phal with no leaves

[c.whitcomb]

Hey all,

My brother recently rescued an orchid from a friend who was killing it. I've had good success with phals and he came to me with advice the day he got it, since its his first orchid.

In any event, the plant has no leaves at all, and what remains looks to be a brittle stump. However, the root system seems healthy and normal. I was able to remove the plant somewhat and inspect the roots which are firm and green. There are many roots, especially around the bottom of the plant, which are completely white, or colorless. None seem rotted. The medium is entirely sphagnum. He can have the plant in se/sw windows and give it the right amount of light.

I am giving him the Beginners Guide to Orchids, the AOS culture sheet, this website, and some bark if he feels the need to repot in the future.

Does this plant have a chance? Can it make more leaves? My advice has been simply keep the plant moist and in decent light and it should begin to make new growth in a couple of weeks. Repotting seems unnecessary at this juncture.

Is there a chance for this plant?

[patticake]

Originally Posted by c.whitcomb

Hey all,

My brother recently rescued an orchid from a friend who was killing it. I've had good success with phals and he came to me with advice the day he got it, since its his first orchid.

In any event, the plant has no leaves at all, and what remains looks to be a brittle stump. However, the root system seems healthy and normal. I was able to remove the plant somewhat and inspect the roots which are firm and green. There are many roots, especially around the bottom of the plant, which are completely white, or colorless. None seem rotted. The medium is entirely sphagnum. He can have the plant in se/sw windows and give it the right amount of light.

I am giving him the Beginners Guide to Orchids, the AOS culture sheet, this website, and some bark if he feels the need to repot in the future.

Does this plant have a chance? Can it make more leaves? My advice has been simply keep the plant moist and in decent light and it should begin to make new growth in a couple of weeks. Repotting seems unnecessary at this juncture.

Is there a chance for this plant?

Anything's possible! It can't hurt to try.

[mayres]

There are isolated reports of "roots only" sending up a basal keiki - and thereby resurrecting the plant with new leaves - several folks on this forum (myself included) have attempted this with no success. My sense is that it would depend upon how quickly the top of the plant was decimated and what caused it. For example, if a plant was quickly sunburned down to the "ground" and was otherwise extremely healthy I'd guess this type of situation would be pretty good for basal keiki devopment. On the other hand, if a bad case of crown rot was involved and/or the roots are significantly compromised - there could be a significant amount of disease organisms around the past crown area that might work against any "new life" developing. As Patti noted, "It can't hurt to try". Good luck!

[lmartiny]

I wonder the same thing but don't hold much hope. I've got the same thing. I repotted a rescue and there were two plants so I potted them separately. One died (?) Crown rot probably. But the spike is still green and the roots seemed OK. I stuck it outside and check it when I think about it But I'm not holding out much hope for it. Where would new growth come from if the crown is dead?

[lmartiny]

Mayres, I guessed we crossed in the mail so to speak. So only growth potential would be a basal keiki. OK.
I just ran out and checked it. Nope. I think its a goner.

[mayres]

Well......the key is WHAT IS "GROWTH POTENTIAL"? There are latent "eyes" (this may not be the correct technical term) in the base of the stem of a phal near where the roots join. I've had numerous phals that have lost their crowns start NEW CROWNS through sending up basal keikis from this area. For me personally - never when there are no leaves left - a few others have. Yep, a basal keiki is what you are ultimately hoping for.........

[berkeleysgr8]

I've had two plants recently that dropped all of their leaves suddenly, but appeared to have strong root systems. I've tried keeping the roots happy, with the hope of a basal keiki. One has really died and the other is still looking like it has healthy roots. I wish I knew what caused them to die. One of the plants was putting on a new leaf and a new flower spike, had a keiki and looked ultra-healthy when it dropped all of it's leaves.

I say there is no problem in trying to resurrect the plant... it's worth trying!