Drooping leaves on new Phal

[Miss Adventure]

Hello everyone - I am new here & I was given a phal at Xmas. It’s in bloom & has 6 flowers and 3 buds but it had floppy leaves when I received it. They are a ‘nice’ green though. The buds don’t seem to have opened at all.

I killed my last phal by overwatering :-( so I have been super cautious with this one. It looked dry when I got it (it’s in bark) so I gave it a medium watering. The leaves did not perk up. I then let it get quite dry and followed everything I could fine online and on you tube before I was sure I should water it again and I did a thorough watering a couple of days ago. The leaves are still floppy.

It’s summer here (around 22 degrees) so I have made sure
it’s in a nice sunny spot and have moved it around the house including trying the bathroom for humidity but it might have been too dark in there so now it’s on my day room windowsill facing east.

Please take a look at my pics. I know it doesn’t need more watering as there is condensation still in the pot (I removed it from its ceramic pot to give the roots some light). Some of the riots look slightly iffy but I don’t think they are rotten. Please can anyone advise what I should try next?In the 3 weeks I have had it, the leaves have just stayed floppy & the buds remain closed.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

The plant hasn't received enough water, either because there is a problem with the roots, or it hasn't been watered enough. When they get wilted to this extent it can take days to weeks fully to rehydrate.

It's hard to see the photos on my phone, because the photos are shot towards a very bright background, and the medium in the pot is dark. Can you try to take photos with a dark background, and the light shining from behind the camera?

[Miss Adventure]

Thankyou for replying. Here are some better pics of the roots and medium as requested.
Thanks for your help.

[dbarron]

That poor plant probably needs the spikes cut (you can use as cut flower), so it can recover. I feel it's too much of a burden on a stressed plant.
Either the deeper roots have died due to overwatering or dehydrating, and I vote for the first (it's much easier to overwater than under).

[aliceinwl]

Yes, it does look like there was a lot of root death. You said you had it in a sunny location? Phals can’t take any direct sun, so if it is getting direct sun this could be a contributing factor. They do best in a location receiving bright indirect light.

Cutting the spikes may help. Personally, I usually want the flowers. Even Phals I bought in pretty bad condition have managed to pull through fine with their spikes/flowers left intact. The plant can also re-absorb nutrients from a green spent spike.

It does look like there may be some new roots growing so the plant is trying to recover. Sometimes with plants potted like this, there is a big moss ball in the center that you can’t see that’s really holding the moisture. If it were mine, I’d repot it.

There seem to be as many ways to go about potting up and successfully growing Phals as there are growers. But, this is what I’ve done in similar situations. Caveat: what works for me may not work for you and there are many “right” ways to go about this.

- make up a new mix: I use 1 part perlite, 1 part charcoal, and 5 parts orchiata bark.

- unpot the Phal

- clean out the pot and use a soldering iron or similar tool to make additional holes in the side of the pot. I usually do 5 holes in a vertical line to the top with lines spaced horizontally every 3 cm

- gently remove all the old media from your Phal and soak the root zone in water. Do not spray the roots with anything like hydrogen peroxide; it will kill them.

- you can cut any roots that are soft / mushy all the way to the base. Leave any roots with alternating firm and mushy sections. The core of these roots is still alive and they’re still functional. If there are no long live roots, leave a few dead ones uncut to help anchor the plant. If in doubt as to whether a root is alive or dead, don’t cut. Do not apply cinnamon to cut roots and try not to cut into living tissue.

- replace your Phal in the pot and start adding in the bark mix. You should position the Phal so that at least one live root is against the side of the pot. The base of the leaves should be just above the level of the substrate when you’re done.

- give the Phal another good soak by placing the pot in another container and filling with water to the level of the media and letting it sit for 10 minutes or so.

- remove the pot from the container and allow it to thoroughly drain. Put the Phal at a location that receives bright indirect light.

- watch your live root through the side of the pot. When it turns from green to silver, water either by running water through the pot or giving it a 5 to 10 minute soak.

Usually, I see the leaves start to firm up in 3-4 months as the new roots the Phal will produce really take hold.

For lots of good advice you can peruse the sticky thread: the Phal abuse ends here. The first few pages provide the gist. Good luck! I think your Phal has an excellent chance of making a full recovery. Once I got the watering and repotting down, I found Phals to be the most rewarding low maintenance house plants ever: I think I’m pushing 100 now (I try not to count anymore).

[estación seca]

I'm not certain those lower roots are dead, unless they're slippery and mushy. The pot is probably about the right size. Sun on the roots might have been most of your problem.

[Miss Adventure]

Hello everyone - thanks so much for your replies.
So I repotted and sure enough there were many dead/rotten roots:-( And a few OK looking ones. So I followed the instructions above and cut them off and repotted in a container with new holes I made in it. The new medium is probably not ideal but it was all I could get hold of here - it's proper orchid medium and is bark-y, but has some soil stuff mixed into it too. i haven't packed it in very tightly.

When i unpotted it, sure enough there was a weird spongy thing in the middle of the pot, so pretty sure the orchid wasn't bought from anywhere other than somewhere that just smashes as many out when they are in bloom, not really caring if they are going to die soon after. As Ihave only had it 3 weeks, the rotten roots were clearly there when it was bought

I might have buried some aerial roots when i repotted it, but anyway I have done my best and we'll see what happens.

PS i did leave the flower stalks on in the end.
Fingers crossed it recovers - thanks again for your help. See pics below for the surgery and end result.

[estación seca]

It should survive. The older wrinkled leaves may not recover completely, but new growth should be healthy.

You can screen out the finer material from media. I have a collection of things from a restaurant supply company for this. I use a French fry basket for getting fines out of bark. They also sell nice metal scoops in several sizes, with sturdy, built-in handles that don't break.