Phal with crown rot? - Orchid Board

Bunny9129 · #1 01-18-2021, 12:15 PM

Hello,
Can anyone tell me if there is any chance I can revive this or there is no way i can fix tjis hut throw away? My Phal sudden got this yellow thing in the middle crown. And it start rotting st the roots, still have some good aerial roots but today i tried to take it out to try dipping it in water and the whole plant fell apart like this! I was so heart broken and panick! Please helpp!!

Bunny9129 · #2 01-18-2021, 12:28 PM

More pics. I don’t know what I should do now.. It is a gift and I don’t want it to die 😭😭😭 It got root rot first so i trimmed all the dead roots first and the lower leaves started to crinkles but i saw I still have some aerial roots amd the top leaves still plump and it even has the spike coming out. Then suddenly i notice the yellow spot and now the good leave on top fell apart 😭😭😭 please tell me i can fix it. I don’t want to throw it away. Had it almost a year, got it in march last year for a bday gift from an important person 😭

estación seca · #3 01-18-2021, 01:20 PM

It is likely crown rot. It can be caused by a combination of cool temperatures and water standing in the crown.

It might be salvageable if any stem is alive. Put a few drops of hydrogen peroxide, only into the cavity of the crown. Don't put it on the rest of the plant, and especially don't put it on the roots. After about 10 minutes shake the peroxide out of the crown.

Repot the plant. I suggest bark, LECA or cinders. Put it someplace warm, warmer than where you were growing it. A heat mat will help. Water well, then water again when the roots are almost dry. Take care to keep water out of the crown. If any gets in, blow it out.

If the rot is too far advanced, the plant will fall apart over the next week. If it survives it will grow from the base. It might not make new growth for months.

Bunny9129 · #4 01-18-2021, 02:43 PM

Hi. Thank you for replying! How do i water the phal if the root is pretty much gone now. Only the aerial roots left.. do i put cinnamon on the plant like some people suggest? How do i do the treatment properly? Do i change to now bark as well?

aliceinwl · #5 01-18-2021, 07:54 PM

I’d repot into fresh bark with the aerial roots buried just below the surface. Put it into as small a pot as you can. Water by flushing: ideally it should dry quickly enough that you’re watering every 2-3 days. After the peroxide treatment, I carefully fill the crown with cinnamon to keep things really dry in there. Keep it warm and bright.

This usually happens when the crown gets wet and the plant is already under stress: too cold, too wet, broken down media etc. It’s important to fix the underlying issue to improve recovery odds.

It looks to have a spike forming. I would leave the developing spike alone: there’s a chance that it will form a keiki off the spike then you would have that even if the parent plant doesn’t make it.

I think you caught it relatively early. My save rate with Phals in this state has been about 75% so there’s plenty of hope.

Good luck!

---------- Post added at 03:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:48 PM ----------

I would also be a good idea to peruse at least the first few pages of the sticky thread “The Phal Abuse Ends Here” at the top of the forum. This will help you troubleshoot husbandry issues. The poor root health indicates that there may have been something amiss before the crown rot set in.

aliceinwl · #6 01-18-2021, 07:58 PM

Here’s one of mine that developed rot and lost the crown after I kept it too cold. It’s been just over a year now since the rot issues, and it was able to push a new side growth.

Bunny9129 · #7 01-18-2021, 08:17 PM

But my aerial roots are too long and it will snap if i try to put it in the medium. What should i do? I think the rot is affecting the spike too. So i should just put the peroxide over and not cutting anything off. Is it right?

aliceinwl · #8 01-18-2021, 08:50 PM

You can soak the aerial roots and gently twist them into a pot, if you go slow there should be minimal to no cracking. I’d minimize cutting. Any areas showing signs of rot should be kept dry. If any areas look open and wet you can surgically dab some peroxide on. If the rot looks widespread, you can try putting cinnamon in all the affected leaf axils: fill them up, but keep it off the roots.

You’re going to want to keep the stem and crown area dry. If you can twist the air roots in so that they’re against the side of the pot you can direct your watering there and away from the body of the plant.

Clear pots are helpful: wait until the roots look silver to water, but once they are silver they do need to be watered. Try to keep the plant in a bright spot without direct sun that doesn’t go below 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bunny9129 · #9 01-19-2021, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

I’d repot into fresh bark with the aerial roots buried just below the surface. Put it into as small a pot as you can. Water by flushing: ideally it should dry quickly enough that you’re watering every 2-3 days. After the peroxide treatment, I carefully fill the crown with cinnamon to keep things really dry in there. Keep it warm and bright.

This usually happens when the crown gets wet and the plant is already under stress: too cold, too wet, broken down media etc. It’s important to fix the underlying issue to improve recovery odds.

It looks to have a spike forming. I would leave the developing spike alone: there’s a chance that it will form a keiki off the spike then you would have that even if the parent plant doesn’t make it.

I think you caught it relatively early. My save rate with Phals in this state has been about 75% so there’s plenty of hope.

Good luck!

---------- Post added at 03:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:48 PM ----------

I would also be a good idea to peruse at least the first few pages of the sticky thread “The Phal Abuse Ends Here” at the top of the forum. This will help you troubleshoot husbandry issues. The poor root health indicates that there may have been something amiss before the crown rot set in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

You can soak the aerial roots and gently twist them into a pot, if you go slow there should be minimal to no cracking. I’d minimize cutting. Any areas showing signs of rot should be kept dry. If any areas look open and wet you can surgically dab some peroxide on. If the rot looks widespread, you can try putting cinnamon in all the affected leaf axils: fill them up, but keep it off the roots.

You’re going to want to keep the stem and crown area dry. If you can twist the air roots in so that they’re against the side of the pot you can direct your watering there and away from the body of the plant.

Clear pots are helpful: wait until the roots look silver to water, but once they are silver they do need to be watered. Try to keep the plant in a bright spot without direct sun that doesn’t go below 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

I live in a basement so it is quite cold. Should i buy a heat pad? Also, the rot seems to be affecting the base of the spike as well. Some of the aerial roots are too short to put in bark and too close to the leaves so I am afraid to get water in there. I tried to water the long aerial roots but they get back to the silvery state very fast.

aliceinwl · #10 01-19-2021, 08:22 PM

Just bury the long air roots: as long as the stringy part in the center is intact and breakage to the outer part is kept to a minimum, they’ll function. They’ll have more time to take up water if buried. Leave the short ones exposed if you can’t bury them without burying the leaf bases.

Yes, get a heat mat: the low temperatures are probably a big contributing factor.

If you can raise the temperatures that’ll probably do the most good. I’d hesitate to cut the spike because you risk damaging healthy tissue as well and will open additional areas to infection. I think if you can warm it up while keeping the long air roots you buried hydrated and the stem area of the plant dry, it’ll stand the best chance of recovery.