Help...Amazing Phalenopsis may have a terminal spike... any hope for it?

[Heebs]

Hello friends

Greetings from Abu Dhabi

I purchased this beautiful orchid as a beginner back on November not knowing anything about orchids except their gorgeous blooms.

I'll post before and now photos here.
Its the one on the left in the first photo when l purchased 6 months ago.

Is this a terminal spike ?

Is there any hope of my orchid working its way round this to go onto live and bloom again?

Thanks in advance

[SouthPark]

Heebs ..... it may well be a terminal spike.

Just keep looking after your plant. True - the leaves are dehydrated, so keep applying the watering so that the media stays damp - but roots to never be allowed to be very wet for long durations of time (to avoid drowning/running out of oxygen). And hopefully the plant can sprout some side shoot for new growth. That's if this is a terminal spike.

[camille1585]

When a Phal produces a terminal spike, the apical meristem is gone (no more growth from the top), but this leads to hormonal changes in the plant which can trigger a new growth to form from the base of the plant, called a basal keiki. I don't know how frequently this happens with 'terminal' plants, but there is a good chance that it will eventually happen.

However, terminal spike or not, the plant doesn't seem in good shape and is severely dehydrated. How is the root system? If you don't know, now would be a good time to check, and if necessary, move it to a smaller pot.

If there are many good roots, then you need to drastically increase the amount of water it gets. How do you usually water? To throughly wet the bark you need to soak the pot in water for at least 15-20min and repeat once the medium is only just damp. You may need to water every 3-4 days depending on the conditions the plant is kept in.

[Heebs]

Thanks both... yes.. I'll give it a good soak.. it's just that when l unpotted it from the shop it had a ton of hearlthy roots... then in my new pot they all became mushy and died so l don't water as much to avoid the few remaining good roots from dissolving.. and the roots are mostly the inner string.

But l will inspect it again and give it a good watering.

Thanks again.

[Mountaineer370]

What is that you have it planted in? It almost looks like a wine glass, or something that is solid glass or maybe clear plastic with a long stem and base. (I can't really get an idea as to the size of it from the photo.) I don't see anything that looks like air holes or vents. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Your potting medium looks fine (the chunky bark), but if there is no ventilation in this container, the first thing I would do is move it to something else. Orchid roots need air circulation, and just getting it from the top surface will not be enough for the long-term health of your plant (as you have seen).

How have you been watering it?

[JScott]

Personally, I think your potting medium looks too coarse, unless you are willing to water every day. for Phals, I prefer a medium grade bark, and mabye even mix a little sphagnum moss in there to help hold moisture. Phals don't like to get completely dry ever, and your plants looks mad dehydrated. It may be that the roots are dead, but take a look, and if the roots are good, mabye pot it in a finer medium and add something to retain moisture, or if you don't want to change the medium, water like mad to keep it from drying out completely.