Dying Phal Needs Help, Soggy Leaves, Root Rot, and more - Orchid Board

ncdragonfly · #1 01-15-2011, 07:46 PM

I have a Phal that I bought at Lowe's last year. It was in bloom when I bought it and you never know when you buy them how long they have already been in bloom. I managed to keep it in bloom for another 6 months after I bought it, and then I started to notice that something wasn't right with it. One of the leaves started to get heavy, almost as if it was water logged, but it wasn't turning that yellow color like they normally do when they are going to fall off. It was heavy and squishy, and it regular green color if not a little darker. All the flowers were now slowly starting to fall, but not that fast. I knew I had to make a choice. I either wait for the flowers to finish falling for me to repot it, or I repot with the flower (which I was always told not to do when I started collecting orchids as I was told repotting them while in bloom could put them into shock). So, I made the choice because the plant was still in the original media from Lowe's (you know, all that tightly packed moss they love so much in the stores). When I knocked it out of the pot the roots were all packed so tight and of course they were rotted, hence the problem I was seeing in the plant. I cleared away all the moss so I could see all the roots and I trimmed away all the dead ones. The problem was, the rot had started into a small section of the crown and I was not left with really any good roots. I tried repotting the orchid into some BETTER-GRO Phalaenopsis Mix, and it seemed to start getting better. Two of the bottom leaves eventually fell off, but it did put off a new smaller leaf on top, and just recently it started sending a new shoot out at one of the nodes like it wants to get ready to flower soon. However, its last 2 big leaves and the new small one are still turning soft and drying out. I have not pulled it out of the media to see what the roots are doing. I have been reading online and have read a lot of the posts on here about this bag and sphag method and wonder if that might be a good idea if it hasn't formed good roots. Tonight I did pull away some of the media right around the crown and there is a small nub of a root that has formed that I can see, so I misted it with the spray bottle to make sure it gets some water that way.

Please, I will take any suggestions at this point. I am not ready to give up on this little guy. All my other Phal's are doing so good.

phalaephila · #2 01-15-2011, 08:28 PM

I would recommend:

1) Cut off the spike at the base, even though it is growing (or because it is growing) - the energy is going into blooming, not into growing new roots.

2) The plant is over potted, especially if there are no roots down below. I would try to put it in a small pot with loose sphagnum, and encourage that new root to grow.

How is your humidity in the growing area? Be careful about misting, in case water collects in the crown, leading to rot. Best of luck to you!

Zoi2 · #3 01-15-2011, 11:52 PM

I agree, cut the spike and repot in a much smaller pot with plenty of drainage.
Joann

BobInBonita · #4 01-16-2011, 12:10 AM

Agree about the spike and repot, but...

Some folks (me) have trouble growing in sphag. An alternate would be to pot in well soaked bark and after a day or two for teh bark to dry out somewhat, but the whole thing in a large plastic bag with the top open a little for some air flow. The idea is to put the orchid in a high humidity environment so it can survive on what little root it has until it is able to grow more. I would put it in a slightly cooler and darker condition than where I normally grow phals, so the metabolism is a little slower, but others might disagree with that

It's in pretty bad shape, so recognize that this may just be a learning experience whichever way you go.

Next time don't worry about repotting (or at least checking the roots) regardless of whether it's in bloom or not. Even if it drops blooms with a repot (I guess about 20% of the time) it is better to have a healthy plant that reblooms frequently than a plant that takes years to recover before blooming again.

phalaephila · #5 01-16-2011, 12:31 AM

I like the suggestion by BobInBonita; I live in a much drier environment (Las Vegas vs. Florida) so the sphagnum moss helps keep even moisture at the root zone for me. It all depends on growing conditions. Perhaps if the "nc" in the original poster's name stands for North Carolina, the Florida advice will be more appropriate.

ncdragonfly · #6 01-16-2011, 04:21 PM

I did what you said and trimmed the spike down. I had already ordered some supplies online and they got here yesterday. I pulled it out of the big pot and it ended up having no good roots underneath, as I suspected, only that one new growth that I showed in the picture.

When I ordered my stuff I had ordered some Physan 20, so I made sure to soak my shears and the new pot in the solution for 10 minutes, and then trimmed off the dead roots. I had also ordered KLN rooting hormone. I mixed 1 gallon water/1 tbs solution and soaked the new moss in it.
Then I loosely packed the moss and the plant into its new container, making sure the new growth was in the moss so that it get the moisture. I have tried to find humidity trays locally and have not been successful so I will have to order them, so I made a makeshift one with a big glass bowl. I put river rocks it in and filled it with water, put the newly potted orchid in it and a bag over the top. I also cut the top corner off the bag so it has airflow. Pics below.

You also asked about my normal humidity level. I never had a meter near my orchids to monitor the humidity, but normally outside in the summer we run 90-100%, as I live on the coast of NC. Here this winter we keep getting hammered by these ice and snow storms which is unusual for us. I went right out today after reading your posts to me and bought a temp/humidity gauge and its saying the the temp right now by my orchids is 70 and the humidity is 40%. I put some pictures below of my other orchids. All are phals, and one is a dendrobium (which is my first attempt at the dendrobium). The one Phal you see that is with buds has 2 spikes with buds and the picture right after it is the same plant that is shooting off another spike from the bottom of the crown and is now about 6-7 inches long. That one is the first orchid I ever bought and is from wal-mart surprisingly enough, and its the strongest of all of them.

BobInBonita · #7 01-16-2011, 06:28 PM

Youyr other orchids look great.

One thing I noticed is that the others all seem to be in a bark based mix. That is more typical for many growers.

You should be very careful with the orchid you just repotted into sphagnum moss. To cover it like that is a good idea if it was in bark, because the bark is a less retentive media. In sphagnum you will gewt very little if any drying. I would worry that it may stay too wet.

ncdragonfly · #8 01-16-2011, 09:02 PM

Should I not cover it then? Just keep in the moss? Remembering that I only have the one new growth for a root system and that I am trying to create roots. Also with my area only running at 40% humidity, I thought the bag would help with that is left of the leaves take in moisture for the plant. Of course I know with the moss that I will have to be careful with overwatering and water less often than I do with the bark.

BobInBonita · #9 01-16-2011, 11:24 PM

I don't know the exact answer, but to me you are doing something wetter than "sphag and bag".

You are correct, the bag will keep the humidity high.

As I've used "sphag and bag", the moss keeps the humidity high in the bag while the orchid grows new roots.. The orchid is not generally planted in the moss with "sphag and bag", but is in the bag not in contact with the moss.

I personally have trouble with sphagnum. Others have great luck with it. Sphagnum as a medium AND the bag just seem too wet to me.

If I were to use the bag, it would be with the orchid in bark not sphagnum, but that is just me.