Please help me save my Phal!

[mopster67]

Hi, I'm new here and to the world of orchids. I received a yellow phal as a gift and have fallen hard ever since. I consider myself to have a pretty decent green thumb, but orchids are a bit more challenging. Now the problem I have is a new Phal I bought from a reputable florist with really healthy plants. I've purchased from her before but other plants. The purple phal I bought just got a case of rot and all the leaves fell off. It is in full bloom, but I don't care if I lose the blooms I just want to save the plant. I have been lurking here and checked the roots because it's what seems the logical thing to do. The plant was packed in sphag moss and the roots are healthy but soaked. Yes, I think I overwatered it. I removed all the sphag and placed it back in its pot to dry out overnight. It seems better today. I live in NYC where the summers can be very humid. Today will be 90% humidity, so the water may not be evaporating fast enough. I checked the crown and it seems to be okay.

Do I still have a chance to save the plant? BTW, the others seem healthy. Also, is there a better medium that dries faster than the moss. The moss may work better for the winters here, which are drier, but the moss can stay dry for days. Also, I have since put bamboo skewers in each plant to check the water.

[justloveorchids]

I suggest you cut off the flower stalk and repot the plant in a better potting mix then give it TLC i am sure like many i have rescued it will soon start to throw new roots and leaves as the existing roots sound healthy enough

You could try bagging it for a week or 2 to give it humidity or simply mist it with Worm tea solution which certainly seems IMHE to promote rapid leaf and root growth

[mopster67]

Originally Posted by justloveorchids

I suggest you cut off the flower stalk and repot the plant in a better potting mix then give it TLC i am sure like many i have rescued it will soon start to throw new roots and leaves as the existing roots sound healthy enough

You could try bagging it for a week or 2 to give it humidity or simply mist it with Worm tea solution which certainly seems IMHE to promote rapid leaf and root growth

Thanks. This is what I thought I should do with the stalks and repotting, but I wanted to hear from you experts. I really don't want to lose this plant as I've already lost one and am starting feel like a serial orchid killer.

[fred]

hi mopster67
welcome to the orchidgeeks forum
I hope you enjoy your stay here with us
you will find heaps of knowledge here within the forum also with the members
any questions you have just please ask as we are all here to help and share our orchid growing knowledge with you.

here is a link to the AOS Culture sheets also
http://www.aos.org/aos/orchids/page01.aspx

happy chatting

[Michael_Exler]

If you could take photo of the plant in its growing area, it would help to give overall growing suggestions and solutions to possible future problems.
for now if you provide it the cultureal needs for Phalanopsis it should respond (in time) but they are fairly slow growers, so dont expect instant results from a change you made a week ago.

[mopster67]

Okay, here are the photos. I live in a Manhattan apartment with a shaded Western exposure. The photos were taken at 2:30 pm EST without flash. The flash on my camera is so strong it bleaches everything out so I thought it best to shoot without flash, have everything dark but with better contrast. The sick one is the purple one without leaves. The other pics are of the crown and the root system. Again, thanks for your help. I have since run out to Home Depot on 59th Street. They have only one type of Orchid medium, Schultz. It has bark and charcoal.

[snowballsarebad]

Oooh. That looks bad. You have some healthy roots, but the fact that you have no leaves means trouble. Are you sure the crown is okay? If it looks like there are tiny leaves starting, you might have a chance. If you haven't cut off the flower spikes already, you should do it now, unless you want to take a chance of getting a keiki, or baby plant, from one of them.
When you say it got rot, do you mean just the roots, or it got crown rot, too? Crown rot usually leads to death, at least in my case.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

This does not look like over watering because the roots look really good, not rotted from over watering. I don't think the moss is a probelm and you can probably put the whole thing back into the pot as is. I would guess that some other shock to the plant was the cause, like watering over head with really cold water, or sun burn, etc. Something that just affected the leaves. I would leave the plant with no flowers, but leave 6" to 10" of spike. If the plant does not start new growth at the base, then you might get a fast growing keiki as someone has mentioned, but you don't need to have flowers for that, and the flowers will definitely sap the plants energy.

[mopster67]

^^^Hmmm, I never thought of those being factors. Sunburnt leaves have some brown patches, right? Well, the leaves looked healthy, but they just broke off at the base, where it was very soggy to touch. I might have used cold water, but it would have been the cold from the tap. Would that be too cold? I just want to add that I've had the plant about a week so the changes haven't been too far along and I might have just caught the problem early?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Well, the next question then is have you been misting your plant late in the day. The leaves must be dry by the time the temp starts to fall or rot can set in. If you have done none of the above things, and tap water in summer is unlikely to be a cause, it may be that the plant was mistreated in some manor by the previous caretaker. Remove the flowers and most of the spike length and just wait to see what the plant will do. Saving plants is mostly a waiting game.

[mopster67]

Originally Posted by Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

Well, the next question then is have you been misting your plant late in the day. The leaves must be dry by the time the temp starts to fall or rot can set in. If you have done none of the above things, and tap water in summer is unlikely to be a cause, it may be that the plant was mistreated in some manor by the previous caretaker. Remove the flowers and most of the spike length and just wait to see what the plant will do. Saving plants is mostly a waiting game.

No misting whatsoever. We have been getting enough humidity from the ambient air and I knew enough not to spritz late in the day. My instincts were to cut the blooms off and that's what I'll do. Should I also change the medium, because I've been noticing that it takes almost 2 weeks for the sphag to dry? Thanks for your help. Just wanted to add, I have patience in abundance for this plant.

[mayres]

When you say "got a case of rot and all the leaves fell off", do you mean the center of the plant turned mushy/greyish-translucent looking? Even without misting the crown it is possible for the plant to develop crown rot - when watering is there any chance you watered the middle of the plant? In a high humidity environment with not enough air movement you can still might have gotten crown rot - sure sounds like the typical symptom from what little you have said.

[charleyismydog]

Hi Mopster. Welcome. I'm from NYC too! Good luck with the phal. No leaves doesn't sound good but it's worth trying to save. Worm tea has done amazing things for me. That could maybe help.

[mopster67]

Originally Posted by mayres

When you say "got a case of rot and all the leaves fell off", do you mean the center of the plant turned mushy/greyish-translucent looking? Even without misting the crown it is possible for the plant to develop crown rot - when watering is there any chance you watered the middle of the plant? In a high humidity environment with not enough air movement you can still might have gotten crown rot - sure sounds like the typical symptom from what little you have said.

I only watered it once. I usually avoid getting water in the area, but it is possible some water may have gotten to the crown. You are pretty much describing the leaves as I found them.

[mopster67]

Originally Posted by charleyismydog

Hi Mopster. Welcome. I'm from NYC too! Good luck with the phal. No leaves doesn't sound good but it's worth trying to save. Worm tea has done amazing things for me. That could maybe help.

Thanks. I thought I would at least try. Where could I get worm tea in NYC?

[mopster67]

All right. I think I know what happened. When I first bought the plant I recall her spraying the plant with leaf shine. That is the only time that plant has been sprayed that I can recall. So I think we have a case of crown rot. Still, I'm going to try and save the plant because it will be a great learning experience for me.