Phal problem - bases of leaves turn yellow, stem black

[AnnieM]

Hi,

I'm so glad I found this forum. I have a Phalaenopsis and it seems to be sick

I bought it in November, in full bloom, flowers have withered in mid-January, I believe it was just the end of its flowering season. I cut the stems back when they dried (except one that still had a withering flower on it two days ago). The plant is not kept in direct sunlight, fertilized once a week as I was told, potting medium is bark. I water it once a week and sometimes I sprinkle water on it & keep it on a humidity tray, as my apartment has extremely dry air.

Yesterday I noticed that the base of the leaves turned yellow, the leaves (except two) fell off when I touched the plant, and the stem is black or very dark brown. These problems appeared very fast, last week the plant was healthy. The roots look healthy, nothing is musty, there's no bad odor and no sign of rotting. I looked around in this forum and I'm unsure if it's a rot (I was unaware that water shouldn't get into the crown when I was watering, but it's not likely that much water went into it as I usually poured water on the potting medium) or maybe it is some kind of fungus. I'm a bit scared to use hydrogen peroxide, expecially that I don't know what the problem is.

I try to attach a picture (in case the photo is of bad quality, that black rod on the left is not a stem, it's the thing supporting the stem.) Any advice would be appreciated, thanks in advance!

Annie

[Tindomul]

Were you waiting for it to dry before watering it again? It sounds like you overwatered your plant. I would take it out of the pot, let dry out a little, and repot in fresh sphagnum moss if you have it. If it still has one or two leaves that look ok and are firmly attached to the plant you might be able to save this. If not, then it is too late. The key to these is to let them dry out a little between waterings, never leave them soaking wet, and don't let water stay on the crown without it drying out in less than an hour.

[AnnieM]

Thanks for the answer, I'll dry and repot the orchid as soon as I get the moss. It was never soaking wet, but maybe I overwatered it a little, since several websites (Phalaenopsis Watering | How to water a Moth Orchid | Plant-Care.com for example) say it should never be completely dry It still has two leaves, one of them is yellowing a little but both of them are firmly attached. I hope it can be saved.

Originally Posted by Tindomul

Were you waiting for it to dry before watering it again? It sounds like you overwatered your plant. I would take it out of the pot, let dry out a little, and repot in fresh sphagnum moss if you have it. If it still has one or two leaves that look ok and are firmly attached to the plant you might be able to save this. If not, then it is too late. The key to these is to let them dry out a little between waterings, never leave them soaking wet, and don't let water stay on the crown without it drying out in less than an hour.

[camille1585]

Repotting in bark would work as well, the problem with sphag is that in a lot of people's conditions it doesn't dry out evenly or fast enough. Doesn't mean it wouldn't work for you, you won't know until you try.

Remove any squishy/hollow roots and repot into the smallest pot the roots will fit into.

As to watering, yes it shouldn't be completely bone dry, but it shouldn't still be wet either. For Phals in clear pots this is very easy to judge, all you have to do is look at the root color. Green roots (and moisture beads in the pot) means that there's enough moisture. However once the roots turn a silvery white color, then it's time to water.

[AnnieM]

bad news when I gently shook the bark off the roots, it turned out that the roots were only healthy green on the outside, inside they were yellow and some of them had some white powdery stuff on them. this plant was basically dead except the one green leaf. anyway, thanks for the answers, I guess after finding this forum I'm a bit smarter now when it comes to phals and maybe I'll have more luck with my next one. this was my first orchid ever. I discarded all the stuff that was in contact with it, in case this thing is contagious.

[silken]

Sorry you lost this one But there is always another one out there needing a new home