Phal failure to thrive

[lauraeli]

I have probably 15 phals and I can grow them in anything from bark to sphag to vase culture. Most of them are doing well. Ive had this one for 4 or 5 years years and it seems to have declined gradually and constantly over that time period and nothing I do seems to help it. The leaves get smaller and smaller and the roots are shriveled looking. It hasn't grown any new roots in a long time. It had a long dried stem/trunk which I finally cut off because all of the roots attached to the bottom of it were dead. About a month ago right after cutting that off I switched it to a modified case culture and moved it to a higher light area. The roots that are on it now are basically old aerial roots. I wet the moss when it dries out and maybe twice a week I mist the roots that are not in the moss. It hasn't done much of anything since. I've brought many phals back from the brink of death, it's easy for me. But seems like there's something more wrong with this one that eludes me. Anyone else have any phals that just never seem happy and eventually just die? Any suggestions?

[SouthPark]

Does this orchid get any supplements such as weak orchid fertiliser?

The wet soggy spaghnum in the 3rd photo should probably be skipped for now.

Instead, I'd just pot this orchid into an extremely good drainage opaque plastic pot - into a scoria or orchiata bark medium, and give the orchid nice warm temperature, and medium light level (no direct-path sunlight), and aim to keep the media and the roots slightly moist.

I would also ensure that at least gentle air-movement occurs in the growing environment (or mostly occurs).

Your orchid doesn't look too bad. Maybe it just requires fertiliser.

[lauraeli]

Yes i spray the roots once a week or every other week with a dilute orchid fertilizer. It looks and grows like it has some kind of deficiency but I don't know what it would be if indeed that is the case

[aliceinwl]

What are your temperatures like? I’ve had a few that never thrived over the years and I wonder if my conditions are just too cool.

[SouthPark]

I see! Are your other phals doing well in bark? If so - then you could try potting this phal into bark ----- or the media that the bulk of your phals are doing well in. An airy bark media, with a very good drainage pot.

And when fertilising, just make up the weak fertiliser as usual - and apply it to both the roots and the (bark or scoria) media. In this way, when the roots and media are wet, then fertiliser can then take its time to get into the roots, and into the plant.

Once again - try to provide good air-movement in the growing media, so that all parts of the orchid (including roots) get nice air-flow.

[lauraeli]

Some of my phals are vase culture, some are in bark/sphagnum or sphagnum/charcoal, a few are in just bark. I adjust my mix as I get to know the individual orchid. This one was previously in bark. The ones that I am nursing I always switch over to vase culture so i can keep an eye on the roots. Sometimes i switch them over just because i enjoy the growing method. This one i don't want to put back in a growing medium because the current roots are unhealthy and will probably rot if i bury them. They were air roots. Right now they are just resting on top of the moss.

As far as temperature, it does tend to be cool in here but nothing below 65 and usually around 68

---------- Post added at 06:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:18 PM ----------

The moss is wet but the roots are not in it, just resting on top. It does dry out every 2 or 3 days.

[SouthPark]

lauraeli - I see. If the roots appear to be vulnerable to rotting, then this is where I'd be applying some treatment such as agri-fos or aliette or yates anti-rot phosacid --- spraying onto the roots. Then allow the roots to dry a bit. And then I'd pot the phal into new media, like bark or scoria --- in a very good drainage pot.

And then into a growing area with warm temperature, eg. 24 degrees C, medium light, and gentle air-movement.

Any weak fertiliser (eg. once a month or once every 2 weeks application) can go both to the roots and into the media.

If a particular orchid doesn't appear to be doing much, then the best bet is to do something that could improve the situation --- such as increase the temperature (for the plant - roots, stem, leaves and all), and ensure decent air-movement among media and roots.

Also - to try stimulate some more root growing activity, I have some products called Auxinone and Ezi-root gel, which is based on auxins --- for helping with root growing activity. I heed the recommendations about not over-using it, to avoid any side effects or unwanted effects.

The stringy bits seen in the photos indicates the remnants of the old roots. Also, indications of dried up roots. So one thing to try sort out the situation is to provide the nicest growing conditions - good light level and light duration, good temperature, good airy-media with gentle air-movement, with a media such as scoria (big enough pieces but not too big, or bark) that retains some moisture but doesn't allow the roots to get soggy, and allows good air-flow if the pot has a lot of big holes on the bottom of it.

Looks like the leaves are quite nice. Just need to get the roots back in action again.

[aliceinwl]

Your indoor temperatures sound similar to mine. Maybe see if warming things up with a seedling heat mat does the trick. It sounds like you’ve pretty much tried everything else with this one.