Phal w/o aerial roots and not producing new leaves

[onmi]

Hi all,

I'm not sure whether I should consider myself a beginner, but here is a question: I have 2 orchids that I repotted several years ago. They both grow in the same conditions - light, watering, soil, etc. Since I repotted they both have been blooming non-stop. I literally can not repot them as the new branches with blossoms are coming out before the old ones die off. However, one of the orchids produces lots of new aerial roots and new leaves (occasionally) as well. While the other one has not had a new leaf or aerial root since the repotting. But it blooms the same way as the first one. Also, an interesting moment is that the spot where new leaves should be coming from is kind of hard, like there was some old stem (or something like that) and it was cut and became dry and hard. Maybe you can see it in the pictures. The white one has no problems while the purple is the one I'm concerned about. Or maybe there is nothing wrong with that?

1. the first picture is is the purple Phal, you can see the spot between the leaves
2. both phals. you can see how many aerial roots has the white one. also, it has more leaves.
3. here you can see both phals from above, the one with lost of aerial roots is white

[Ray]

The phal that’s not growing suffered from crown rot, losing its growth front, so that plant will never grow more leaves, but given the proper conditions, it may initiate a new one from its base.

Personally I’d cut off any flower spikes that form to encourage it to spend its energies on a new growth, instead.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

You can repot Phals when they're in bloom. If you're a little careful it won't affect the flowers nor buds. The first plant should branch from the base. Offsetting from the base is normal for Phals when they get older and bigger.

[onmi]

Originally Posted by Ray

The phal that’s not growing suffered from crown rot, losing its growth front, so that plant will never grow more leaves, but given the proper conditions, it may initiate a new one from its base.

Personally I’d cut off any flower spikes that form to encourage it to spend its energies on a new growth, instead.

Thank you so much for your reponse!!!
Do you know if crown rot might be the reason for the orchid not growing new aerial roots? Even though it doesn't make any sense to me...

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by onmi

Do you know if crown rot might be the reason for the orchid not growing new aerial roots? Even though it doesn't make any sense to me...

onmi --- the reason behind the observed results (including the crown rot) could be related to the growing conditions - which also includes how the orchid is/was grown.

Did a flower spike ever pop out from that crown area for the last flowering?

Anyway ---- let's assume that both orchids were repotted and then grown in 'exactly' the same way. And assuming that the slow growing (or non-growing) orchid had crown rot in the past.

One orchid might have happened to been more resilient ----- and so didn't suffer crown rot. Just like one person might be more resilient than another person in terms of developing health issues.

The history of the orchids (eg. how long were they growing there for before the repot) and growing conditions/method (watering technique, where is the water applied to the plant/media etc), air-movement details in the growing area, media type, watering schedule, fertiliser and mag-cal applications ------ pretty much everything ---- could help determine possible reasons for the situation with that one orchid.

If the orchids are generally and continually provided suitable growing conditions, they usually just keep growing nicely.

Whatever happened after the repot caused a setback in growth. Enough information/details will be needed to determine what needs to be done or could be done to improve the situation or avoid the situation.

[DeaC]

Hello. I would not be concerned about lack of aerial roots. Not all phals send them out and about. Just know roots need to be part of the growing process and I myself would rather see them grow down into the medium. With due respect,are you familiar with what causes crown rot so as not to let it occur again? With that said, just be mindful of good,basic care.