Salvageable phal after overstressing?

[DaytripperEleanor]

Hi everyone!
I have a phal that I am wondering is salvageable. It was an orchid I brought back to life, I thought it was doing pretty well, so I put a fan on it at night to induce a spike. Then it started dropping leaves like crazy. I am worried now that I may have stressed it to no return? Should I repot it?

Pictures I included are the last one I took of it when it was recovering (in July 2020). The other two pictures are of it today, where you can see many leaves have dropped. I think I would like to take it out of the pot to see what is going on under the surface, but if I should let it chill, I will!

Looking forward to opinions and advice! Thanks!

[Ray]

It really doesn't look too bad, but those roots need to be in the potting medium and kept moist and airy.

I don't know who told you fans will induce flowering, but they don't.

[Mr.Fakename]

There's probably nothing going on inside the pot, and the plant shed leaves to cope with transpiration/low water intake.

I second the repotting option, and placing the Phal in a humid area will certainly help.

[SouthPark]

Hard to say what happened there. When you put the fan on ------ was the temperature in the room relatively cold? Maybe cold plus wet roots caused a problem.

What medium was being used before? The new media appears to be very chunky and ultra dry. So may need to be careful with that too. That is - aside from being careful of media becoming too wet for long periods of time ------- also watch out for media that is too dry for long periods of time ------- or media that doesn't get wet enough when watering it.

[theorchidapartment]

Just here to second what others are saying; I thought the second and third pictures were the orchid out of a pot at first! You have a bunch of healthy roots there, but they aren't able to do much for the plant in the air, which is probably why it keeps producing roots and dropping leaves up the stem.

My guess is you could cut the orchid loose from everything growing into the pot and wouldn't see any green. From the looks of it, very little below that lowest healthy root is alive.

[aliceinwl]

I agree it looks like it doesn’t have any viable roots in the pot and is water stressed. The fan likely increased the evaporation rate and the plant dropped its leaves to limit its water loss.

I’d repot and bury the air roots. If you can, position some so they’re against the side of the clear pot. As soon as they turn silver, it’s time to water. My guess is that in media that coarse you may need to water every 2-3 days.

For blooming, the plant usually needs to be healthy with some energy reserves. It can take a couple years for a rehab plant to get there. Bright indirect light, a natural photoperiod, and a cool down (10 degrees Fahrenheit drop in average temperature) for a few weeks will usually induce blooming. If it’s getting natural light and is near a window where it will experience some seasonal temperature fluctuation, it should bloom when it’s ready.

[Orchid Whisperer]

The plant seems healthy enough.

IF you repot, decide in advance why and how you are going to do that. Repot ONLY ONCE, the leave it alone. A lot of orchids are lost to multiple repotting attempts, which can stress and eventually kill the roots.