Can my Phal be saved?

11 years ago

Hi all.

I'm a newbie to orchids (and houseplants in general). I've had this plant for about 2.5 weeks total. This is my second Phal, the first one I managed to kill. So it had been a couple of years since the last one died and when I saw the great prices at Wal-Mart, I thought I'd give it another go. While I was there I also picked up a ceramic pot and Miracle Gro orchid soil to transplant it since it was just in a disposable pot. After researching these past couple of days, I'm thinking maybe that was my first mistake since the plant was/is in bloom. Also after getting home, I realized that the pot I bought doesn't have a drainage hole. I don't know if I can drill one but I can't afford to buy another pot so I figured I'd just try to make it work.

The plant had just about outgrown the temporary pot. The roots were all tangled up in the shape of the pot and they were too stiff for me to undo them. They were gray-ish in color. I potted the plant like that and have been watering it with 3-4 ice cubes once a week like the tag said.

The plant did great for about a week, and then I noticed that the smallest leaf was looking pretty bad. It was pale and maybe a bit reddish and limp and wrinkled. The rest of the leaves were still green and firm so I left it alone. After a few days, I noticed one of the blooms beginning to droop, at which point I plucked off the dead leaf. It came off very easily. After that the wilted bloom went downhill pretty quickly and then about 2 days ago I noticed the rest of the petals are seeming limp also. It's possible that it's jut time for the flowers to drop but there are still 2 flowers that haven't opened completely. They were completely closed when I bought the plant and had been opening up until I noticed the dead leaf.

I did a lot of research last night and decided to unpot my plant today and take a look at the roots. They were much more pliable than when I potted it so I was able to untangle them and get a better look. The roots that are still healthy were green in color, but there were a lot of brown and black mushy roots. The soil was fairly dry, cool to the touch but not wet at all, so I hesitate to say that the dead roots are a result of rot. In any case, I trimmed off all the dead. It wasn't an awful lot, probably not even 1/8 of the root mass, but there are still several yellow roots toward the center of the plant. They weren't mushy at all so I left them intact. While I was trimming the roots I soaked the potting mix in water and drained it off. I used the damp soil to repot the plant and put a bamboo skewer in the pot so I can be sure it's dried out before I water it next time.

That was about 7 hours ago, and now the blooms are looking worse than ever. At this point I'm not sure if I'm helping or hurting this plant. The remaining leaves are still in good shape so I have hope that it can be saved, but while I am able to invest time, I really don't have the resources to invest a lot of money. Any advice is welcome, I'm really at a loss as to what is wrong and what else I can do to correct it.

Thanks!

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Comments (6)

jane__ny
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
You need to provide more information. What zone do you live? If in the US, what State? What is your light exposure, temps?

You need to get a pot with some drainage holes. I'm sure you can find an old plastic pot and cut some holes in it. Any pot as long as it isn't too big. Find one close to the size it was in. You can keep the ceramic pot for show.

Please give more info and maybe some pics of your plant.

