The "stem" is nothing to be concerned with. Its over for that part of the plant. In order to get another "stem" the plant will need to grow a new set of leaves. Then theoretically it will shoot up a new florescence (stem).

A pic and your conditions would help. A trip to the FAQ and "spag and bag section" may help ya too.

There have been some good posts on rehabilitaion. That's what ya got there. A plant in trouble. Searching the site could help fill in the what to do details for ya.

Best 66 pages I ever read is "Taylor's Guide to Orchids". You can get a used one 4 about 2$ on amazon.
Mike

Excessive watering and/or a non-draining pot do not cause root rot. Only one thing causes root rot: not enough light. With proper light every single day watering and/or water culture with the phal roots completely submerged become possible. The reason why the phal won't turn around despite all the good measures that have been taken to restore it's health is because it is waiting for a significant change to be made in the amount of light it receives.

H

Howard, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? You seem to be saying that those of us with proper light never need to repot when our mix decays and becomes a wad of swamp muck. I would be happy to argue, based on enzymatic reaction rate, that proper temperature is more important than light level, but that would also be a gross oversimplification.

Water cultured does not work in a pot full of rotting mix. Roots do not live long in water logged conditions because of anoxia, bacterial and fungal attack, and whatever toxins are produced by the decay.

The new leaf is dinky because the plant cycle produces a leaf before it produces roots, and sometimes it matures the leaf fast to get to the associated root growth part of the cycle. Loss of the lower leaves is due to relocation of mineral nutrients to promote new growing areas (new leaves/new roots).

Roots removed from the peices of mix they have grown onto are pretty inefficient at nutrient uptake, so the plant feels a need for more roots until it gets restablished onto the peices of the new mix. During this period the plant cannot pull in enough nutrients to grow larger leaves. So, you can have nutrient stunting or developmental stunting of the leaves

Aerial root production is a tricky subject. After repotting you generally see roots grow down into the pot where the nutrients and moisure are. Later, when the pot is either full of roots or the mix is decaying you see more aerial root production. The roots seem to be avoiding the pot.

Now for the bad news. Roots can weaken and die in a bad environment, or they can be infected and killed in a bad environment. If they are infected the infection can move up the stem and cause one or more of the following: premature death of the lower leaves, excessive spike production, and/or excessive production of new small leaves.

If this is the case the plant will decline quickly or it will stabilize and be weak a very long time. Unlike a lot of plants orchids are very hard to kill completely so don't think that just because there is a spark of life left in it the plant will come back into its former glory.

Without seeing a picture of your leaf rings it sounds like it could either be a local fungal infection or virus.

One thing you could do to help the plant during its root transition is to put individual peices of sphagnum moss against a few roots in the pot rather than mix it in. That way the plant has access to a little more nutrients/water, and you are not in danger of having a water retentive mix.

Everybody is right here. While I am the first to say that I am not a big Phal grower, it is because my conditions are not Phal-friendly, the light level is too high.

The primary reason that Orchids, not just Phals, don't do well is light level, but it is not a cure-all either. Temperature, watering and air movement are important also.

I water my plants daily, sometimes more than that, during the summer. I have very high light 2500 fc to 5000 fc and I grow a wide range of plants. I have four fans going and you can see leaves moving just about in all parts of the greenhouse.

Overall culture is the key. A combination of factors. My personal guideline is how long does it take for a plant to need to be watered? If it is more than a week, then a cultural factor needs to be changed. This can be more light, or it can be changing from plastic to clay pots. It can be changing from fine bark to coarse bark. It can be adding a fan. It can be watering in the morning instead of the evening.

Howard is very right in one way. If a person says that their orchid is not doing well and I advise them to increase the light, that is almost always the thing that will make the most difference in the plant's health.

There was a question last week about why phal leaves are smaller when they grow for a home grower. ( assuming the culture is correct)

Spiced_Ham's answer is exactly why I am not too quick to repot anything that comes my way, especially with the orphans and hospital drop off's. They've already had a shock of being left outside my door and have been in sub-par conditions for an unknown length of time.

For some reason it's always the advise to pull the plant from the pot and replace the medium immediately. I can't say I agree. Mehitabel may understand why I would be reluctant to do so, even with degraded media.

The OP obviously de-potted. No choice, I suppose. In general, with some experience, one can see clearly without de-potting what the problems are with a Rescue phal. dessicated leaves, root rot, bad media ( usually a given if it's from a Big Box store) can all be seen without removing the plant from a regular pot. I just adjust my watering habits to accomodate the problem until the plant is established and stable.

I would also assume from Spiced_Ham's info that my rehab who keeps splitting his new leaves is due to the above factor as well and nutrient uptake without root support(?). That one I did have to disturb. It was mounted.

Richard, generally speaking about water you are right. However, there are micro-climates/grow areas (such as mine) where watering frequency with phals has to be extended. High humidity, plastic pots and spag in my conditions are lucky if they get watered every 10 days - 2 weeks. I have plenty of light and air movement. 70-80% RH. It's been that way for me in z-5 and z-10. Rehabs I make work for water. I will mist the top to coax roots. Aerials eventually get buried.

The other problem with something like a HD phal or a rescue phal is that the vendor will pot up leaving the old spag. The old spag core holds so much mositure that I wouldn't dare water that more than 2x per month. I'd rather not water too often and let the plant get acclimated before I replace the media.

Clara

Thanks to you all...Mike and Spiced Ham - I will heed your advice at once.

The phal WAS in the dark, with my others. I had 9, lost two just before moving. Lost two more during moving from MD to NC (poor things got relegated to the garage in the late fall/early winter with cool temops and little light). I had 5 survivors. Three are doing AMAZINGLY well. One is doing OK (average), and then this poor plant. It WAS doing better, then a housesitter thought to stick it in a pretty glazed pot and pull it about two feet away from the window. The glazed pot held water under the Phal, it was really soaking in water for a couple of weeks. It was cleaned and repotted in June or July(?) and has received plenty of sun since then (same as all the other Phals, all of which have been in bloom since April, May & June).

I guess what I need to learn is more about the actual growth and life cycle and how long it takes to heal from trauma.

If I can figure out how to resize pics, I will post.

Thanks again :o)