I'm sorry to hear that you're having problems with your phal. I've had the same problem too, but no worries, I'd be glad to share it with you, the site is http://www.orchidsgrowing.com/blog.

Hope this helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: How to grow orchids

Yes, your phal can survive the broken stem. New growth will come from below the break in the form of a new plantlet coming from somewhere below. It may take some time, but one day you'll see a couple of tiny leaves appear.

What you can do to help: disinfect the break by dusting with cinnamon, and keep that center/break dry. Give the plant the best care you can, and wait.

The urge to liveis really strong in phals, and your plant will do all it can to survive. Good luck.

Would increasing the humidity by placing the broken phal in a large inflated plastic zip-lock bag help it grow the new plantlet? I was thinking about doing this once the flower spikes finish blooming. The humidity here in Southern California is quite low although being near the coast brings nightly humid conditions.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention the phal is relatively small (in a 3" pot), with a medium that appears to be mostly bark with some moss.

A smaller plant (unless it's a mini that never gets big) isn't as strong as a bigger plant and will have a harder time surviving than a big old honking thing with the same kind of break.

Nature will provide the cure. Just give it the best care you can as if it was a healthy plant and it will survive or not. We all lose things from time to time since most of us don't have perfect conditions, or we get careless from time to time.

About the humidity bag: you have to be kind of careful here, because inside one of those bags are the perfect conditions (warm and humid) for *pseudomonas* a bacterial rot that is *the* killer of phals.

I do bag the leaves of stressed phals, so I wouldn't say don't do it. But I would say don't use a ziplock bag zipped shut. My preferred method is to put separate bags on each side so the middle crown area stays open to the air, and is not covered by bag. I also clip them so that there is a little gap for air exchange. That still leaves plenty of humidity. If for some reason that doesn't work, I put a single baggie on somewhat loosely, leaving spaces for air to get in.

Keeping open air around the broken crown area is especially important for you, since the broken stem is a perfect place for pseudomonas to get a start.

Confined, airless spaces with high humidity are rot heaven. And speaking of rot, if the break was jagged, take a fresh new razor blade and cut it so its smooth (smooth = less of a rot heaven than jagged)

But I don't think you need to treat it like an invalid-- it's not sick, just broken. If the roots are strong, it will use its strength to put out a new crown. Most plants, and definitely orchids, usually have reserve, unused buds they keep for just such a disaster as a broken crown.

Since you have spikes, it might develop a plantlet or two from the spike. Watching to see what it will do to survive can be a lesson and a thrill itself.

While you're waiting for this one to recover, it helps to buy a new blooming orchid-- So Cal must be heaven for finding blooming orchids. That will keep you from worrying and fussing and blaming yourself unnecessarily. Nature willbe the cure, not so much anything you do.

Good luck.

quinnfrye, you don't have to *do* anything for pseudomonas to start. Neither did the vendor. Pseudomonas is everywhere. It can be on the inside of a hose, instance. On the pot, on the plant, on the tray the plant is sitting on. It just sits there, waiting its chance to grow when conditions are right. A week is plenty of time for it to get its hold on your plant.

The only way to fight it is by preventing the conditions that are favorable to it-- for example, keeping the crown and the leaf attachments dry, keeping air moving.

When conditions are favorable for pseudomonas to grow, you can protect your phal by spraying the crown with physan. Physan is effective against pseduomonas, and gives the plant a couple of days of protection.

Paul, thanks for the link. There are lots of blogs that include orchids, but there aren't many about orchids. His is a different focus than mine. I like it.

Here is a link that might be useful: My blog

Yeah, it's just frustrating (mildly) that the crown was dry, the air was dry, and it wasn't particularly still in my room. I was trying to give it a chance to dry out a bit, and adjust to being here, and bam, rot. Oh well, like I said, annoying. But not the end of the world. I'd be far more annoyed if it died, but a little hydrogen peroxide and cinnamon fixed things.

I did repot it after that, as the fungus gnats were driving me crazy, and saw that it was packed tightly in sphag surrounding a packed center of what looked like potting mix. And um, a piece of plastic from a broken pot. It wasn't a super cheap orchid, and it was my first time buying from that vendor. My roommate's Phal from the same vendor, however, is doing grand. Maybe I just got unlucky. We'll see what that one looks like when repotted.

Bamboo, glad your flower spikes survived the fall, though. At least you'll get your blooms this year.