Sorry looking Phal. !!

[Ochin@]

Here is one of my mother's phals. It really looks beat up, I offered to take it and see what I could do.

here is my plan of action:

1: Use Brookn's recipe on it - there is very obvious bug damage all over this poor plant, and all kinds of creepy crawlies in the medium

2: repot... The media looks and smells like it REALLY needs to be changed. It'll also give me a chance to check on and trim any dead roots.

for the repot, if there wasn't that basal Keiki, I would repot it deeper than it is, but since there is the basal Keiki,I guess it needs to stay above the medium.

Any advice to make this poor plant ever get back to a halfway decent shape would be greatly appreciated.

[digitalgate]

i guess in your area you could take everything out and wash the media away. To prevent the old media from contaminating the new media. Repot into fresh media then. ALso knowing what kind of bite mark will let your know what insect are you looking for. It could be snail, bee, ant, mites,.....

[Ochin@]

Thanks Digitalgate. the marks look like snails to me, but there are other problems as well.

I tried posting pics but it's not working for some reason, I will try resizing them, then attach them

[Ochin@]

Here are the pics....I hope...

[mayres]

Oh yes.....very sad.....
You got a GREAT looking basal keiki started there - so with some new media and good culture you should have a nice healthy plant eventually. You will have to post the BEFORE and AFTER pics in about a year (it DOES take time) - sounds like you got a good plan of attack to me - should be a fun project!

[Ochin@]

I've decided to go creative on this one and laid it on it's side There is actually another basal Keiki coming out just above...or now to the left of the first basal keiki...I hope I made the right choice....here is what it looks like now....

[digitalgate]

Be patience with this plant. It will be another year before you can see any flower.

[Ochin@]

Wow, I would be SOOO happy if it were to bloom next year....now, we sit and wait...

[solay]

OK. that is a very sad looking Phal. I thought mine looked bad. LOL!!! Hope you get blooms soon and good luck!

[Ochin@]

Actually, I was really surprised, although what is visible is really bad, the roots were quite healthy looking....even though there was a big ball of rotten sphag in the middle of the media.
A Bloom would be awesome, but I would be thrilled to see any new growth at all...give me roots, give me a leaf, anything would be great at this point.

[lmartiny]

I think it was a good idea to pot sideways like you did. Someone did some serious munching on that keiki.

[delphiguy]

im sure with patience and good care it'll give you more that roots and leaves. it'll reward
you with a fountain of beautiful flowers. post a pic of them flowers ok.

[Ochin@]

if this one blooms, you'll be the first ones to know.

[Tarad]

Whoa wonder what has been eatin on that poor phal. Hopefully you can bring it around. Tara

[Blueszz]

Aaaaaaw that poor baby looks beaten up indeed! IMHO you did a great job on repotting it.
I would love to see the progress. I think it will bounce back beautifully, the basal keiki looks good!

[kmarch]

Oh now that was a clever solution, to lay it on it's side. I would never have thought of that. I'm looking forward to following your progress with this phal!

[Ochin@]

I've made it a sympodial Phal.

[vcuchick]

hahaha....yes, it does look like some creepy crawlies made lunch out of that poor Phal. you came to the rescue just in time! Good luck growing!!!

We need to start a "Rescue" thread where folks can post the before/after photos of rescues!!!!!!!!

[Ochin@]

That's a great Idea.

[Choobaine]

Originally Posted by vcuchick

We need to start a "Rescue" thread where folks can post the before/after photos of rescues!!!!!!!!

I think that is an INCREDIBLY good idea!
It will allow new people to the orchid hobby who are struggling/folks who rescue orchids know that there's hope when things go wrong, it will be great to give people confidence to work with neglected orchids and see what they can do with a care and patience.

I can imagine the relief and hope some people will have when they worry about their plants to see how bad some have had it, and how much better they've got!

[FLaCo]

Originally Posted by digitalgate

Be patience with this plant. It will be another year before you can see any flower.

This is true.


This has happen to me before. There was one time where I bought a plant from Costco and took home only to find out its was rotting. The plant looked beautiful but inside the pot was a mess. I did the "whole deal", I took off the old roots, planted it in new media, etc. Eventually I got the hint it was not doing well. So I decided to mount it upside down and in some spag moss. A whole year later I got flowers.

I am not saying to mount or anything, I just wanted you to know that you are on the right path and that there is still hope. The Phal that I saved is very grateful and is happy on its new home. Have the discipline to "ignore", which actually means to give the plant time to do its own thing. From personal experience I have messed up plants trying to do something different to it everyday while they are under stress. Just give the plant what's required, nothing more, nothing less.

Good Luck.

[FLaCo]

Here is the link to my saved phal.My saved Phal.

[Ochin@]

Thank you for the encouragement, I think it will recover, it has such great roots. it's outside in the screened-in patio, no direct sun, but lots of light, good air circulation, a skewer to check when it needs watering.....I think that's about all I can do for now......

[FLaCo]

I think you got it right. You have one thing mine did not, and that is healthy roots. Good for you!

[lmartiny]

Hey Damien. I was interested in your hanging Phal. I took one with two limp leaves and put it on a piece of wood. It is now putting out a new leaf and a new root. So maybe..... next year.

[PhalPal]

I will be watching this thread and waiting for updates. With good roots, all is possible. It looks like it is a very old phal, too!