Help with my phal

[Celcat]

Hi everyone,

I am having a serious situation My phal Evita is giving some hard time. Few days ago I have noticed that my phal was infested with some white tiny tiny things. The leaves were like without energy. I did spray with some "ultimate bug killer" (not Bayer 3 advance in one or Physan as I cannot find them around here), but few days ago I could see still of these tiny white things. So I repot it, soak the roots in water with some pesticide. And today I was checking if I could see more white things. Too my delight nothing, but then 2 leaves dropped It was not particular reason for it, I was gentle with her

See the pics

[mayres]

Were those the top two leaves? Looks like maybe the one on the right was growing? "If" this is the case it most likely is the early stages of crown rot issues? Did you get water in the crown that may not have adequately dried out late in the day? Do you have good air circulation around your plant?

[Celcat]

It was the top 2 leaves. I have soaked the plant entirely 2 days ago and repotted her immediately. I do not remember seeing the crown being wet after repotting her. I will try to get a better pic of the crown tomorrow.

I do have a good circulation of air all day, I always have the top windows opened and it has been been quite windy around here lately. I am not really sure that is the problem.

[patticake]

Oh, no! When you soaked it in pesticide, did water get into the crown then? How long did you soak it for? What kind of pesticide was it? I feel bad for you.
Mayres had one come back after the crown being gone. Don't give up hope, yet!

[Celcat]

Thank you Patticake for your kind words
I only bought this orchids 2 weeks ago and I really dont want lose it. I did not soak the plant for that long, maybe 20 minutes, but was it too long? When I said "entirely", I meant the roots really... but it could be a bit of water in the crown. I cannot be really sure I still have 5 leaves remaining and she still flowering, maybe I should cut the spikes and put them in a vase ..

[Rocinante]

Originally Posted by Celcat

I have soaked the plant entirely

The way you phrase that bothers me. It may be just semantics and if so, forgive me, but I was always taught that you should pour water generously through the medium, not soak your plant (sounds like you submerge your pots and that can suffocate them). The water exiting the bottom of the pot draws air into the mix as it exits. You soak a bonsai, not an epiphyte. Again, forgive me if I misunderstand. But the top two leaves coming off is usually indicative of water damage.

[Hummer344]

Since you are now having trouble with the plant I think that cutting off the flower stem is a good idea. That will let the plant put all its energy into saving itself. IMHO, I think that there was water left in the crown after re-potting. It doesn't take much.

[Celcat]

Originally Posted by Rocinante

(sounds like you submerge your pots and that can suffocate them).

Sorry english is not my mother tongue and when I am upset the wording is not always appropriate. I did not submerge the pot, and I never do. I took all the medium out because I was soooooooo worried about this tiny bugs and before to repot it in new medium, I have soaked the bare roots in a bowl. During that operation perhaps some water got into the crown.

Thank you for your help

[missann]

I would suggest to anyone who has orchid types that can get crown rot to get a can of computer duster and blow the water out of the crooks of the leaves after you water every time. HOWEVER..be careful not to blow the potting medium all over the place, as air in a can is very powerful and may even be blowing hard enough to hurt the plant.

Also--did you look to see if the leaves looked like they had been chewed off? Maybe the little bugs were in the crown and weakening the leaves that way. I have never seen crown rot, however, and the other people are probably more correct with what is going on.

Maybe it would be wise to treat with an antifungal/anti-bacterial product like High/Yeild Consan 20. It is much easier to find than Physan. Also, remember to treat the plant again in a week so that any eggs or babies that did not die the first time will get killed the second time. Maybe it is safe to use insecticidal soap or the kind of bug spray made from flowers. Make sure to not put the plant back in the sun while it still has wet bug spray becuse the water droplets will make it sunburn.

Good luck.

[brookn]

Use peroxide, pour it into the crown, let it sit a few minutes, then dump some more in there. If it bubbles the first time, you probably have crown rot. The peroxide should take care care of the rot if that's what it is. You can follow up with more peroxide 3 or 4 days later. If it's not bubbling then, it is a waiting game from there. Cinnamon spray would help to dry it out also, I would make it heavy on the cinnamon extract, and spray after you peroxide it.

[berkeleysgr8]

From what I'm seeing, it DOESN'T look like crown rot. It looks like the base of where the leaves were are green and healthy. Even the bases of the leaves that fell off look healthy... they're not mushy and black as would be expected with crown rot. That's what has me baffled. My best guess is that something in the pesticide soak caused the leaves to abort. Because those leaves are the ones in active growth and have more "activity" at the cell level, maybe more of the chemical was pulled into those areas of the plant. Hopefully, in time a new leaf will emerge from the crown. I had brought a co-worker's Phal home to care for it and quite randomly it got a bacterial rot in the newest leaf. I cut the rotted portion of the leaf... but then it continued to die back (looking a bit like the crown of yours does now). I just noticed this week that a new leaf is starting to emerge (it took about 3 months). Good luck!

[Celcat]

Thank you for advices. I will get some peroxide, just in case. Like Berkeleygr8, I think that maybe the "heavy" use of pesticide could be responsible for the prob. But it could be that the water did not help, it just made it worse. It is waiting game, good thing that my moto is: Patience is a vertue!
Hopefully, in few months time, I will see a new leave growing