Help Me Save my Phal. Stuartiana from Dehydration!

[jje10001]

Hi all, I'm asking for a bit of help diagnosing and resolving an issue.

I recently acquired a Phalaenopsis Stuartiana 'Sogo' as a rescue, which was suffering from advanced dehydration & a general lack of light. The leaves were wrinkly and soft to the touch, like leather.

I soaked & freed the plant from the dry sphagnum coffin it was in, disinfected the roots with a diluted physan20 dip, trimmed off the dead roots, and repotted into a mix of orchiata bark, spaghnum (pre-soaked), and leca. The roots immediately plumped up and greened, and then I set it aside in a warm bedroom with decent airflow, but with moderate indirect sunlight and office cabinet fluorescents.






Now, 1 Week later..

The current issue is that nothing has really changed since the first post for the rescue Stuartiana, and the leaves are still really wrinkly and soft like leather, even though the visible roots still turn green after watering.

I further noticed that there was some white wispy mold on the bottom of the stem, so I cleared away the substrate around the stem to improve ventilation (roots are still in the substrate though), and moved the plant to an area with stronger indirect light and airflow.


Images of stem:





So as it stands in Week 1:
- Leaves are still wrinkly and soft, with the top leaves fairing the best. There are no signs of any progress in the rehydration of the leaves.
- The bottommost leaves seem to be fairing the worse, I pulled off one which was visibly dying to see if there if there was any visible stem rot (none on that side).
- The plant was soaked yesterday in a mix of kelp solution for 15 minutes.
- The roots turned somewhat silvery by Thursday, but will still turn green after watering.
- Bottom of the stem had some wispy mold after 1 week, which was cleared.
- The bottom of the stem is darkened, which I am concerned about.
- The substrate around the stem was cleared away to ensure that the stem gets airflow.
- The plant now gets several hours of direct morning sunlight a day, and then bright indirect sunlight for the rest of the day.
- I have Physan20, but no systematic fungicides.
- The house has relatively low humidity 20-40%, but doesn't go below 22C/72F at this time of year.
- The plant is potted in 60% orchiata, 30% spaghnum, and 10% leca, with a layer of leca at the base.

So I'm either wondering if:
1.) The plant is transpiring more than the roots can take in & there was not enough light to help with the transpiration process, or;
2.) Something is blocking the flow of water up to the leaves (indicating something wrong with the stem, which I hope is not the case!)

At this point I stand at a crossroad- should I leave the plant for another week to avoid disturbing a weak & stressed plant, or should I unpot, and begin the look for any fusarium stem rot inside the stem?

I remember that I had another rescue with this same issue, but which I kept under grow lights in water culture in a plastic bag humidity tent- the leaves never plumped up, and eventually after a few weeks, the plant literally fell apart due to stem rot.

Gallery here for future reference:
Imgur: The magic of the Internet

[Ray]

Look up C&C Orchids on Facebook, or email cvarady@cogeco.ca and pick up a bottle of KelpMax, as it will stimulate growth, especially roots and assist the recovery. (Read This)

It might not hurt to invert a plastic bag over the plant and pot (don’t seal it, just slip it over) to trap the humidity, slowing transpiration loss.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board.

Often severely dehydrated Phal leaves never recover completely. New growth should be normal.

[jje10001]

@Ray @estación seca

Thanks for the welcome and responses.

In this case, I am mainly concerned that a lack of any signs of recovery over a week, coupled with green roots and the mold on the bottom of the stem, may indicate that dehydration may be more of a symptom, and the real issue might be more sinister.

Some other dehydrated phals I've rescued & recovered seem to have responded better to a resumption of watering over the same duration of time.

[rbarata]

Originally Posted by jje10001

In this case, I am mainly concerned that a lack of any signs of recovery over a week...

Orchid growing teaches you patience. One week for a Phal (and for most orchids) is nothing.

[estación seca]

It looks fine to me. Like I said, sometimes the wrinkling never goes away on the old leaves.

[LizB88]

You done well and leaving it alone the plant will do the rest. It looks good and it will take several weeks for you to see new growth; the new leaves are the ones that will be hydrated, you may not see improvement of the old leaves. Now just let the plan recover.

[jje10001]

Thanks all for the valuable input- I think I will leave it alone for another week and treat it normally like my other phals in terms of care and watering.

I'll update next week on any developments.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Originally Posted by jje10001

Thanks all for the valuable input- I think I will leave it alone for another week and treat it normally like my other phals in terms of care and watering.

I'll update next week on any developments.

Hello. Like was mentioned earlier, a week is nothing for a phalaenopsis. Try a month. Ignore it except for water and see if anything new is happening.

[jje10001]

Originally Posted by Ray

It might not hurt to invert a plastic bag over the plant and pot (don’t seal it, just slip it over) to trap the humidity, slowing transpiration loss.

One quick question for the humidity dome- when would be the best time to open the bag/container for air flow? During the day, or at night?

Also, how long should the container be open for?