uh-oh i think i’m sick! - Orchid Board

tedro · #1 10-22-2021, 11:34 PM

should i cut ALL of the black out, cut off the bottom of ghis core? or, what SHOULD i do, please.

before and after pics. I was taking off the one yellow leaf, and then I noticed that the other one even though it had one little stripe of green was practically fell off. So those two came off. After that I noticed that the orchid would barely stand up like it wasn’t any routes down there holding it very well. That it would come right out of the pot easily. So I decided to look and this is what I found and this is what I did. This all happened like in about a half an hours time. The medium is new it’s not the old medium but I don’t know that I took off enough black or put the enough hydrogen peroxide or whatever I should do I don’t really know I just put it in the new pot and I had to stake the spike to help support the orchid itself.
AND, I have not watered it again yet. Maybe I should wait 24 hours. The new medium was/is completely dry.

i’m wondering if I should’ve cut off the bottom of that core that’s got all the black on it like about a half an inch of it or more anyway I don’t know what I should do it looks pretty serious to me.

i only had a little a few ounces, perhaps. so i poured it into my 1/3 filled of water spray bottle. spray that area just a bit, and, as maybe you can see, i cut away what i could, even around that exterior blacken lower core. i thought i should cut that off, too.

i bet i have to get something for it. but i don’t what.

tedro · #2 10-23-2021, 12:23 AM

i think water was getting into lower leaf bases, not crown. and i got stem rot.
and maybe too much watering.

i wonder also if i should cut the spike, to help it focus on roots?

SouthPark · #3 10-23-2021, 04:41 AM

My recommendation is to not use hydrogen peroxide on the orchid.

At this moment, it's hard to say what happened, or what this is going to progress toward. But maybe the first step will be to just allow those roots and stem to dry out a bit. Looks like you washed it all nicely.

And then just repot into the medium. And - could maybe try do what I do - and focus the water into particular sections of the pot - so that regions down in the dark depths of the pot don't remain super wet for ages. But --- it's not so bad in very wet regions where the roots of the orchid actually adapt to wetter conditions.

But - my conditions are tropical ----- and humidity is generally pretty good. Nice gentle air-movement in the growing area, and the lighting is pretty good too. I only just have to watch out for spider mites here.

Potting and watering link - one method

Also - your phal is growing new roots. And that is a very promising sign. And also ------- if the remaining leaves of your phal stay nice and healthy ----- then that will be really good!!!!! That's what we want to see ----- no more leaves going yellow and falling off.

I don't think I would cut any more bits off this orchid in this situation. Just let it dry out a bit. If there are any soft and very 'mushy' bits (if any) ----- then just use your fingers to pull off mushy bits. Then a bit of a dry-out. Then re-pot.

One possible issue about cutting is to over-do it. So after treating it a little bit, then the rest may be just up to time and care. At the moment, it doesn't look too bad. If no more leaves keep falling off, then we're in business.

tedro · #4 10-23-2021, 04:36 PM

thank you, SouthPark!

could be this year i got the lanai shader, and twice a day i open the door and put it up or down

years ago i’d leave it cracked open thinking my then new parlor palm would like some humidity creeping in. but all these tiny black (mites?) must have blown in on the breeze.
it wreaked havoc, but i saved it. very sick (maybe the parts that survived, it’s big now, are kinda immune, idk.

anyway. maybe what ppl calked “red” when i was complaining about what i was calling “black” on some leaves… maybe that was this rot trying to succeed. maybe i beat that back, but now this.

i always thought the leaves that yellowed were old bottom leaves; my phal has dropped one or two lowest leaves each of my 2 seasons. so i began to think it’s normal. and this time it had like 7 leaves for a minute. now it’s back to usual 4.

i think i’ve learned that phal has like several brains or something (organs) like one for the flowering spike and another for veg, maybe even another if your lucky for a keiki. … that will try to do their thing whether or not the others are really healthy, to a degree, or not. that’s where i read about a real sick phal that was blooming, but they took off the spike to save it.

idk, that black stuff on the stem looks like kinda little balks if black or something… looks like an attack. idk.

more will be revealed. soon i hope.

thank you.

tedro · #5 10-23-2021, 08:05 PM

i noticed it before, but now realize maybe a connection, my last newest leaf did not grow as big and it is the one with what i think is black top, near end, and i think bottom.

maybe i can get a pic.

now i see the opposite, 2nd to newest —same last generation — has those ridges appearance and feel and the discoloration.

i think we’re in trouble.

SouthPark · #6 10-23-2021, 08:26 PM

Check underneath the leaf to see if there are any spider mites or any very tiny and slowly moving insects etc ------- just in case.

Orchid Whisperer · #7 10-23-2021, 08:27 PM

What South Park said . . . no hydrogen peroxide. Especially on the roots. HP kills roots.

I think you are over-thinking growing this plant. Keep it simple. To grow, the plant needs leaves, and roots (there are no brains or organs). The roots in the picture are OK if they survived the peroxide. Water in a way that will allow the roots to get wet, then have the medium go nearly dry (nearly dry equals the medium being a little cool to the touch, the roots turning silvery). Then water again. Cycle that watering pattern: water (dry out); water (dry out); keep repeating. This will encourage the plant to (1) not lose roots and (2) grow more roots. This could even work with no medium at all around the roots, I have grown Phals for a couple years in an open container, no medium (since it is now in new medium, don't pull it out, just leave it, water properly).

With the dead basal stem section, since it is in new medium now, don't un-pot and re-pot. Just leave it and take good care of it.

In case it comes up later, don't worry about fertilizer right now. Simply water it carefully.

estación seca · #8 10-23-2021, 10:13 PM

Are you still giving your Phals high light levels? The discoloration in the second set could be caused by that.

tedro · #9 10-26-2021, 11:43 PM

hey, i’ve not been feeling well.

i took out a bulb.
what’s strange is i’ve done nothing different for … what 2 years, almost? except, i think this year (season) is colder in here… my doing, apparently.

trying NOT to water. watered a little around the sides today.

dern spike is making 4 “arms.”

ps. just discovered this video, wish i had seen it before, i would have cleaned it up much better. Part 1: Saving Stem and Root Rotted Orchids (100% Results) - YouTube