Help me save old womans phal....

[blackorchid]

Hey at least the basal keiki has its own new root! that's a good news, whatever it takes, protect that root! I think it's even more important than the mother plant because with that root, the keiki is able to support itself.
Moreover, if the new leaves on the basal keiki are soft to the touch too, I suggest giving the plant's roots a good hour soak with water and fertilizer, you will see that the keiki will gain turgidity, after that, start the repotting proccess and try not to let water standing in the crown of the old mother plant. Good luck!

[Lene Th.]

Originally Posted by caseydoll

You could always leave the spikes intact for now and when you repot see how many good roots there are. If there are very few I would cut the spikes off regardless of the keiki's.

Hm... I took a brief look at the roots now, without taking the plant out of the pot(clear pot), and it actually seems like there may be some good roots down in the pot... Theres many roots, and they have to belong to the mother-plant, as the basal-keikis roots are not long enough to reach all the way down...
Mabe theres still a chance for the mother-phal as well?

I will take it out tomorrow, and post an uppdate.

[Lene Th.]

Originally Posted by blackorchid

Hey at least the basal keiki has its own new root! that's a good news, whatever it takes, protect that root! I think it's even more important than the mother plant because with that root, the keiki is able to support itself.

Actually, the basal-keiki has several new roots for its own
I counted at least three of them, thats atached to the keiki, and they seems long enough to support it when its to be getting its own pot tomorrow.

[blackorchid]

In my opinion, I will not seperate the mother and the keiki anyway, if it happens that the mother plant will live and start growing, you will have a nice clump of phalaenopsis, the keiki is actually support the mother plant back with its own roots and leaves, they bond together and are not meant to be separated. In short, I don't think the mother plant will make it if you separate them.
Also I repeat: if the new leaves on the basal keiki are soft to the touch too, I suggest giving the plant's roots a good hour soak with water and fertilizer, you will see that the keiki will gain turgidity, after that, start the repotting proccess and try not to let water standing in the crown of the old mother plant. Good luck!

[Lene Th.]

Hm... you definitely have a point there, blackorchid

I think i will sleap on how to do this...
Tomorrow is the repotting-date, ill figure it out after taking a closer look at the roots down in the pot.

Thanks everyone!

Edit to ask if it will affect the basal-keiki, if the mother-plant does not survive... and theyre not separated?

[blackorchid]

In case the mother plant does not survive, I'm thinking about 2 possible reasons:
If the mother plant has crown rot ---that could affect the keiki, therefore, try not to let the mother plant stay wet for a period of time. I think this is the only case that when it happens, you should separate the two. Correct me if I make any wrong statement.
If the mother plant has root rot, then it's the media that was wrong and that you should change it.
The keiki is there to keep the mother plant alive in case she has no good root. Remember, if the crown of the mother plant is no longer viable, she is as good as dead, she cannot grow taller, she can only produce more and more keikis.

[caseydoll]

I agree with blackorchid, I would repot the whole orchid together again. Although I'm not experienced enough to know whether it would hurt the baby if the mom died. I'm guessing, but as long as you remove the old leaves once they die I wouldn't think there would be a problem. It's common for phals with crown rot to produce a basal keiki. I don't think people take any measures to remove the mother plant after it dies. If you think the mom has good roots still and the plant itself doesn't have crown rot (i can't tell by the pics) then there may still be hope for it.

[susiep]

I received an orphan phal that had many basal keikis. It was very wilted and it took me a while to get it straightened out. But it is an awsome huge plant and worth the trouble. The leaves stayed wilted until I finally potted it in chunky media in a basket lined with screen. It needed lots of water with lots of drainage so the roots could get some air. I didn't trim anything and it had about 35 flowers and buds on it. I say don't trim anything. Just repot in a bigger container that drains well and water it! You can always trim later. Here are some pics . The leaves were as wilted as banana peels at one point. They are firmed up fine now. As long as they are green, don't cut (there is still hope!) After a leaf goes yellow, it doesn't come back (you can cut those).

[blackorchid]

Also, I think that if you let a Phalaeopsis leaf goes wrinkle, it can never go back, but I think the new leaves shouldn't get wrinkle. It's always good to give a plant a good soak before transplanting, there's a good chance that the leaves will get firmer on Lene's case.

[Lene Th.]

I got surprized when i pulled the chid out of the pot... There was quite a bit of healthy roots there, to my surprice! This one really wanted to live...
Remember, all of this roots belong to the motherplant...the keikis is still too small to reach down in the medium.

Heres a pic of the root-mass after i have trimmed away some few shrinkled roots. Theres no rotten ones, but some has a discolor. I let them be, since they where all firm.
I have marked the mother-plants leafs, and theres some black coloration on this one...


I spread the root-mass out, and repotted in a homemade mix of large and medium sized bark, sphagnum, leca and coconut husk, making room for air between the roots with large bark and leca. The pot may seem a bit big, but i have packed around the roots with large bites of bark... The only other pot i had, was way to small, at least now i could manage to fit the roots in without damaging any.

Heres pics after the repot. The medium looks really wet on this one, but i think it because of the picture, it feels moist, not wet. And the plant is kind of lying down on top of each other, its not potted as deep as it may seem...

This last pic shows the keiki-krown on top, and the mother-krown under.

As you may see, it is the top leaf of the mother-plant that is going yellow... and it may seem like it will not be able to grow more leafs... I will be really surprised if she pulls thru, despinte the healty root-mass, but i guess time will tell...
I did not remove the spike with keikis on, for now shes on her own...