New Phal with droopy leaves, should I cut spike off? - Orchid Board

garnet16 · #1 03-07-2018, 04:26 PM

Hi guys.

Pick this up on clearance after Valentine’s Day. Leaves looked good, a few flowers slightly wilted. I got home and took it apart most of the root was black, rotted. I cut off the bad roots. . I repotted it in bark/perlite/little bit of sphagnum.

Soon after I reported I noticed the petals were drooping even more.

Should I cut down the spike to the base so the plant can focus on getting better ?

Also I am a new member. Can someone please tell me why my pictures keep coming up sideways? I’m uploading them straight from my phone

Thank you

estación seca · #2 03-08-2018, 12:02 PM

There might not be enough roots left to support the flowers. I would cut off the spike, and focus on getting the plant back to health. This means a good root system as well as healthy leaves. It will flower even better the next time.

Sometimes they take a year off after the first flowering before blooming again. So long as the plant looks good and has good roots, all will be fine.

Photos all post in landscape mode from phones nowadays. To fix it you need to open the image in a program that lets you rotate. Rotate to a new orientation and save. Rotate to the proper orientation and save. Now it should upload properly. Some people find it only works on a desktop.

greenpassion · #3 03-08-2018, 03:23 PM

E.S. is spot on. I have cut a spike that is bloom from a Phal that is in distress a few times, and then nursed the plant back to health. One I have in particular is now in double Spike with twice as many blooms!

garnet16 · #4 03-08-2018, 03:51 PM

Thank you to the both of you. I just cut it all the way down. I had a feeling this was the right thing to do. The few roots that were left were pretty short after I had to trim all the bad ones off. Will focus on fertilizing once a week and hopefully it will get healthy.

greenpassion · #5 03-08-2018, 06:07 PM

Something that will immensely help regrowth of roots is Kelpmax. Look into it. Ray, from First Rays is the creator of it. He's a member of this board. Maybe he will chime in here, maybe not, but it's a wonderful product. A serious boost for root growth!!

estación seca · #6 03-08-2018, 11:31 PM

Phals are warm to hot growing plants. Temperature is more important than fertilizer for them to be happy.

If we haven't already directed you there, go to Forums in the left yellow menu, then Beginners. Near the top is a sticky thread: The Phal abuse stops here. There is a lot of good information to read about learning to grow Phals.