Hello everyone~

I'm a new member and have taken notes on so much information so far from this forum...however, I'm at the point where I need more specific advice for the condition of my Phal. I absolutely love it, it was a Valentines Day present and had gorgeous blooms for months, & large lush leaves that I loved just as much as the flowers. The blooms continued to open and then when they were finished, dropped per normal, I cut the stem down and it continued to be just fine...that is until I repotted it. This was before I educated myself more. :( The bag said 'orchid mix' but had peat moss in it. I think it rotted the roots, and I later found out the appropriate mix for Phals is bark and sphagnum. All this time (about 4 months up until I repotted it), I was watering via the '3 ice cubes per week method" and it seemed fine.

So after I repotted it, the problem started (about 3 wks later) with one yellow leaf (it had a total of 5 leaves and is now down to 2). I watered it with fertilizer and the next day the leaf was worse and the yellowing had continued to another leaf. That's when I took it out of the pot and saw that the roots were almost skeletal. They weren't full and green like they were when I first repotted it, but shriveled and grayish/black. The outer skin of the roots were sliding right off to reveal a slim fiber.

I read many posts on this and started with the 'sphag n' bag' method, initially. But with further reading I found that "pcan's method" of soaking the leaves and applying root hormone *without* a bag was better, so I changed to that. But the roots appeared to be shriveling up again. Thinking it didn't have enough humidity I put the bag back on (but left it in it's mix of sphagnum loosely around the stem). It seemed to be getting fuller roots and a new root was starting. (I've mostly had it outside in the shade of my porch where it's been getting in the upper 70's/lower 80's in the day and down to 60 at night).

Well, today I checked it and was so distraught over what I saw. The stem, just under the bottom leaf looks mushy and gooey. The bottom leaf pretty much just fell off when I took it inside to look at it, so there's just the 2 remaining leaves now. There doesn't appear to be any rot in the crown, it's *under* the leaves, just above where the roots stem from. I applied Physan 20 today to the affected area and treated the medium and the pot.

But what now? Some questions I have...

Should I use a systemic fungacide like Thiomyl at this point? But what about the roots since they are still re-growing? Will this hurt them if I soak the whole plant?

Should I wait to use Thiomyl since I just used the Physan 20 today? Would it hurt it to use Thiomyl so soon?

Also, is having it outside bad for it in it's current condition? I had it inside initially but it didn't seem to do as well. Is the shade outside too bright for roots to properly form? Would a darker area promote the fungus more? I also wonder about the cool temp. at night - is that promoting the fungus?

I'm just at the end of my rope. I want to treat the fungus yet save the roots. I'm so sentimental towards this plant, I really want to save it but it seems the more I do the worse it gets, or that I find out I should've done something differently...or....well, I'm sure you all know the drill! This is the only orchid I've ever had. Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me!

Here's a couple pix of my Phal back in March in all it's glory (before the horrendous repot):

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