Someone help me with this phal? Black roots and floppy leaves

[Orchid Whisperer]

The above advice is pretty good (need to change you user name to just 'midwesterner'!)

Since you have live aerial roots, you can probably trim off the black parts of the roots. Before repotting, you may be able to perk up the plant with a short daily soak of the roots. Hang the bare roots in a jar or glass, soak just the roots (half hour a day maybe), drain and leave dry until the next day. Repeat daily for a week or two.

After that, re-pot as instructed above. Afterward, I would wait a day or two before watering resumes.

[2ysub2ysur]

Wonderful, thanks for the help you two! Yeah, I think I probably overpotted it. I thought it would be good to give it room to breathe....whoops.

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

Since you have live aerial roots, you can probably trim off the black parts of the roots. Before repotting, you may be able to perk up the plant with a short daily soak of the roots. Hang the bare roots in a jar or glass, soak just the roots (half hour a day maybe), drain and leave dry until the next day. Repeat daily for a week or two.

What's the longest I could do the roots in a jar thing? I'm going to be out of town for a while and while I can have my boyfriend keep up the soaking routine, I'd rather be around to repot it myself.

[aliceinwl]

You could probably do the soaking routine for a few weeks or until you can repot it. I'd feel the black roots if any have firm sections, don't cut them. It might also help to leave some of the dead roots intact to help anchor the plant after you re-pot.

You can also make your life easier if you pot the Phal up in a clear pot with a root up against the side. When the root is silver: water, when the root is green: don't water. After watering you also want to make sure to drain off all the water. If you had it potted in the pot with the built in saucer I think I see, make sure to drain all the excess water out of the saucer after watering.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by 2ysub2ysur

What's the longest I could do the roots in a jar thing? I'm going to be out of town for a while and while I can have my boyfriend keep up the soaking routine, I'd rather be around to repot it myself.

I've successfully done it with a couple Phalaenopsis plants for a year and a half. That was kind of an experiment. Long enough to create a full and dense root system that stood on it's own outside of the jar. As the root mass grew larger, I reduced the frequency of soaks, daily was not needed.

After that, I potted the plant. One of them is developing a spike now.