil choice, watering habits, and nutrition. Unless your plants are next to a heat source (register/radiator, under hot lights, on top of a TV .....), most other cultural conditions like low humidity, chlorine, fluoride .... will be marginally contributory. Most growers take a giant step forward in their ability to produce consistently healthy plants with the least amount of effort once they've come to understand the importance of soil choice to their success. Getting your plants into a healthy, fast draining soil that holds little or no excess water provides a foundation you can build strong plants on. Heavy soils that support excess volumes of water are inherently wrought with issues that find you fighting the soil constantly instead of letting the soil work FOR you. More on that if you wish. I would abandon the use of any fertilizer for plants in containers that have the middle number (phosphorous) higher than either the first or third numbers (nitrogen and potassium respectively). No plant uses more P than either N or K, so it makes no sense to supply it in excess because an excess is limiting. When all the calculations are done, fertilizers in the 3:1:2 RATIO (RATIO is different than NPK %s) come closest to providing nutrients in the ratio plants actually use. This is very important when growing plants with temperamental foliage because it allows you to supply nutrients at the lowest level possible w/o nutritional deficiencies. LOW levels of soluble salts in the soil greatly increase your chances of producing plants with healthy leaves. Questions? Al

They're not the easiest plant to grow. Temps too warm, light too bright, low humidity, fertility/TDS levels too high, and sensitivity to fluoride are all potential causes of necrotic leaf tips for the species and any on the list can work alone or collectively to make the perfect leaf unattainable. Try: * Watering with distilled or r/o water, rain water or snow melt, condensate from air conditioner or dehumidifier * Flushing the soil (see below) * Using a "tell" to test medium moisture levels instead of your digital device (finger) (see below) Over-watering can cause necrotic leaf tips in two ways. It limits the plant's ability to take up water and nutrients, and it specifically makes uptake of Ca more to very difficult. Lack of the ability to move water to the plant's most distal parts (leaf tips/margins) and an inadequate supply of Ca which must be present in the nutrient stream at all times if tissues are to form normally, work as 2 strikes against perfectly formed leaf tips. Also, the plant prefers a higher humidity range from about 50-80% Flushing Soils When you water, you should be able to flush planting's soil to eliminate the potentiality of salts from fertilizers and tapwater accumulating in the soil, thereby limiting the plant's ability to take up water and the nutrients dissolved in the water. If you think you shouldn't flush the soil during your regular water applications for fear the soil will remain saturated for a lengthy period, limiting root function or worse, you should consider a different soil or take steps to reduce the amount of excess water your soil can hold. By whatever means necessary, getting to the point you can water correctly is going to make a very big difference in the opportunity to realize as much of it's genetic potential as possible. Once you can water correctly, you no longer have to do battle with a water-retentive medium over control of your plant's vitality. There are several methods of limiting how much water your planting can hold, all but 1 or 2 are completely passive, requiring no effort on your part other than set-up, which is monkey easy. I can help if you have interest in that, I'm continually improving my proficiency at monkey easy tasks. To flush the soil of a planting: Water with room temperature water until the soil is completely saturated. Allow the planting to rest for 15 minutes to an hour to allow as much of the salt accumulation as possible to go into solution, then pour a volume of room temp water equal to at least 10X the volume of the pot the plant is in slowly through the soil. This will remove most of any accumulation of offending salts and resolve any skewing of nutrient ratios. It's a good idea, no matter what time of year, to fertilize most plants immediately after flushing the soil. Try to be sure you're using a fertilizer that has a ratio as close as possible to the ratio at which the plant uses nutrients. The NPK % listed on fertilizer packaging is not its ratio. 7-7-7 and 14-14-14 are 1:1:1 ratios. 9-3-6, 12-4-8, and 24-8-16, are all 3:1:3 ratios. Container growers should try very hard to avoid use of fertilizers advertised as 'bloom-boosters', or any number with a middle number (Phosphorous) higher than either the first or third numbers (Nitrogen or Potassium). These fertilizers can badly skew nutrient ratios with even the first application). On average, plants use about 6x as much N as P, so there is NO potential for a positive outcome when supplying many times as much P as the plant requires. I, and a large number of other members, use Dyna-Gro's Foliage Pro 9-3-6. It's designed to closely mimic the uptake ratio of the average plant, and has many other attributes not commonly found in other fertilizers. It also has ALL of the nutrients essential to normal growth. Summarized, it makes fertilizing as easy as it can be, and from 1 container. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. You might also find this helpful. Pay particular attention to the emphasis on the grow medium. Even w/o knowing it, an extremely high % of hobby growers are engaged in an ongoing battle with their choice of grow medium for control of the plants vitality level. Knowing how to recognize or make a grow medium superior to what normally comes in bags or bales moves the grower beyond the most significant obstacle (s)he's likely to face on the journey toward green thumb status. Al

I am in GA and have good luck with mine in slat baskets. All of my orchids are in a tempered glass greenhouse so they get lots of warmth and sunshine until I bring them out in the summer months. I water them everyday if the sun is shining, middle of the day, warmish-cool filtered water, weak fertilizer every weekend. Vandas love slat baskets where their roots will grow and fill in all the gaps. When they look totally overgrown in the basket, I cut or break off any wood I can, remove the wiring from the hanger and put the whole thing in another size bigger basket. They're one of my favorite and longest lasting bloomers. Hope this helps, Becky

I wanted to do a quick update on this. My eyebrow thinning has been mostly resolved. I started using a Mary Kay brow serum but what I found is that I was rubbing my eyes when they were tired and I think that was causing the thinning. Since I became aware of rubbing my brows when I rubbed my eyes and starting using the brow serum my brows look so much better. Maddielee, I want to especially thank you for recommending the Elizabeth Arden brow powder. It fills in any leftover sparse areas and is so natural looking. It is a wonderful product and I am so glad you suggested it!!!