Should I cut my phalaenopsis leaf off?

[angel415]

Hi everyone!
I was wondering if my leaf was worth sparing or if I should just cut it off. The thought of having to cut off ANOTHER leaf of my abused baby makes my heart sad.

This is a pic of it before:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...Picture003.jpg

I cut off the dry spots, which resulted in this:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...5/DSCI0115.jpg

Its been hanging on for the longest time - my orchid is a fighter. Do you think it can survive?

Theres also a little dark circle on the other leaf - should I get rid of that too? It's a little blurry: (http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...5/DSCI0116.jpg)

......And if I should - how do I do it? Someone told me I can chop parts of the leaves off and then treat the wounds with mouthwash - is that true?

Tips appreciated. I just want my survivor to be beautiful again - not that it isn't ;-)

[grgutierrez]

I know that open "wounds" on an orchid can be treated with cinnamon. That's what I ended up doing with my recent NOID (No Identification) phal adoptions that had root rot. It's working so far so that might help as far as sealing the wound goes.

In terms of the leaves, I can't speak about what to do, I'm still a little new to this (I just started collecting in October of 07) so I'm eager to hear what the experts have to say.

[Jenn]

I would assume that if these leaves aren't suffering from some type of bacterial or fungal infection, then leaving them alone would be the best plan of action. If I remember correctly, your phal was suffering from sunburn, right? I would trust the plant to make it's own decisions about when to kill off a leaf. Even with the dead spots, I would guess there is still viable chlorophyll doing its thing and by cutting the leaf, you run the risk of infection from the wounds. I'd definitely put cinnamon on those cuts to make sure they don't get icky stuff in them and endanger the plant.

I could be way off base here as I'm relatively new to orchids myself, but that's my two cents. Just going by some basic principles, but I'd trust the opinions of the experts around here first! Good luck with your phal! WIth proper TLC, it'll make a full recovery in the years to come. Just don't give up hope

[quiltergal]

As long as the black areas aren't squishy (that indicates rot) it's OK to leave the black areas. It will look ugly until the plant shed that leaf, but it will ultimately be OK.