Hello all. I'm new to the forum, although I have been checking the site out for a few months, and getting some tips. I have several Phals, one of which needs some help. I bought it several months ago from Lowe's (I know, not the best orchid source). It had two large spikes which were flowering with lovely purple blossoms. At that time, it also had 8 or 9(no joke) 12 inch leaves, all a nice firm texture and medium green color. As is usual with Lowe's orchids, it was soaking wet when I bought it, so I repotted immediately in an orchid mulch that I also bought at Lowe's. It gets fertilized water about once per month. I water every 7-14 days depending on how dry the mulch gets. It sits above my fireplace within 5 feet of the sliding glass door of my living room. The light that comes in through that door is from the Northwest. It gets most of its light in the late afternoon. However, our patio (just outside the door) is protected by an overhanging balcony from our upstairs neighbors, so the light is not as bright as it could otherwise be. The point is, I don't think any of the orchids are getting direct sunlight. That being said, this otherwise healthy Phal has just finished dropping its blooms and I cut its spikes back to just above the first node that had had a blossom. Neither spike seems as though it will continue to grow (they are brownish and dry, and I guess need to be clipped all the way back.) However, today I inspected this Phal and noticed that one of its leaves was dangling precariously off of the plant. I touched it and it fell off. Upon further inspection, the remaining leaves (there were 4-5) all came off in my hand! Very scary!!
The crown does not appear black, it is a yellowish color and soft. I unpotted and inspected the roots-some on the outside appeared dehydrated while those under the crown had become rotted. The plant still has many viable, firm, green roots. Will it grow new leaves?? I know it is not normal for a Phal to drop all its leaves like that in one day, should I administer orchid first aid, or let it do its thing? Also, I should mention I saw one or two tiny white creepy crawly bugs in the crown area (I observed them without magnification.) Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the bugs. What do the orchid gurus think?