Jane
arthurm
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Before you go any further, you should find some complete culture notes on the net that are written for wherever you live in the USA.
Is it the right time of year to fiddle and do you have the right conditions to fiddle?
It the orchid potting mix you purchased suitable for Phalaenopsis? Miracle-Gro orchid soil might be intended for orchids such as Oncidiums which have fine roots and therefore need a fine potting mix.
Look at those leaves, in the other plant world, they resemble succulent leaves, and should tell you to stay your watering hand a little.
Anyway, tell the posters here where you are in the USA, read some past posts about Phalaenopsis (Put Phalaenopsis in the search box to find them) and good luck, if you succeed Phalaenopsis are rewarding.
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Honestly if it was mine I would just chuck it and get a new healthy phal it's gone.even if it could be saved it would take years to reach the point of being healthy to bloom.your better off getting a healthy blooming one, and if this one has some sentiments attached to it you could buy a new one in honour of it.Velleta
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I've just brought some Phals inside after summering them in a glass-house, one looked the same as yours and I was going to toss it.....but it has a tiny new growth so it will not go in the dust bin. Flowers are the object of the exercise and experiments are good, so you should treat yourself while waiting to see if the patient recovers.
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Have you moved it’s position since the spike started? It will grow towards the light source.
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What kind of grow medium is it in, and did you make sure it had an 'extra' measure of water to carry it over while you were away? It looks like oedema/ edema, a physiological disorder. Something I wrote about it: Oedema Oedema (aka edema) is a physiological disorder that can affect all terrestrial plants. It occurs when the plant takes up more water than it can rid itself of via the process of transpiration. The word itself means 'swelling', which is usually the first symptom, and comes in the form of pale blisters or water-filled bumps on foliage. Under a variety of circumstances/cultural conditions, a plant's internal water pressure (turgidity) can become so high that some leaf cells rupture and leak their contents into inter-cellular spaces in leaf tissue, creating wet or weepy areas. Symptoms vary by plant, but as the malady progresses, areas of the leaf turn yellow, brown, brown with reddish overtones or even black, with older damage appearing as corky/ scaly/ ridged patches, or wart/gall-like bumpy growth. Symptoms are seen more frequently in plants that are fleshy, are usually more pronounced on the underside of leaves, and older/lower leaves are more likely to be affected than younger/upper leaves. Oedema is most common in houseplants during the winter/early spring months, is driven primarily by excessive water retention in the soil, and can be intensified via several additional cultural influences. Cool temperatures, high humidity levels, low light conditions, or partial defoliation can individually or collectively act to intensify the problem, as can anything else that slows transpiration. Nutritional deficiencies of Ca and Mg are also known contributors to the malady. Some things that can help you prevent oedema: * Increase light levels and temperature * Monitor water needs carefully – avoid over-watering. I'd heartily recommend a soil with drainage so sharp (fast) that when you to water to beyond the saturation point you needn't worry about prolonged periods of soil saturation wrecking root health/function. Your soil choice should be a key that unlocks the solutions to many potential problems. * Avoid misting or getting water on foliage. It slows transpiration and increases turgidity. * Water as soon as you get up in the AM. When stomata close in preparation for the dark cycle, turgidity builds. If you water early in the day, it gives the plant an opportunity to remove (for its own needs) some of the excess water in the soil. * Put a fan in the room or otherwise increase air flow/circulation. Avoid over-crowding your plants. Al
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Kauaiguy
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
First of all, I am NOT a big supporter of Plastic or Ceramic pots because they don't BREATH and let enough moisture out.

Believe it or not AIR circulation and DRAINAGE are important to growing these type of plants, and compacted dirt or a medium of fine material that hold a lot of water will more often than not kill these types of orchids. Here, I'm talking about orchids with fairly decent size roots ..i.e. Cattleyas and Phalaenopsis.

My main focus right now are Cattleyas, however I have a couple of Phals and I almost lost one of them because it was planted in rocks and DIRT! ... in a Plastic Pot! That was about a year ago.

It got to the point where it only had 3 leaves left and one of them was deformed badly. I repotted it in an old clay pot (which is what I had at the time) and in a medium of rocks and bark and here it is now. I just took this picture. Note that it's getting ready to flower.
Kauaiguy
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Here is my 2nd Phal. Notice that it has 4 stalks that are getting ready to bloom. Pic taken just now.

Disregard the bamboo stick sticking in it. I can't take it out because the roots have wound itself around it below. Guess I could cut most of it off. LOL
jane__ny
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Again, it depends on where you live and the humidity/air movement you have. I have grown orchids for a long time in NY, zone 5-6 in plastic pots with success. I find plastic pots with good drainage is an advantage when dealing with dry, stagnant air. Clay pots dry out too quickly and roots nearest the pot edge will die.

The OP did not give any info on where she lives, therefore no advice can be offered except to get the plant out of a non-draining pot. Anything is better than a pot without drainage. She states she cannot afford to buy a pot.

Almost everyone has an old plastic pot laying around and that was my suggestion.

Branmuffin, you live in zone 9. I recently moved to the same zone and have switched 'most' of my orchids to clay because of high humidity. You also have, what appears to be 3 Phals in one pot.

Jane
AllisaurusRex
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Sorry it took so long for me to come back. I thought I was supposed to get an email whenever someone replied to my post, but I never did.

I live in NY, zone 5A according to some website I just found. We have a coal stove and because of that we tend to have super dry indoor conditions. My thermostat thingy says the indoor humidity right now is 15%, and that's with humidifiers going in the bedrooms. I keep the orchid on our entryway table in the living room. It is not directly in front of a window but the whole room is quite bright during the day, all day long. It is near the front door, so I suppose it does get the occasional draft when the door is used, but it is not constant.

I will try to see if I can find a cheap plastic pot with drainage that I can set inside the ceramic pot. Though it might seem strange, I don't have random pots just laying around, since I have never kept plants before. I destroyed the pot the Phal came in to get it out without damaging the roots.

The bag of Miracle Gro says it's suitable for Phals. It is a pretty chunky mixture with bark in it.

As of now, the leaves are still looking good. The flowers have not declined since my last post either. I'd like to post pictures but my computer doesn't have an SD card slot and I have yet to get a USB converter.

Thanks for all of your suggestions, and keep them coming!

Can my Phal be saved?

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jane__ny

arthurm

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Can my Phal be saved?

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